This week’s PhotoHunter theme is “Broken”…
I may have shown the first of these before, though not this photo. It’s of a Raku pot I made. It was deliberately broken after the first firing, glazed and then fired in a Raku kiln. I gave this to my therapist when she retired. She found that many of her patients were fascinated with it and their associations with it opened new avenues of discussion. I was very pleased about this.
"Lacuna"
While the first was deliberately broken, the second fractured on its own in the Raku firing process. The crackle in the glaze occurs during the rapid cooling of the firing process. The smoke and creosote that covers the surface during the oxygen reduction enhances the crackles. This is one of my favourite pieces.
"Cracked and Crackled"
A few years ago, I went to my friend’s daughter’s birthday party workshop. We made glass mosaic mirror frames. Mine is the blue one. My friend’s daughter’s one is the flower design (she was, I think, 11 when she made this). My friend’s is the one with the lizard. I think she also made the orange one (she was fast!) because she gave it to my niece who loves orange. Her niece made the dog one.
Glass Mosaics
And, of course, because I can’t leave anything alone here is a fiddled-with detail from my mosaic…
Mosaic detail (tweaked)
Mudpuddle 
Maya said,
February 15, 2010 at 10:40 am
I love the simpleness of the first pot. Thanks for stopping in at mayarn.
lissa said,
February 15, 2010 at 7:08 am
I like the glass mosaic mirror frames – they’re pretty
& thanks for your visit to our photohunt
lissa said,
February 15, 2010 at 7:08 am
I like the glass mosaic mirror frames – they’re pretty
jmb said,
February 15, 2010 at 6:08 am
Well you had no trouble with this theme! Lovely collection of “broken” photos.
Kari said,
February 15, 2010 at 4:26 am
Such lovely pieces. I love the first and second ones.
thanks for visiting my blog.
Happy Day.
Mrs. Mecomber said,
February 15, 2010 at 4:18 am
The mosaic in the last photo is lovely! Good photos!
I’m late in visiting everyone for Photo Hunters, but better late than never! Have a wonderful week.
eastcoastlife said,
February 14, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I love the broken pots. I didn’t know broken pots can look so gorgeous.
You and your friends are so artistic. I want to learn how to make those mosaic frames. Where do I start as a beginner?
mudhooks said,
February 15, 2010 at 12:46 am
We took a workshop with a woman who gives classes in her basement. She supplies the tools and the glass, frames, grout, and glass cutters (and a snack!). She also gives classes in making stained glass and decorative windows from old storm windows.
Try looking for workshops at your local community centre or through a place that sells stained glass supplies or your local art or craft supply store. If you have a “Michael’s” in town, they may have classes or there may be someone who gives classes who puts up a card at “Michael’s” or at the art or craft supply shop.
You can also get kits for this sort of thing. If you started with a kit, you could learn to do it and then start buying the supplies you need. You could probably also find instructions on line.
It was very easy to do. I made a top to a bedside table using much the same method. Basically, all you need is glass, white PVA glue, grout, and a surface to put the glass onto. You can buy the raw frames at IKEA or a craft supply store.
CherryPie said,
February 14, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Very nice pictures for the theme 🙂
Gattina said,
February 14, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Beautiful ceramics. I made the same experience when I was doing pottery, sometimes the things broke during fireing.
Irene said,
February 14, 2010 at 11:30 am
opsss… leaving comment with the wrong URL ;p
Irene said,
February 14, 2010 at 10:41 am
Nice take! Thanks for dropping by.
magiceye said,
February 14, 2010 at 7:02 am
beautiful work!!
A. @ A Changing Life said,
February 14, 2010 at 3:43 am
I just love those pots! Pottery is something I’ve never had a chance to try.
sandi @ the whistlestop cafe said,
February 14, 2010 at 2:42 am
Those are beautiful choices for broken… not broken at all!
Anna's Adornments said,
February 14, 2010 at 12:57 am
Thank you for visiting my PH post!
Anna
Anna's Adornments said,
February 14, 2010 at 12:53 am
This was something new to me! Broken on purpose! Beautiful forms. I can understand that you like working with this. There is something aluring about working in clay and then firing it.
The mosaic mirror frames are also nice.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Anna
aliceaudrey said,
February 13, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Those mirror frames are fantastic.
Sparkle said,
February 13, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I love the fact that the “broken” pot helps “fix” people! And I love the mosiacs, especially the lizard.
mudhooks said,
February 13, 2010 at 11:20 pm
My therapist was a gerontological psychiatrist (it was the luck of the draw… she was the only person able to take a patient at the time) so I was by far the youngest person she saw.
During the time I saw her, she and I came to the conclusion that my mother was suffering from the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s. She has recently been diagnosed conclusively. The thought that since may of her patients were also suffering from this helped me deal with the probability of it with my Mom and also to help me be able to be more understanding when the diagnosis finally came. In a way, I feel that I helped pay back her patients for inadvertently helping me.
Carver said,
February 13, 2010 at 10:29 pm
The broken pot is amazing and I love the mosaics. Interesting story too. Happy weekend.
Susanne said,
February 13, 2010 at 10:27 pm
I love those mosaics. I can’t believe an 11 year old made some of those. They’re gorgeous.
Annie said,
February 13, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Truly gorgeous! Those broken pots are so awesome, and I love the colorful mosaics too. Great take on the theme.
jams O'Donnell said,
February 13, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Wow the fact that the pots are broken makes them even more atractive. THe mirror fames are amazing
Mar said,
February 13, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Beautiful shots and take on the theme. Beautiful broken tiles on that mirror frame!!
Brita said,
February 13, 2010 at 1:31 pm
What a great take on the theme. Lovely mirrors and I too would like to get my “hands in clay” and on pottery more
azahar said,
February 13, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Very nice … love your mirror.
YTSL said,
February 13, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Seems like you produce works of art in other forms besides photographs! ;b
ewok1993 said,
February 13, 2010 at 9:51 am
what beautiful works of art. have a great valentine’s weekend.
mudhooks said,
February 13, 2010 at 9:58 am
Thank you. And the same to you.
sledpress said,
February 13, 2010 at 8:56 am
If I am ever allowed to stop using my hands to pay my way through life, I want to try pottery. I collect it, and a potter once looked at my hands and forearms and mistook me for a colleague. He was close.
How long do you have to work at it before you can make something that doesn’t embarrass you?
mudhooks said,
February 13, 2010 at 9:20 am
The beauty of Raku is that you don’t really have to practice or “get good” at making pots. The less “perfect” the piece is, the more beauty it has.
I haven’t done a lot of pottery. I did some in high school but the last two years we had a teacher who wouldn’t let us use the wheel and would only fire the student’s work once in a while. She used the kilns for her own private work.
I signed up for a course in college but ended up dropping it because I had too much work to do for my non-practical classes. I attended a weekend-long Raku firing workshop in college but it was my boyfriend who was participating. It was the most amazing thing I had seen in my life!
Anything I have done was during two Raku workshops I took. I went in and do some wheel work at the local community centre and got a friend to sneak it in with her bisque firing, along with some “pinch pots” I made at home. Then, I took the bisque pieces and a few things I had hanging about since college to the workshops. I just experimented and didn’t worry about the results.
I think I was pretty happy with everything that came out of the reduction chamber….
All the things I have done are here: http://public.fotki.com/Mudhooks/my_stuff/artistic_stuff/raku/
sledpress said,
February 13, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Those are gorgeously sensual. Never mind the glaze, I can’t imagine myself coming up with shapes that sleek without spending months getting the feel of it.
One thing I learned a long time ago is that you never, ever let a parent within fifty miles of any creative work you do. If it isn’t outright ruined on the spot, whatever is said will suck all the joy out of it for you. Universal law.