Here's some of the pots that I've just unloaded from the kiln. In the front are the saki servers and cups which I made for the Harbor House Inn, leaving the final choice up to the chefs to decide what they want.

It's been fun working with head chef Matthew Kammerer, since he was so open to see what I could come up with. There was no pressure to make a whole line of boring similar items, which one could have easily have purchased from a restaurant supply house.

Besides the off white saki servers (Tokkuris) in front, I made some in earth tones and black and white as well. Each Tokkuri comes with a set cups to match the the glaze and clay body. 

The above picture to the left is a recent Chawan on which I had tested out a high feldspathic Shino glaze. Similar to traditional Shino ware, the glaze turned milky gray when applied thickly over a red iron wash. To encourage this variation in color, I loosely dribbled more glaze over the entire surface of the pot  after an initial glaze application. Another way is to simply "blow" on the glaze to create areas of subtle thickness.

The second grouping of pictures is an earlier attempt at using this same process, albeit with a different clay body which also incorporated some organic material. When this material burned out during the bisque, a nice pockmarked surface was left behind, which, after glazing and firing, makes the tea bowl soft and friendly to hold and even more reminiscent of traditional Shino ware.

As most potters know, there's no counting on any Shino recipe to give you consistent result. Besides the glazing technique, much depends on the clay body, glaze thickness, placement in kiln, and, of course, when and how much you reduce during the firing.
​
But that's why we love the glaze so much. Yes, it is challenging, but it certainly offers great rewards to those who have the patience to experiment and try to zero in on those qualities which they find so appealing. 

It seems to take forever to get the first kiln load out for the year. The winter is always a good time to experiment with new forms, clay bodies, slip application, and glazes which naturally eat up more time than if you were just doing a bunch of mugs and such.

To the left are some new Chawans, teapots, and a few small serving dishes that I've been working on. I'm using the same heavy-slip technique on the tea bowls as I did with the saki servers in the previous post, albeit with a different clay body. By the time I'm done with all my experiments, I'll probably have five different buckets of slips which I made with the various clay bodies at my disposal (and to think my lifelong goal is to simplify everything!).

The small plates are for the Harbor House Inn. I'm assuming they'll be used for some amuse bouche or some other kind of presentation. Hopefully, the glaze I use will bring out the contrast between the white slip and the dark clay body its been loosely applied over. 

These saki servers were made by applying a thick slip over the pots once they were thrown. The slip is made from  throwing slop which I just pour through a tight mesh to get out any lumps and stuff. The added texture not only creates surface interest, but allows for a good grip when pouring saki for one's guests.