African Hut Peanut Jar

Evidently, some things CAN happen quickly in my studio. This is, quite possibly, the FASTEST piece I ever created!  Less than 2 weeks from concept to completion - Amazing!

Earlier this year, Priscilla and I went to a "Build a Birdhouse" Workshop at one of the local ceramic studios.  We went, primarily, to scope-out the studio - and also to steal borrow some ideas!  Well, Priscilla (never shy!) asked if she could copy their birdhouse templates, and she gave me a set cut-out of roofing tar-paper.



Tar-paper is really handy for stuff like this

It helps maintain consistency from piece-to-piece.  It also adds a little support to the clay while drying and tar-paper is practically indestructible!

One of the templates was for a round birdhouse.  Naturally, I had to turn it into a Tiki Shack Birdhouse!

We each made 3 birdhouses that day.

Naturally, the Tiki Hut is my favorite (although I'm quite fond of the outhouse as well!)

My life-long BFF (since elementary school) really liked the Tiki Hut and mentioned that she'd really like something similar - only not a bird-house, but a jar which she could use for storing peanuts to feed to the bluejays and squirrels.  She is also very fascinated with African Culture and sent me this picture to illustrate what she wanted:

At first, I thought it might be a fun project for her to create, but we were never able to coordinate it.

So, what with it being Christmas and all, I figured I could throw one together fairly quickly.  Now mind you, I came up with this brilliant idea on December 16 (and most of my pieces take 2-3 MONTHS to get done - Oops!).

On the plus side:  She actually spent Christmas in Africa so I got a little bit of an extension!

Here are some shots of construction:

December 16.  Cut out the pieces and form the cylindrical base

 December 24.  Greenware is nearly dry.

I ran the kiln on a Cone 05 Fast-Bisque on 12/26

(I also managed to include the kids' ornaments with low-fire clear glaze)

December 27 - Bisqued and glazed, ready for final firing.

The glazes I used were:  Undercoat of Coyote Sky Blue LUG (Liquid Underglaze), then 2.5 coats of Coyote Oasis Glaze on the inside and outside of the cylinder base (I left the top lip unglazed so I could fire the lid and jar together without them getting glued together).  Then I 'swirled' a top coat of Coyote Archie's Base glaze on top of the Oasis in semi-circular brush-strokes.  The lid has a combination of LUGs underneath (Brown, White + Yellow), and the topside is glazed with 2 coats of Western Chocolate Chip glaze, and a few dry-brush swishes of Amaco Temmoku.

Then a quick (solo!) trip into the kiln for a Fast Glaze firing @ Cone 5.

December 29 - All done!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to come up with a good match for the Aqua color of the original hut - but I am pleased with how the "swirly" glaze treatment gives it a nice mottled look.  The blues really are quite pretty.

And my BFF really seemed to like it a lot.  So yay for that!