AusBonsai

This is a collaboration of three....

Vinni@living with diamonds, the exquisite silver cradle

Penny@mudlark, the perfect glaze

Pat@mirkwood, the egg...80x70mm (in its cradle)

What was once an idea for my now botched shohin comp maple is now going to be a home for a miniature native orchid....maybe!!

Cheers, Pat

Hi Pat
Lovely result of your collaboration!
Is this the start of something new??? Hope so I'd love to see more of these.
Jennifer

That's very impressive!

Thanks Jennifer.....I think this will be a one-off series, however, I've made about a dozen eggs and glazed 3. In the next firing I'll try some different glazes. I've been looking at Faberge' eggs and dreaming

Thank you too, Mel

Cheers,
Pat

Hi Pat,

I hope you are well. Bowie says to say hello. I was hoping to come by and say hello on our way to the snow, but I didn't get round to organizing it this year with too much going on for me at the moment. I have promised the kids we'll see snow next winter.

That is an interesting pot you have there. Its very unique.

How is your shohin competition maple going anyway? It was a cute little tree. Cripes it must be cold in the mornings for you Pat. My wife can't stand any morning below 10. Sometimes we wake up and find little Isley lying in front of the heater.

I plan on using those amazing shohin square pots of yours for my competition entries.

I've managed to get my collection of trees down to about 60-70 so far. Cripes its going to be hard to decide which pots to use.
One of the display problems I have is the gum trees. When an occasional limb falls down it would smash your beautiful pots. So for now I plan on leaving all my trees in plastic pots until we move.

Stay warm with a few stouts Pat.

Rory

Lovely compilation there Pat
looks Very cool.

Ken

OK wise guy - how do you support the egg in the glaze firing?

Very elegant. You'll be wearing cravats next, zooming off to the polo in your Austin Healey.

Gavin

Great egg ! Gavin , I would try it upside down on a prop with alumina or wadding on top of the pod . Graham

That should read " ... on top of the prop . " Graham

Yeah, my thought too, but I just wanted him to admit it... Too clever.

Gavin

I was going to spill the beans in response to Gavin's post but since you've jumped in......

I could have done as you both suggest but there are a couple of very good reasons for not doing so.

For now I'll tell you that the egg was not sitting on anything, inside or out, for the simple reason that it is glazed in entirety
i.e., inside and out, top and bottom......next!!?!!

Cheers,
Pat

So you stood there in the kiln, slowly rotating the egg every ten seconds to avoid leaving finger marks, for 12 hours to 1250degC? Come clean, you devious genii. You cannot suspend gravity on command, not even you.

Stay warm,

Gavin

At the risk of extending the nausea just a bit too far I'll give you a couple of hints to get the grey matter moving.
There's a hole in the bottom of the pot (obviously), and two, it's a fibre kiln.

The first clue is imperative; two/ less so, but certainly makes the process easier.

I'll post an 'egg' to the first person (open to all), who can solve the 'mystery' using BOTH clues

Cheers,
Pat

You placed a rod through the base of the egg and had it in the kiln like a BBQ chicken??

Close Rory , but no cigar . I think he made a clip of kanthal wire that put pressure on the sides of the drainage hole then hung the egg upside down from whatever device is holding the fibre lining of his kiln in place . Cheers Graham