This is a slab piece that I was working on a few weeks ago. I couldn't find it for awhile so I was never able to take pictures of it.

I started this piece by rolling it out on the slab machine and then I cut it into an oval. Instead of leaving it as a clean oval shape I cut some curves into it. I don't particularly like the lines I cut into it and I would probably do them differently if I did this project again. I do, however, really like the way the glass melted and formed in the flower shape that I carved out. I used a lot of clear glass and specks of color so that the color would pop. I tried glazing it with a green and a blue-green glaze but they didn't turn out the way I hoped they would.

These are some more pieces found while looking for slab pieces. I am more interested in the way they were made as opposed to how they look, although I do really like these pieces. The artist, however, made the two pieces to the left by repeatedly dropping them onto a plaster slab. This created the folds without disrupting the lines that were already there. The artists, Bowie Croisant, attended Kansas State University and is currently working with Red Star Studios. Lately he has been very interested in experimenting with his pieces and trying new things.

This is a slab piece I found while researching. I really like this piece because it is abstract and not completely straight forward. I also really like how the glazes pop against the clay and aren't overpowering. It was created by Mo Shankland and it was made with porcelain. Mo lives in Glasgow and has been working as a visual artist since graduating from The Glasgow School of Art in 1998. She has had exhibits in the UK and also Japan.

"My inspiration is everywhere. Thoughts and ideas are fused together and expressed as form with colour and texture. The creative journey is subtle, complex and sometimes intuitive, but always exciting." -Mo Shankland

This is a piece I've been working on recently. I was finally able to fire it and when it was done it came out with this really great red color. I used some blue glazes on this and I fired it again but I am not completely done with it yet. I want to make sure that I'm all done with all the little touches before I can be finished.

The technique of Raku ware was first developed in Japan by Chojiro the founder of the Raku dynasty, in the 16th century.
At the beginning of the 16th century, colored glazed potteries were produced in the region of Kyoto, in Japan, using a technology originating from China. This technique was then employed by Chojiro to produce tea bowls for the tea ceremony. These tea bowls were called "Rakuyaki" (Raku wares), from the name of "Jurakudai", the palace of Chojiro's protector. Chojiro adopted the name Raku, which can be translated as joy, happiness, for his tea bowls and the name Raku even became attached to Chojiro's family.
The main characteristics of the original Raku tea bowls were simplicity of forms and absence of decoration in a perfect harmony with the spirit of the tea ceremony. Raku has evolved since then to become a popular form of art.

This is one of the ceramic garden pices I found. I think is was very creative of the artist to make a vase and then add on a figure and I think it works very well. I think it could use some color, but this overall idea is something that I think I would like to try. There isn't much information from the artist and the only thing I found was that her pieces are one of a kind and she mostly makes memorial urns and garden art.
I had a lot of trouble finding other ceramic garden pieces.
I made my own garden piece but I'm not sure what happened to it, I haven't seen it in awhile. It was a slab piece and I carved out a flower shape in the center and filled the shape with pieces of clear and colored glass. I fired that and then glazed the piece with a blue and green glaze. I was really happy with the way the glass melted in the flower shape, but I haven't seen my finished piece yet so I don't know how the glaze looks.

RICH SURFACE TEXTURE

The piece on the left is another that I found very interesting. I really like how the surface is very bubbly looking and rough and I think the glazes go very well with it. The artist who created this piece said she likes working with rough materials because they make a crater like surface on her pieces.

The piece on the right was created by making a cylinder and then making deep impressions into it without distorting the cylinder shape. The piece is then expanded from the inside which creates the final shape of the piece and also the curved lines of the impressions. It was the artists intention to use patterns and textures that reflect the curves found in nature. I find this piece very interesting and I would love to experiment using the same technique of creating a pattern and expanding the clay like that.

PIECES WITH SURFACE TEXTURE

I found this piece on the right that has a lot of surface texture and I really like it. I don't really like that the top part is smooth while the rest of the piece is very rough. I didn't find a lot of information on this piece so I'm not exactly sure of the process that was used to create this effect and the surface texture.

The piece on the left was something I came across and I really like how it looks. I believe the article said this piece was wood fired which helped to give it the effect it has. I really like the grooves along the neck of the piece and also the random shell shaped spots on the side of it.