BRHpottery

BRH Pottery is a working studio shaped by the Sonoran Desert. This site is a place to share functional ceramics, documented processes, and explore the landscape that informs the work, from clay and firing to wildlife, surface, and form. Move through the site to see finished pieces, studio notes, and the systems behind how this work is made, and how those systems continue to evolve over time.

Saguaro Bowls

Music in the Studio

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I primarily queue music from soundcloud.com because that's what I mostly listen to. Every now and then, I will add in music from Apple Music.

I’ve been busy trying to get some bowls together. I managed to get six completed so far. Three of a lighter glaze and three of a medium darker glaze. The lighter glaze is super easy because I just brush on 4 coats of the same glaze color but the darker glaze I brush on two of the lighter glaze and two of the darker glaze. When the darker glaze is just by itself, it really seems too dark. These greenish bowls actually didn’t turn out the way I was hoping, but they still look great! I tried something new with the Saguaros, though. After the glaze fully dried, I scratched out some of the overfilled Saguaro. They’re brown because I scratched out too much of the glaze and when glaze is applied very thin, it turns more of a brown color. I don’t think I’ll do that again because they’re a bit too prominent. I was shooting for subtle.

Process Notes

The green bowls were two coats of the green and two coats of the lighter glaze. The lighter bowls were just 4 coats of the same color. Either I added too many heavy coats of the lighter glaze or just too many coats because the Saguaros aren't very well defined at the bottom of the bowls. The Saguaros at the bottom of the green bowls stand out a little too much because of the scratching out of the cacti. Might be best if I only did three coats of glaze total. Two coats of the lighter and one of the green, or vice-versa.