Hot Pot and Incense Holders

I've been super busy at pottery so I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately, and the ones that I do remember to take are somewhat blurry...oops ><

Everything is starting to pile up with pieces ready for glazing. Soon my giant vase will be bisque fired and all the small projects I've been working on will also be ready for glazing.
First are the five handled cups from a few weeks back and two plates. These are all red shigaraki clay (the high iron content clay) I did several combinations of R, B, S and L glazes. More pictures to come once they're fired. 6 of the pieces will be OF fired and one RF fired.














My low vase has also been fired. It turned out well, I'm still deciding on the color...Maybe something metallic?










I had leftover nabe clay again so I used about 4 kilos and made a 1 person hot pot. I was originally going to make a soup stock pot but it didn't turn out well so I went with it and made it into a nabe pot instead.








I made the body first and of course the hardest part was the lid resting spot. But I manged to get it right this time without messing up. After carving and drying a bit I attached the handles on the side.




I always like decorative and functional pieces so I made the handles look like flower petals and put a cherry blossom stamp in the middle.





Here is the lid, basically an upside down bowl with a hole in it for steam ventilation. Japanese hot pots usually have a cut handle in one spot, but I decided two would look better.





I'm calling this the "kappa" nabe. Since the shape resembles a Japanese Kappa, which is a legendary turtle like animal that lurks in rivers. It is basically an animal scare story used to keep children from playing in dangerous water. The modern image of the kappa is cute and this nabe reminds me of the kappa's head haha.







Here is a cuter version of the infamous Kappa.








I also made 20 incense holders as presents for when I leave in a few weeks. They're easy to make and will dry fast and be ready in about a week for glazing.
















I had about 4 Kg of black stone clay so I shaped the mass into a long rectangular shape and cut each holder with my wire cutter. I used measured wooden planks that were 5mm thick as a guide. It's hard to see in this picture but the black has been cut evenly.




I prepared some dry wall and left the planks of clay to harden up a bit.











I then used these stamps* and made designs imprinted on the front. I then curled them up slightly and used a hair dryer to dry them in place.


These stamps were made by other students over the years, they're great so a quick and fun imprint.






Last I used this metal tool to make holes for the incense sticks to be placed in.










It took about 45 min to make all 20 holders. It's my first time so I hope they turn out ok, otherwise I'll have no presents for some people >< I'll be back again next Tuesday so I'll probably make some more with my other remaining clay.

Until Next Time!!