Bowls
I have made a lot of these bowls, (2001 - 2007) the ones with the melted glass (I call them 'sunburst' bowls) are really satisfying to make, because each time I fire a kiln load, I can't predict how the heat on the glass will affect the slip colour painted onto the interior of the bowl, sometimes it can scorch the outline of the design in a really attractive way like the 'Branches bowl' other times it barely has any effect, 'Jellyfish bowl'.
The bowls themselves are constructed from a slab of my favourite heavily grogged clay pressed into a mould. I use a Wok lid or the Wok itself, and for a flatter version, a shallow glass bowl, I tend to make use of anything that is to hand really! The channels down which the melted glass can flow are chased out with a flat head screwdriver and the glass itself, decorative glass nuggets used in plant/candle displays.
I have also made a good number of the hand painted bowls. Constructed in the same way as the 'sunburst' bowls from a simple slab of clay, painted with coloured slip (liquid clay) with a bold abstract design applied by brush onto the surface using a metallic glaze. The designs aren't worked out beforehand, I tend to work spontaneously and decisively, once the design is down I can build up a nice thick layer of glaze and tidy up the outlines.
