Two New Aquarium Pieces

Here are two pieces that came out of the kiln Saturday. (Thanks to Maaike for firing them!) I love how they turned out.

The first one is a mini bridge. I overlapped delft blue and textured kiwi and I love how both of them have the same amount of movement. The colors are soft and they totally compliment each other. Still not sure if I’m going bring this little one to the Craft Council Shop or stick it up on Etsy. I should just make a few more and have them in both places.

My second piece is a medium Newfoundland deep sea sponge. Again, I overlapped glazes but this time I used two tones of blue and the contrast is a little more subtle. It stands four inches tall which is a good size for most fish to swim through. That is, unless you have a massive tank, accompanied by massive fish.

A Prettier PVC Pipe

A customer from the craft fair asked me to design a piece for their aquarium. She already has a PVC pipe but wanted something similar in shape but made from clay.

Here’s the picture she sent me of her beautiful tank, full of live plants.

Wednesday night I made two cylindrical pieces. They’re still greenware but you get the idea. Glazes will be two toned, bright and asymetrical. This structure will be more aesthetically pleasing and will also provide more entrances for threatened fish.

Most of my posts have been of unfinished work. Tomorrow that will change! I’ll have a few pictures to share when some pieces come out of the glaze kiln early Saturday. Yay!

New Layout for 55 Gallon Aquarium

Since this blog is fairly new, and I’m posting pictures of my structures, I should probably post pictures of my own aquarium.

This is my 55 gallon aquarium of African cichlids. I have an electric blue, two yellow labs, an albino pindani, blue cobalt, and some sort of unknown rust colored hybrid. They all get along great and because they’re mostly rock dwellers (mbuna cichlids) in nature, they really enjoy the pieces I’ve made them. They love hiding in little crevasses and holes so these pieces really work for them. When they’re scared, they hide so well that the tank looks completely empty.

This particular aquarium has one of my first pieces I’ve ever made, my large bridge. This bridge was quite ambitious seeing how hardly knew anything about clay; however, it did make it through both firings with only a slight split on the side which is not noticeable front on. Both irregular white structures were from last year also. My albino has claimed the one on the right and he’s been busy digging a hole underneath it. It’s his favorite! The last three pieces are fairly new. They’re my large aquarium bricks. These are by far the best pieces in the tank. Every night there a cichlid asleep in each one. They’re dark, full of entrances, yet they’re enclosed enough that they feel completely safe in them. When I move around my tank, they often stay in there as I move them. haha

Anyways. here’s the current layout.