Monday, May 19, 2014

Bottoms Up

Christy Culp posted a photo with the question, "Do you decorate the bottoms of your pots?"  It got me thinking so I looked at a few pots I have in the studio.  I put something on the bottom of anything that has a foot on it.  Sometimes I even put something on the inside of a lid.  It gives a little extra surprise to the pots.  It's something I started doing around 2002 after I did a workshop with Linda Arbuckle.

 I want the bottom to be a hint of the design on the rest of the pot.  Most of these photos speak for themselves.






The pot below is an example of why it's a bad idea to load a kiln when you are tired.  I left the lid on so it's permanently attached. In spite of that it pours well.

 It was more an experiment with form.  It's a bottle shape turned on its side with added spout etc.  I'm not thrilled with the design, but I love the glaze, Andrea Gill's WOM.  It's  a step down from the glossy whites usually found in majolica.  It has a satiny, buttery feel and it a delight to paint on.  I just had a new batch mixed so I will be using it more.



With our cold, wet early spring everything is blooming at once now that it has warmed up a bit.  I went out to turn the pool pump on this morning.  There was so much pollen that it looked like a layer of milky plastic was covering it!

Here's to sun and happiness.

As always, thanks for stopping by............*s*

9 comments:

  1. This was brought up years ago and I thought it was a good idea but I'd forgotten about it, thanks for reintroducing the idea of decorating the bottom of pots.

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    1. Hi Linda.....I'm happy to spread the word.

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  2. Hi Suzi,

    I love all your fabulous teapots and fun to put a design on the bottom and the underside of the lid.
    Happy week
    hugs
    Carolyn

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    1. Hi Carolyn.....Thanks. I think of them as little hidden bonuses!

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  3. Dearest Suzi,
    Lovely bottoms you show and yes, being tired, we do not focus well on our tasks... Otherwise that would have been a very fun pot.
    You are quite an artist in creating all these various teapots.
    We are glad the pollen got washed away, guess that was towards the end of April here. We had to hose down the front porch in order to let our dinner guests enter 'clean' on April 28 when we hosted a dinner for 11...
    But don't wish too hard for it to go away as time is speeding us through life; almost June we can say!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Hi Mariette...Thanks. I like to make basic forms and then see how I can alter them.
      Trying to work when tired, no matter what the activity, is a bad idea!
      I am living in the days, watching the changes spring brings on a daily basis. Just a few weeks ago we had trees in bud; now everything is leafing out and turning the light green.
      I swear time speeds up in spring and summer!

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  4. Great to think about...and I like the finished feel of a decorated bottom. Your designs are so lovely. Sorry about the "tired fired teapot" becoming a decorative item...it's still beautiful...and thus that's it's function in life! Yes, our pollen was also "achoo" bad and coated everything last week...you could see it like dust motes in the air too.

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  5. Hi Barb..... Thanks. Sometimes lessons have to be repeated to be learned, even those in the Oh Fer Dumb category!
    I am enjoying the weather in spite of the pollen; hope you are too.

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  6. I love it when potters do that.

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