AusBonsai

Last year the NBPCA announced a pot acquisition prize and although I am only an enthusiastic amateur I thought I would like to make a pot to enter into the competition. There was no chance of winning but just participating is the fun part.
So in November I started the design, then commenced the construction. That was followed by a few months of drying, a bisque firing, glaze application and then the final firing. Four months of anticipation coming down to this weeks kiln opening .
Disappointment to say the least! Although the outside looks good in my opinion, the inside not so good .

The outside is awesome; love the texture, the pot body colour and the oval shape.
Commiserations.

What a shame Watto nice looking pot, love the outside texture and colour. My only criticism… (which is just a pet hate of mine) is the top glaze doesn’t go down low enough inside the top of the pot. I find if the soil level is a bit low it shows the clay colour along with glaze drips down the inside. Like I said just my pet hate. My opinion only.
Do you have time left to make another pot Watto? If you do you should as I like your pots.
Cheers
Kirky

Thanks for the kind words.
The glaze on the inside Kirky goes down about 2cm, it gets lighter coloured the lower it goes down, greener at the top and browner towards the 2cm mark.

Just to show I wasn't talking porkies.

That's a nice looking pot I like what you've done here. That's a shame about the cracks after all that effort, but keep up the good work. Onwards and upwards!

Bad luck Watto!!
It was a nice looking pot too. That’s a lot of time and effort for a whole lot of disappointment… it was obviously a pot made by a bonsai guy, drainage holes and wire tie-down points everywhere!!
Hope there was something to learn from this (not sure what, I don’t do ceramics… but hopefully something!) and the next one benefits from this experience… keep at it!

Thanks Watto couldn’t see that on the first pick. Don’t get discouraged keep making pots According to many potters I know it does occasionally happen to even the best of them.
Cheers
Kirky

Is the bottom thinner than the sides? That might be why the sides have stayed stable, and the bottom has pulled itself apart. Or possibly uneven drying - the sides may have been drier than the base when they were put together. I must admit if the sides are intact I'd be awfully tempted to fill the cracks with something stable under constant moisture, and use it... The texture and the glaze treatment on the sides are good fun - nice work!

Gavin

Great idea Gavin! A bit of gorilla glue should do the trick
Cheers
Kirky

Watto wrote:Last year the NBPCA announced a pot acquisition prize and although I am only an enthusiastic amateur I thought I would like to make a pot to enter into the competition. There was no chance of winning but just participating is the fun part.
So in November I started the design, then commenced the construction. That was followed by a few months of drying, a bisque firing, glaze application and then the final firing. Four months of anticipation coming down to this weeks kiln opening .
Disappointment to say the least! Although the outside looks good in my opinion, the inside not so good .

Go to your local repco or burson auto parts and get a glue called Q-bond. It has a graphite powder that yoh sprinkle on the the glue to help it set stronger.

I have done this on a pot back in 2015 and it is still holding together no worries.

It had cracked bottom similar to your pot

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