Fleeting camellias

This February, Durham set a new record for the greatest number of days over 80oF in the last 130 years. Our camellia bushes have responded by bursting into bloom--and then wilting in the blink of an eye. Below are some of this year's fleeting camellias, perched in non-fleeting double-walled camellia bowls.

More double-walled camellia bowls

Testing out assorted glaze combinations on double-walled camellia bowls. Here's a keeper:

scmw/wb/jjfw

Same bowl, different angle

The blue and white bowl below has white-on-white crystals that aren't showing up well in the image. Unfortunately, the bowl also has two thin cracks in the bottom. The cracks don't affect the functionality, but they make it a second.

scmc/bbg/w/jjfc

Strictly Functional

I'm delighted that one of my double-walled camellia bowls was accepted into this year's Strictly Functional Pottery National show, juried by Simon Leach. The exhibit runs from today through October 22 at Kevin Lehmann's Pottery in Lancaster, PA.

Double-walled bowls

I'm not usually good at commissions, but last month someone asked me to make her a double-walled bowl and it started a nice run of pots. I was surprised to discover what a few years of throwing zigzag pots has done for my skills when I actually get to compress the outside of a stretched pot. By fortuitous accident, one of the first bowls ended up with the inner bowl off-center from the symmetric outer bowl. I liked that asymmetry, so I came up with a way to make intentionally off-center bowls on the wheel.

The first bowl below is symmetric by accident (the result of fixing an unintended ding); more fun to make were the less symmetric ones that follow. I like that the bowls look substantial but weigh surprisingly little. I haven't decided yet whether to call them camellia vases or skeeter breeders. The glazes were sprayed and the pots were fired to ^6 in oxidation.

SCMW/Straw/ASG (dipped)/JJFW

SCMW/Straw/JJFW

SCMC/Cornflower/Selsor Oribe/JJFC

(With camellia for scale)

Straw/JJFW

JJFC/Chun/Straw/JJFC