Tag Archives: art

Decorating With Salt-Glazed Pottery

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Salt glazed pottery is a type of handmade stoneware that is crafted in Maine. One of the largest producers of the beautiful, durable stone ware is Monroe Salt works which is located in the rambling low hills near Penobscot Bay. This stoneware is considered to be both practical and a work of art.

Salt glazing is an ancient technique that was developed in Germany in the fifteenth century. The pottery made at Monroe Salt works is based on this age old practice that starts with baking raw clay in an oven over a period of twenty hours. When the temperature builds to 2300 F employees throw handfuls of salt into the raging fire. When it hits the flame it is vaporized and the vapor imprints itself onto the pottery surfaces to create a glaze.

This salting process also affects the color of each piece. The hue of the final vessel is determined by where it was set in the kiln. The more salt vapor that hits the piece the more likely it is to have a glazed appearance. This results in darker and lighter colored pots as well as pots with dimpled surfaces. No two pieces of pottery are alike.

One of the main characteristics of this type of pottery is how simple and practical it is. The shapes are everyday and meant to be used to serve food in or to hang as art on the wall.

The artists at Monroe Saltworks make images of what they see every day including tall pines, wild flowers, cattails and moose. It is part of how they share the sights of Maine forever.

One of the most popular items of this sort are Bean pots. This type of ceramic fire lends itself perfectly for making this type of pot. The pots are embellished with pine cones, bears, irises and other lovely symbols to do with the flora and fauna in Maine. The bean pots are traditional four quart vessels that are perfect for simmering two pounds of beans in for a long time.

The reason that Monroe Salt Works is so crucial is because it is recognized throughout the world as being the preeminent Salt Glaze studio. It has been reviving this age old technique of glazing pottery since 1971.

Salt glazed pottery can be used for anything including holding flowers, umbrellas –whatever you can think of. The bowls give a particularly lovely rustic touch to a bowl of fruit.

Decorating With Hand Blown Glass

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Hand blown glass is a popular commodity on the Eastern coast of the Southern United States. Perhaps the rustic look of the vases, jars and glasses made this way are reminiscent of the waves and wind of the beach. Hand blown glass also goes well with most cottage décor. Bowls, lampshades and other items give a cottage or summer home a touch of design that is both elegant and casual at the same time.

There are two types of hand blown glass: free blowing and mold blowing. The artisan craftsmanship is mostly found in examples of free blown glass which requires more handling, skill and design sense than glasses made in a mold. The best hand-blown glass is unique and one-of-a-kind.

Blown glass has been around since the last century BC. The technique involves dipping a metal tube into molten glass and then introducing air into the blob at the end of the tube to create a vessel. This is possible because molten glass gradually hardens as it cools.

Free blown glass is considered to be state-of-the art because it requires so much personal handling from the glass blower to look coherent. Short clay pipes are used for blowing glass and they still are. One pipe can be re-used several times to create several layers of glass in one piece.

The artisan creates the shape of the vessel by consistently blowing short puffs of air into the glass and rotating the pipe.

In this case the molten glass is placed at the end of a blowpipe which is then inflated into a wooden or carved mold. How the end product will turn out is more dependent on the mold than the actual skill of the glassworker.

There are two types of molds used to make this type of glass: the single piece mold and the multi-piece mold. The single piece mold is usually used to make basic tableware. The multi-paneled mold allows for more tooling with the surface to create patterns that are in relief.

Individuals who create sculptures and one of kind glass vases are sometimes called lamp workers. Lamp workers use alcohol lambs or bellows driven air to manipulate preformed glass rods and tubes.

Glass art using preformed rods first came into prominence in the sixties along with such famous artists as Hans Godo Frabel, Milon Townsend and Roberty Mickelson. The “studio” glass art movement from blown glass came out of Toledo, Ohio and was pioneered by Harvey Littleton (a ceramics professor) and Dominick Labino (a chemist.) Today thousands of artisans and hobbyists have followed in the footsteps of these masters and are creating incredibly detailed and aesthetically pleasing works of art.