We're quickly approaching June 7th! Just wanted to post a quick preview of some of the pots that recently came out of the kiln. Working in a blue & white palette has been such a good change of pace for me. Sometimes creative restrictions can actually bring about refreshing changes. I'm loving this return to a more "traditional" colour scheme, yet have tried to approach it with a more modern & graphic sensibility and the response has been very positive! Another change is that I've been firing in my new studio, in a kiln that is more low-tech than I'm used to, but found that the firings have been very good.

Thank you to all of you who have already rsvp'd on our Facebook event page. We'd love to see you there. If you know of anyone who'd like to see the work, please pass along the details!

Okay, can't wait to see you all at the show & welcome Heather to our fair city!

-Krystal

a little bit of process

Hello! It's Krystal here. When Heather & I began planning kindred around a blue & white theme, I immediately began sketching out my ideas. I always seem to approach making in this way. First with pen & paper, then translating my line drawings into their clay forms. As the forms take shape, my thoughts shift  to pattern and surface design, figuring out how each pattern will correspond to the form. This is my favourite part of the design process. As most of my pottery is decorated with floral/plant based motifs, I couldn't help but think of the classic 'blue willow' china pattern each time I sketched a leaf or vine in blue. It's such a ubiquitous pattern. Yet adapting my vines & flowers to a blue and white colour scheme has been a refreshing change. I've been experimenting with more lines & geometric patterning as well (photos of those pieces to come!)

As Heather mentioned in her last post, choosing a favourite blue isn't necessarily as easy as you'd think. And once you have it, now try creating that perfect blue as a glaze. I've been searching for a variety of pleasing blues: teal, a juicy pure cobalt, a deep blue/black or blue/grey. In a glossy semi-transparent base glaze. One mixture I really love is a combination of cobalt & chrome. And another, a combo of cobalt carb & nickel made a speckled grey/blue with a tinge of green to it. The testing process has been exciting!