Michelle Harris
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Michelle Harris
@mi-harris.bsky.social
140 followers 400 following 130 posts
reader and maker, Canadian #clay #pottery #quilt #folkart
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day5 of #20quilts
made this one a few years ago
#quilt #quilting
quilt made from half-rectangle triangles combined into diamond shapes. blocks arranged in a brick wall like staggered way. diamonds are navy pink and lime green with a low-volume background
February 8, 2025 at 3:31 AM
day 12 pf #20pots
it’s odd to take photos of objects I have used because in a photo I notice all the imperfections and places that are not symmetrical, or a bit wonky, whereas in real life I don’t notice those things. I like to use this saucer for toast or snacks
#cone6 #oxidation #screenprintonclay
saucer about 5” x 7”, slab built from white stoneware it has an irregular shape with 10 sides and a slightly wavy edge. It is decorated with 4 layers of underglaze- beige then white, brown and golden yellow. it features a brown bird on a branch and many brown dots on the edge of the plate and where the flat center meets the rim
February 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM
more and more glaze tests… learning about how they interact with each other,
#potteryglaze #glazing #cone6 #oxidation
on a table top, there is a variety of test tiles, cylinders, bowls and mugs, in a variety of colors and shades
February 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I do a lot of underglaze decoration, but never think to take a before photo,
although….. I did take some of some large slab platters, but I don’t have the after photos!
an oval platter, with underglaze decoration, of 5 trees and some hills behing them. in the foregrouns are 4 blur birds flying. underside of a platter, with underglaze, before firing. entirely painted in turquoise underglaze, with some white slip trailed borders and some incising on the border to see the white glaze below
February 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
day 11 of #20daysofpots
more mugs—- I love to make mugs!
#potterymug #clay #20pots #cone6 #oxidation #pottery #ceramic #keramik
two mugs with straight sides and a rounded edge at the base. they are fully covered in an underglaze gradient from turquoise at the base, merging into medium, then light green and sky blue at the top. some vertical lines are incised and filled with black underglaze, topped with some freeform areas of teal. glazed with transparent glaze except for the interior of one mug being a transparent light green,
February 5, 2025 at 12:59 AM
day 4 of #20quilts
not often do I sew the same design twice, but this scrappy 9-patch “plus-sign” block was an exception. flannel on the back, of course! the finished size of each square is 1-1/2”
#scrappyquilt #20day #quilting #quilts #Longarmquilting
scrappy quilt of all colors, using a nine-patch “plus” color placement,
February 4, 2025 at 4:13 AM
day 10 of #20pots
from about 5 yrs ago, a handbuilt mug with screenprinted underglaze, slip trailed dots and a foray into commercial decals,
one of my favorite colour combos!
#screeprintonclay #pottery #handbuiltmug #cone6 #oxidation
close-up shot of a hand-built mug, on a light colored stoneware. there is an area of screen-printed chevron pattern in turquoise and royal blue, and a dark gray rabbit on the bare clay part of the mug. commercial decals of some pink roses and leaves were applied in 3 or 4 places on the cup
February 4, 2025 at 12:52 AM
day 3 of #20quilts
a throw quilt is nice, especially in winter. Scrappy again, and also another simple repeated block
#quilts #quiltersofbluesky
photo of a throw quilt, 30 pine tree blocks in a 5 x 6 grid, on an off-white background and sashing with red cornerstones. quilting is a wood grain design section of the same quilt, with some Christmas decorations on a table in the foreground
February 3, 2025 at 2:36 AM
day 9 of #20pots

Over time, my favorite mug shape has been this short concave shape with a rounded lip at the bottom. It was the shape most often made by my pottery hero, Mel Bolen, who was so kind and extremely talented. i don’t think I will ever throw this shape without thanking him in my head
View one of a tumbler about 3 inches tall, light clay body with underglaze decoration covered by a clear glaze view 2 of the same pot, showing a large bird on a branch
February 2, 2025 at 9:25 PM
day 3 of #20quilts
this quilt was still in process of being quilted with straigh lines, but it shows what a difference the quilting makes when the very flat quilt top is being quilted into a more 3-dimensional object
#quilting #scrapquilt #quiltersofbluesky
a closeup of part of a quilt being quilted. the left side shows the flat quilt top, unquilted, and on the right side, lines of straight stitching shows how much texture is created by the process. the quilt is pieced from a variety of pink, navy, gray and off-white fabrics
February 2, 2025 at 12:31 AM
day 7, I think, of #20 pots
this is a little mug I took out of the kiln yesterday, I am getting close with the teal glaze, just need a bit more blue in it. I actually have 3 teal glazes like this, but all 3 react differently when layered with another glaze.
#glazetesting #cone6 #pottersofbluesky
a small mug, with fluting on the upper 2/3rds of the mug body. Transparent glaze inside, and teal transparent on outside. the rim has a dark grey glaze. pulled handle.
February 2, 2025 at 12:24 AM
day 2 of #20quilts

a few years ago this giant snowflake design was popular. I love to see quilts at that time in the afternoon when the sunlight comes in and highlights the quilting lines. It was a giant grid, so the quilting is a variety of grid designs
#scrapquilt #longarmquilting (by me!)
photo showing a portion of a blue and white scrap quilt. the design is made up of squares that create a blue snowflake against the white background. the quilting lines are clearly defined by the sunlight shining across the surface.
January 31, 2025 at 11:40 PM
day 7 already of #20 pots

throwback to when I was starting out in clay, and I developed a line of functional ware with bunnies on the handles,
#conesix #oxidation #bunnypottery
a pottery plate, with an ivory satin glaze with onglaze decoration of pink flowers and pale green leaves. 2 handles in the shape of rabbits chase each other
January 31, 2025 at 5:26 PM
20 days of pots is fun, maybe 20 days of quilts would be a good idea,
#20quilts

Day 1
I like quilts with bright colors, and simple repeated patterns,
#quilting #scrapquilt #longarmquilting
little black dog on a quilt. repeated simple block in a 5 by 6 grid with wide sashing
January 31, 2025 at 3:06 AM
day 6 of #20pots
last year I started adding texture to the rims of bowls, I like to fill the indents with a spot of colored glaze, and the texture feels nice when using them
#pottery #conesix #oxidation #clay
wheel thrown bowl about 5 ‘ tall and 8 # diameter, with textured rim indents filled with pale green glaze, ynderglaze and slip decoration, covered in clear glaze a taken-from-above shot of the same bowl, highlighting the rim. interior of pot also has a blue border about 5cm wide with mishima filled with black underglaze
January 30, 2025 at 4:57 PM
day 5 of #20pots
several years ago, made lots of these small slab plates, they were so fun to decorate, I still use the one on top quite often,
and I still use dots and mishima a lot
#cone6 #oxidation #M370 #potteryhandbuilt
shows the edges of 3 slab built plates in a stack. white stoneware body with multiple layers of underglaze and impressed lines. lots of slip trailed dots
January 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM
day 4 of #20pots

this hand built slab vase is from about 9 or 10 years ago, when i was screenprinting on clay a lot, it’s about 12” tall, Plainsman clay, m370 #underglaze, #cone6 #oxidationfire
(sorry for the poor photo)
slab built vase, mid fire, white clay with screen printed elements in underglaze, and some impressed textured lines filled with blue slip
January 28, 2025 at 8:12 PM
a sardine store in an airport in portugal, sorry I don’t seem to have closeup of the individual tins! but they were amazing! never saw anything like it
shelves and shelves of sardine tins a red caravan display holding various tins of sardines
January 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
unpacked my little kiln of glaze tests, some encouraging signs, but many things to discard, it’s a bit of a letdown usually
however, I am really happy with a new green crackle glaze and Sven’s Temoku!
there is a lot to learn #cone6 #oxidation #potteryglaze tests
A close-up of some test tiles, of C6 glazes in oxidation an overview of many test ties on a table, and a few mugs, with colour glazes in cone 6 oxidation another view of test tiles and a few mugs with some cone six oxidation glazes A photo of test tiles and vases with glaze on before they are fired
January 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
day 3 of #20pots
bowl about 3” tall and 10 inches in diameter, underglazes, mishima, and clear glaze, #cone6 #oxidation
bowl about 3” tall and 10 inches in diameter with a textured rim and decorated with 2 jumping rabbits, a vine with green leaves, and a blue band with clouds
January 27, 2025 at 9:15 PM
day 2 of #20pots #underglaze #cone6
photo of a small mug made with porcelain and underglaze decoration, brown wavy lines and small pink cherry blossoms
January 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Choose 20 pots or ceramic pieces you’ve made. Share one piece per day for 20 days, no particular order.

I need to take photos of more recent pots! but I’ll start with more “historic” pots, they were quite small,

#20pots #wayback #slab #mishima #porcelain
photo of 4 small slab dishes with black mishima patterns
January 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
thanks for posting this, some are new to me…
maybe I’ll print it up and post it beside this page I drew up about 10 yrs ago and pinned on my wall, good to know it’s there if my mind goes blank when it’s time to decorate, lol
diagram of ideas on ways to divide a circle for decorating
January 25, 2025 at 4:11 AM