My little beauties

Pygmy gourami, Dwarf rasbora, and Mosquito rasbora, painted from my own tank. I'll glaze the outsides with Coyote Light green shino (always a winner).

Walleye

A walleye for the wall.

Juvenile harlequin sweetlips (in progress)

It's a portrait of Bill and Denise's Harlequin sweetlips and Blue damselfish... Painted from a video I took on my phone.

Triggerfish (in progress)

These guys have an amazing array of colors and patterns. They range in size from 10 inches to a couple of feet, and are notoriously territorial and aggressive. I haven't yet decided what species this one will be. It's about 13 inches long, somewhat deep for a platter, and made with white stoneware clay.

Big, fat jar

This one may not be a keeper... I was going for tall and elegant and got this instead.

Plenty of platys

Or is it platies?

Butterfly fish (in progress)

Another dinner-sized plate. I want to hang these guys on the wall at the Gallery at Lighthouse. Next up: a triggerfish.

Turtle and frog bowls

The last "Garden" plate

 I had an "oopsie" with the green plate and had to fire it a second time.

 Here's a small grouping of the "Garden" tableware.

Flying fish

Opah!

12 inches wide; brown clay with Gunmetal green, shino, and yellow glazes

I wish I could make these plates life-sized... Opah's grow to 6 feet long!

Oval fish platter (Bass) in progress

First, I make a fish pancake and let it rest for a few hours...

...and then I transfer it to a mold.

 This platter's 20 inches wide. After firing, it should measure around 18 inches.

More fish plates in progress

Super-fun!

Goldfish plate

Discus plate

Chun glaze over white clay

American Redstart plate

The male's black and red and the female's tan and yellow; they're flirting. It's for our Garden Show (opens May 3, 2013).

Calico fantail lantern

Fish mugs

Very brown. Very fishy.

Goldfinch plate

Diameter = 8.5 inches

Flood

Hurricane Sandy managed to knock out power in the Cleveland area. No power in the pottery studio = no sump pump. The water level reached several inches, and unfired work on lower shelves became a puddle of mud. No one remembers what these pieces used to be. Remarkably, we're up and running again, but the place smells like fish.

Snake pitcher and plate

Rainy Sunday

I think I'll make another discus plate.

Snake plate

Three little goldfish

1 gallon snake pitcher (in progress)

I hope I hope I hope I make good choices when I glaze this!

Flying fish (in progress)

Snake plate (in progress)

I have high hopes for this one.

A nice fish

Also for the Garden Show in May.

A nice bowl

For the Garden Show in May

Koi Birdbath

No cracks, but I'm not sure about this one... it doesn't really hang together, does it? I'd like to re-glaze the center (solid blue), but there's always the risk it'll crack in the second firing. Better leave well enough alone.

Opah platter (in progress)

Also known as the Hawaiian Moonfish. The tail area is pretty fragile... I'm not sure this piece will survive.

Fantail plate

Diameter is 11 inches

Garden Tableware

For our May 2013 show at BayArts, some tableware. Amaco underglazes on brown stoneware with Laguna glazes.

Outsides...

Insides...

...and a closer look at the snake bowl

Coming in October 2013: "Fins and Fur"

Happy News! Next October, my college pal Lori and I are doing a 2-person show in Groton, CT at the Gallery at Lighthouse. The show will be called "Fins and Fur." Below is some of Lori's work from my collection... she'll be handling the "fur"

"Working Dog"... He's a business card holder

"Francine"

I will be handling "fins."

Discus dessert plate

 The kids make "fish plates" in the pottery studio all the time... I'm so envious! I've decided to make some of my own. I'd like to have a large group of different fish plates and platters for the gallery walls. Some will be painted tableware, others more sculptural.

Telescope-eye fantail goldfish lantern

I love his bewildered expression.

A different kind of fish mug

Ha ha, these were supposed to be simple test mugs... But they seemed so plain!

"Dunting" is such an ugly word...

...for such a pretty birbdath

 

What's dunting? It's a crack that occurs as a piece cools after firing. Some clay bodies and construction methods are prone to dunting. You can tell the piece cracked on the way down because the crack goes right through the glaze. If the piece cracked on the way up, glaze would've filled the crack. It's a hairline crack... you can hardly see it. I'm going to seal the crack from the back with silicone sealant so the birdbath will be water-tight. But still, it's a bummer.