Lagann's Pottery

welcome to my pottery blog! i've been doing ceramics on and off for the past 10 years. here i post my works and descriptions. if you feel so moved by any of these works im open to selling.

[lagannpottery]

Jewelry Holder

here is one of my most recent pieces. i made this jewelry holder for myself because all of my daily jewelry is sprawled out on my dresser. i used a clay body called "b-mix" which is a gritty white stoneware, but yet still related to porcelain. i used the same throwing method as i did with the incense/ashtray but left a bigger chunk in the middle. then i took that chunk and raised it to a desired height and fanned out the edges. i couldn't really trim this piece due to it's shape, so i added holes for earrings, cleaned it up, and then fired it. after bisque firing, i wanted to add a simple design to it so i added the black lines with under glaze and then covered everything with 'blue celadon' and gas fired it.

i am so proud of this one because its so useful to me. and i love the way it turned out. i'm glad i used a muted glaze so my jewelry stands out. i have one confession: some of the holes have been sealed by the glaze dripping. unfortunate, but it is something to consider the next time i make one of these. apart from making the holes bigger, i would also make the top lip thinner, and face downward. that would make it easier to put certain earrings in there. but overall, im pleased! happy to be using a piece of mine in a very functional way

[Spring/Summer '25]

[lagannpottery]

Incense Holder / Ashtray II

here is another, smaller incense/ashtray i made for a friend. I threw this with white stoneware, then glazed with 'philly green' on the outside rim and 'ox blood' on the inside. i chose philly green because my friend has just moved into philadelphia! and i chose ox blood because when ox blood goes through an electric kiln it fires to this beautiful turquoise glassy finish. in a gas kiln, ox blood is an opaque red. #chemistry. i need to ask what element/compound causes this reaction but my guess is copper...? very cool none the less!

[Spring '25]

[lagannpottery]

Incense Holder / Ashtray

this is a ashtray i made for one of my friends who requested one. I used white stoneware clay, then glazed it with dark green slip and kitten's green all over. It was electric fired at cone 6.

I really enjoyed making this because of how simple it is. I've never thrown an ashtray before, but the concept is very easy. I just threw a small plate with left over clay in the middle. then, reducing the speed of my wheel, i pulled the clay in the middle up to a cylinder shape. after taking it off the wheel i added a hole in the middle and indents along the side.

[Spring '25]

[lagannpottery]

3lb Vase [glaze fail]

here is another one of my "failures." I was inspired by this photo taken at Cabo da Roca (westernmost point in continental Europe) and I wanted to recreate the color scheme on a 3lb vase I had thrown. I used green underglaze, kitten's green, ox blood, tea glaze, john's cash blue, and liner white for my glazes. I tried painting the glaze on to define the coastline... but it did not turn out the way I had hoped.

making these mistakes helps me learn what i should and should not do. I am not too sad that this vase did not turn out the way I wanted because the structure of the vase is wonky as well. If i were to do this again I would wedge the clay more, I would smooth the sides using a bat, and decide on a better shape. as for the glaze, I got the colors right but the saturation way off. I would need to paint in layers, waiting for the previous layer to dry before applying more. I would also underglaze the ocean part and then apply oxblood on top for the translucent turquoise. overall, good experiment for me to improve upon.

[Fall/Winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Textured Vase

here is a palm-sized piece i made back in my high school ceramics class. the texture comes from a trimming tool being used on the clay which was too dry - so the tool caught and skipped along the surface to create the dragon like scales. i glazed this with a matte white on the inside and a beautiful blue glaze called 'magic'

[Spring '18]

[lagannpottery]

Blue Tea Bowl

believe it or not, i dropped this beautiful blue bowl on the ground and it shattered and then i had to get my dad's help to glue it back together. i very glad it wasn't lost to the forces of gravity because it's one of my favorite pieces!

i made this the summer after high school at the local arts center. i used a light blue glaze all over and then layered a darker blue glaze over the outside. the trimming on the foot is some of my best work i think, i must have gotten help from an instructor. i love the way the glazes interact and the dark blue melts with the light blue to give almost a window-like effect.

[Summer '18]

[lagannpottery]

Vase - Raku fired (1/2)

heres some of my work from the summer in between high school and college. i took a 6 week course at my local art center and had the opportunity to raku fire two of my pieces. here is one. since it was so long ago i struggle to remember the details of how i created this. all i know is that i was so good at trimming feet. this foot is beautiful and i literally do not remember how i managed to do something like this as a mere teenager.

regardless, i glazed this piece with a regular brownish glaze that created a wonderful texture around the outside and the rim. i left the inside unglazed, which resulted in a matte black finish. i love how the raku firing process created a finish so unique, with oil-spill like colors appearing between the cracks of the glaze. it was a very interesting experience that i hope to have the opportunity to do again in my life.

[Summer '18]

[lagannpottery]

Soup Bowl (glaze fail)

throwback to my high school pottery era - i threw this soup bowl out of some reclaimed white stoneware and then i had my friend glaze it since i was sick. she forgot to mix the glaze well and this was the product! although i can never use the bowl for actual soup purposes, it is a beautiful piece on my mother's mantle in her house. i love the drips, i love the ombre from clear to aqua to dark midnight blue. i also love how i put ridges on the base of the foot while trimming, this was back when i lovvveeeed trimming and would always do this to every piece of mine. i want to throw something like this soon!

[Spring '18]

[lagannpottery]

Curvy Cylinder

i threw this cylinder with white stoneware, glazed with toshiko white at the bottom and tea glaze on the inside and top. it was cone 6 electric fired.

one of the most solid pieces i made last fall, i love the amber-y crackle effect the electric fired tea glaze gives, its almost like a tiger's eye crystal. i also love throwing this shape! cylinders are basic but adding grooves to it with my fingers gives it a unique look. i certainly want to try this again, but make it longer and thinner perhaps to be a flower vase. i am currently using this for my makeup brushes.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Drippy Vase

this one is a regular run of the mill vase with an upturned lip but what makes this piece so special to me is the glaze. I used a liner white as a base around the outside and then used "johnny cash blue" (i believe that's what its called) on the inside and dripped around. then with a sponge i used a matte purple glaze "ube" and created an ombre from the rim to where the drips started. this piece, made from white stoneware, was cone 6 electric fired.

i absolutely love the way that blue and purple interacted when i sponged the purple on. both the glazes are very pigmented so I was excited to see flecks of purple show up. around the rim the glazes interacted to create a grey-ish look, maybe it was because i concentrated the ube there and it blended with the blue and white to create grey. regardless, its very beautiful and i need to try this glaze combination again on a bigger vase.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Squashed Vessel

this piece was actually supposed to be the jewelry holder i posted a while ago but i let the clay decide and it wanted to be a squashed vessel. i used two glazes, tea glaze on the outside and philly green on the inside (go birds!). then the piece was fired in a cone 6 gas kiln.

i loveee the way philly green looks when gas fired, its a beautiful oxidized copper with speckles and so much visual texture. i would totally use this glaze combo again and overlap the glazes to see what would happen. i think the philly green could def dominate a glaze mixture.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Etched Vase

this vase i threw with white stoneware. then i forgot about it. then weeks later i found it in no shape to be trimmed. after re-wetting it i had the idea to carve random lines into it. then after bisque-firing, i first glazed with tomato red. then i wiped excess of and reglazed with green celadon to achieve this look.

i like the contrast of the bright red and the translucent green. i think this color combination would be beautiful on a plate with carvings. i want to experiment with the combination again and perhaps make a set of bowls and plates? or maybe cups? or even tiles with etched designs on it.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Two Yellow Bowls (set)

both of these are made using recycled studio clay, glazed with a matte glaze called "woo yellow" and then cone 6 gas fired. the regular looking bowl i intended to make for snacking purposes and the other was for display purposes. it might be obvious that i love the way the rounded bowl turned out. i added extra drips of woo yellow along the rim and outside wall of the vessel. i think along with the browning from the gas kiln, it resembles melted cheese, or a fried egg... something delicious...

i would love to use this glaze again on circular/rounded pieces. adding drips or splotches when gas firing creates colors and depth i never could have predicted.

[fall/winter '23]

[lagannpottery]

Drippy Cylinder (glaze fail) + cat leg

this cylinder made from white stoneware is one of my many glaze fails this past season. glazed this one using a white base called toshiko white and raspberry drips around the rim. obviously the raspberry glaze was not concentrated enough. even if its a fail i still want to catalog it to keep myself #humble lol.

if i ever want to attempt this color combination again i neeeed to make sure to do multiple coats of the raspberry glaze. but to be honest, i don't think i will. this cylinder is just gonna be used as a lowly storage container for something... or i'll just give it away.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Small Ridged Cylinder

this was one of the first pieces i created after a looong hiatus from ceramics. i used "remedial" clay which is my studio's mix of recycled clay - it has a light reddish brown color. after trimming and firing, i used a glaze called "tea glaze" and then gas fired at cone 6.

i love the green flecks of glaze that collect on the ridges. i think this glaze and firing combination is absolutely ideal for any textured pieces. i would totally make a cylinder like this again but just longer - maybe for a pen or brush holder. i also would trim and carve the ridges up till the rim of the cylinder by using a different trimming technique (water/suction on the wheel)

[fall/winter '23]

[lagannpottery]

Bubble Glaze Bowl + *bonus* cat investigating

here is my most successful bubble glaze experiment thus far. on this bisque-fired white stoneware bowl i blew bubbles with black underglaze mixed with water and foaming hand soap. then, i glazed on top of that with green celadon. it was then cone 6 electric fired.

i love how to green celadon glaze gave the black bubbles a bluish hue. on the inside, where there was a high concentration of pigment from the bubble glaze, i notice that the celadon glaze creates a metallic-ish finish. i wonder if that is the foam soap in the bubble glaze reacting with the celadon? im unsure, i'll need to experiment more to determine if that is the case. i really want to make a set with this black underglaze + green celadon combo, its soooo beautiful imo. i think it would be stunning on a plate or a flat bowl or a tile.

[fall/winter '24]

[lagannpottery]

Blush Spiral

with this bowl I opted for a simple design to compliment the simple pink blush glaze i used. i used white stoneware with blush glaze and a spiral design painted on with wax to expose the white stoneware underneath. it was cone 6 gas fired.

its cute simple and easy to do! i think this design + glaze would be wonderful on a set of bowls or plates. i definitely want to try to recreate this with tape so the edges of the spiral would be crisp.

[fall/winter '24]