Woo Blue Wood Fired Vase
Woo Blue Wood Fired Vase
This striking wood fired vase is the perfect size - it can handle a bouquet of flowers to make a gorgeous centerpiece, but it would also look lovely with just a few florals or long feathers. The woo blue glaze reacts beautifully to the wood fire atmosphere, and the glossy blue color contrasts perfectly with the bare, wood fired clay texture on the belly of the piece.
The vase stands nearly 8" tall, it measures about 3 1/2" across the lip, and it's about 4 1/2" wide at the belly. It's a really versatile size - large enough to use as a center piece, or just small enough to brighten up an office or side table.
This piece was thrown on my potter's wheel using white Bmix clay. The texture was created by painting a thick layer of brown slip (watered down clay) on the outside of the pot, and dragging a jagged brush through the wet slip as it was slowly spinning on the potter's wheel. To add the spiral shape, I pressed a rib against the outside wall of the pot, as my fingers pressed from the inside. I moved my hands up the pot as it spun, pressing the rib into the side of the pot to create the swirl and shape.
The top and inside of the vase was glazed in Woo Blue glaze, a soft, ocean blue when used on white clay and fired in a wood kiln. The outside of the vase was left bare, so that the atmosphere of the wood fire in the kiln could add its own marks and color directly onto the clay. Wood firing produces a rich and varying finish on bare clay, every wood fired piece is truly unique. This piece was wood fired at the Desert Dragon Pottery Studio in North Phoenix AZ.
Wood firing pottery is a traditional method where pottery is fired in a kiln fueled solely by wood, resulting in unique colors, textures, and patterns due to the interaction of flame and ash with the clay surfaces. The process infuses every piece with both the warmth of the fire and the community effort involved in firing the wood kiln.