Artsy Apricot

Hi. I'm Emily. I make things. http://linktr.ee/artsy_apricot

[artsy-apricot]

Strawberry Bowl! Thrown on the wheel and hand-painted with underglaze by me.

Progress pics under the cut.

This was probably 30 hours of work (maybe? I don’t really count, but there were at least two nights staying up too late painting).

I also spent a while yesterday learning Affinity Photo to edit these, in an attempt to get away from Photoshop. I learned a lot! Though I ended up taking new photos rather than using the one I spent the most time on.

This was all painted with Western underglaze. Throwing, glazing, and firing were all done at my local community center’s pottery studio.

[artsy-apricot]

My wisteria vessel is complete!

The surface is so textured. The lattice, flowers, and leaves are raised, adding depth and making it so satisfying to touch. The lattice was water etched, the flowers and leaves slip trailed, and all of it carefully underglazed (except for the bare clay of the lattice). The inside was glazed with Amaco honey flux, smokey merlot, and chun plum. Pictured here with a wooden lavender kit I assembled.

I'm so excited to keep working with slip trailing to make more relief surface designs!

[artsy-apricot]

Rainbow 🌈 drippy 🫟 space 🌌 vase

Thrown on the wheel, Western underglazes with clear glaze, low fire

[artsy-apricot]

Yummm leftover ramen for breakfast in my NOODLE BOWL NOODLE BOWL. I’ve been so excited to share this one — definitely the piece I’ve spent the longest time painting. It didn’t come out 100% how I expected (glaze clouding, brown underglaze burned out) but I’m still really proud!

Bonus: underglaze painting before glaze so you can see some of the details that burned out

[artsy-apricot]

Rainier cherry bowl! The latest in my fruit bowl series. Up next is maybe raspberries and/or blackberries or perhaps lemons or other citrus.

[artsy-apricot]

Just a quick snap of my shelf of ceramics! Mostly my work, but the bottom left is reserved for works by others. Obviously it’s getting a bit crowded!

[artsy-apricot]

Lupine mug/teacup!

Thrown on the wheel and freehand underglaze painted by me, finished October 2024.

Unfortunately one of the purple underglazes burned out at cone 10, but it’s still pretty! (Western “Orchid” — I’ve tested it now and it totally disappears under transparent glaze but is actually visible without any glaze on top) (featuring background agapanthus vase that came out way too light for the same reason)

Posted for the first Mugshot Monday in the new “potteryblr” tumblr community. Come join us!

[artsy-apricot]

Orchid bowl!

I got this back from the kiln today and I am especially pleased with the blending on the flowers! This was hand thrown on the wheel, freehand painted with Mayco Stroke & Coat glazes, and low fired at my local studio.

[artsy-apricot]

This is one of my favorite creations yet, and it’s become my everyday coffee mug!

Inspired by the big stand of sweet gum trees by my house whose fall colors make me feel like it’s really fall even in eternally temperate California.

I threw this mug on the wheel, then freehand carved and underglaze painted the leaves and spiky seed balls. Clear glaze outside to make the colors vibrant and glossy, and ohata glaze inside for that lovely autumnal mottled look.

[artsy-apricot]

Merry Christmas! and happy first day of Hanukkah! Letting go of these pieces today, as gifts to my parents ❤️🎄💙

Both vases were hand thrown on the wheel by me. The red vase on the left (for my dad) used a thick layer and drizzle of copper red glaze on T2 clay. The blue vase on the right (for my mom) was a pleasant surprise when it came out of the glaze kiln — the waxy white over navy blue glaze on black mountain clay dripped elegantly to look like ocean waves as they ebb and foam over the sand. I’m hoping to recreate this look with some added turquoise soon. But it’s a very drippy glaze combo, so I must be sure to leave a lot of room at the foot; you can see the glaze juuust missed touching the kiln shelf.

I also needle felted all the flowers. (And note that the color variation was done completely with the wool itself, no added pigment or paint, as I hadn’t realized you could do that yet!) On the left is a red rose and a cluster of three pink cherry blossoms. In the right vase is a cluster of three forget me nots. And laying down is a purple pansy. These were all made with Wool of the Andes roving from KnitPicks.

[artsy-apricot]

More experiments with Black Mountain clay!

I love the cool glaze effects I’ve gotten with this — the way the marbling shows through the clear glaze that only turned white over the black clay, and the cool speckles that emerged in the blue glaze. Next I’m going to try marbling the clay with a red glaze over it to see what happens!

Progress pics below the cut

[artsy-apricot]

Sgraffito carved animals based on real prehistoric cave paintings.

This was thrown with Black Mountain clay, and I used slip from my regular stoneware to coat the surface, so the dark lines are actually the black clay showing through. This was my first try at sgraffito, too! I loved it and I will definitely be doing more.

I was inspired by @claypigeonpottery’s pottery and @eredhes’s sculptures (and a now lost post where someone got a tattoo of the Lascaux horse). See below the cut for more details, and info on the original cave paintings.

Rhino from Chauvet Cave (c.33,000-c.30,000 years ago), Bison from Chauvet Cave (38,500-34,100 years ago)

Mammoth from Rouffignac Cave -- The Cave of a Hundred Mammoths (13,000-7,800 years ago), Horse from Lascaux Cave (17,000-12,000 years ago)

Not pictured above (an accent on the bottom that I forgot to take nice pics of after it was finished, also, it came out a bit smudged): Owl from Chauvet Cave (c. 30,000 years ago)

Finally, take a look at how that copper red glaze came out!

[eredhes]

Wow! Gorgeous work!

[artsy-apricot]

Thank you so much!!

[artsy-apricot]

Sgraffito carved animals based on real prehistoric cave paintings.

This was thrown with Black Mountain clay, and I used slip from my regular stoneware to coat the surface, so the dark lines are actually the black clay showing through. This was my first try at sgraffito, too! I loved it and I will definitely be doing more.

I was inspired by @claypigeonpottery’s pottery and @eredhes’s sculptures (and a now lost post where someone got a tattoo of the Lascaux horse). See below the cut for more details, and info on the original cave paintings.

Rhino from Chauvet Cave (c.33,000-c.30,000 years ago), Bison from Chauvet Cave (38,500-34,100 years ago)

Mammoth from Rouffignac Cave -- The Cave of a Hundred Mammoths (13,000-7,800 years ago), Horse from Lascaux Cave (17,000-12,000 years ago)

Not pictured above (an accent on the bottom that I forgot to take nice pics of after it was finished, also, it came out a bit smudged): Owl from Chauvet Cave (c. 30,000 years ago)

Finally, take a look at how that copper red glaze came out!

[artsy-apricot]

#these are SO COOL!!!!!!!! #i love everything about them!!!!!!!! #even the smudged owl!!!!!! #ESPECIALLY the smudged owl tbh!!!!!!!

@lady-harrowhark THANK YOU!! you’re very sweet and I appreciate you!! 💛

Ok I’m home now I can share more pictures of Smudged Owl

He got.. a little too toasty

[claypigeonpottery]

all sold

some of my cave painting pieces

[akhuna01]

Oooh! A few weeks ago i decided that I want to make a cave art inspired wall hanging from clay! Horses, and that adorable bear.

Your pieces are soooooooo beautiful 😍 they make me want to do it even more!

[claypigeonpottery]

thank you 😊 If you do make your own cave art, please add them to this post! I’d love to see them

[artsy-apricot]

I found this post so inspiring I had to join in!

This was my first sgraffito piece and I'm so happy with how my little cave buddies turned out 😭 More pics and info on my main post!

Thanks so much for making such beautiful things and inspiring me!

[claypigeonpottery]

they’re beautiful! the darker clay underneath definitely adds to the cave painting aesthetic. I might have to do some brown clay cave art pottery

I’m so glad my pieces inspired you! 🥰

[artsy-apricot]

Yeah I was going for a stone look and it seems to have worked! I think if I do more, I’ll also accent them with red-brown underglaze on top to mimic the red ochre and other such pigments used in many Paleolithic paintings.

Thank you so much for your kind words! It means a lot 🥰

[claypigeonpottery]

all sold

some of my cave painting pieces

[akhuna01]

Oooh! A few weeks ago i decided that I want to make a cave art inspired wall hanging from clay! Horses, and that adorable bear.

Your pieces are soooooooo beautiful 😍 they make me want to do it even more!

[claypigeonpottery]

thank you 😊 If you do make your own cave art, please add them to this post! I’d love to see them

[artsy-apricot]

I found this post so inspiring I had to join in!

This was my first sgraffito piece and I'm so happy with how my little cave buddies turned out 😭 More pics and info on my main post!

Thanks so much for making such beautiful things and inspiring me!

[artsy-apricot]

Sgraffito carved animals based on real prehistoric cave paintings.

This was thrown with Black Mountain clay, and I used slip from my regular stoneware to coat the surface, so the dark lines are actually the black clay showing through. This was my first try at sgraffito, too! I loved it and I will definitely be doing more.

I was inspired by @claypigeonpottery’s pottery and @eredhes’s sculptures (and a now lost post where someone got a tattoo of the Lascaux horse). See below the cut for more details, and info on the original cave paintings.

Rhino from Chauvet Cave (c.33,000-c.30,000 years ago), Bison from Chauvet Cave (38,500-34,100 years ago)

Mammoth from Rouffignac Cave -- The Cave of a Hundred Mammoths (13,000-7,800 years ago), Horse from Lascaux Cave (17,000-12,000 years ago)

Not pictured above (an accent on the bottom that I forgot to take nice pics of after it was finished, also, it came out a bit smudged): Owl from Chauvet Cave (c. 30,000 years ago)

Finally, take a look at how that copper red glaze came out!

[artsy-apricot]

I finished embroidering my shorts! It took a few restarts, lots of tailors chalk applied meticulously with a ruler, and being shelved for about 6 months, but the hot weather lately finally inspired me to finish them.

This is sashiko style embroidery, specifically hitomezashi, even more specifically a classic persimmon flower pattern. What a fun and simple technique, with beautiful impact! Even better, by leaving some slack in the thread, and completing the pattern in separate sections, the shorts maintained their stretchiness.

Yokota Daruma thick sashiko thread on NYDJ shorts, hand embroidered by me.