There’s a new blue glaze I’ve been dipping stuff in lately, and it is alternately puke ugly and then celestially beautiful. I’m showing you the beautiful ones…
Above, a generous espresso cup with faceted hand-textured surface.
Below, a pair of blue tumblers. One of them is quite normal looking. And then, the other on just one side has an amazing drip that just sets off the blue to perfection, with hues of green, orange and brown in the mix.
Would your hamster like a bespoke home with high ceilings and rounded walls? Rounded walls are so ‘Faraway Tree’! Or is there a homeless frog in your garden who would appreciate some shelter?
These pots were meant to be ‘bird lanterns’ but the birds flew away, leaving behind a pot that looks useful but has had me scratching my head ‘what to do’ for ages (could they be table legs? or fern pots? noooo). So to solve my problem, I’m giving them away for free (one a person) to you if you have a use for one. You can come pick them up from my studio in the KL suburbs, or choose to pay for postage and I’ll ship them to you for a fee of RM15 to cover shipping and handling. Just leave a comment here to reserve and we’ll work it out from there!
The main opening measures around 2.5 inches wide, and the pots are 6-7 inches high. They could also be bird houses for small birds (finch or canary size).
And if I don’t get the chance to wish you in person, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s been an amazing year and I’ve got a fuzzy warm feeling that the next one is going to be even better. For me and you and everybody yeah! (someone take the coffee away…)
One last market outing for the year! I will have prints for sale (including the new whale one), and inky-potted plants as you can see above. Jia Mayne (aka Sis) will be joining me with her ceramic hedgehogs and miniature christmas trees. And playing in my head is ‘o christmas tree – o christmas tree’ this morning…
These vases have been up on the bookshelves for more than a year and I’d forgotten about them until spring-cleaning! I made them in Bali, and carried them back with something like 25kgs of excess baggage. They were part of a precious cargo, none of which I’ve sold (some I gave away, and some broke)… until now.
Cluster of Three Black Raku Vases
Mysterious free-spirited lashings of copper, gold, orange and green are captured on the surface of these organic bodies. Two have been dented and pressed after forming on the wheel for asymmetric interest. One even has a little scratch where a bird perched while it was drying! These vases would look beautiful in bright surroundings. The white of the background really shows them off. The tallest vase measures 24 cm high, with the shortest at 13.5 high. Note that over time, the black parts may fade, especially if exposed to sunlight.
RM360 for the set
This December, I’m potting in more ways than one. The clay kind and the gardening kind of course. All inspired by an encounter with a clumsy cat resulting in bird bowl and bird vase with no bird! It would have been a pity to just throw away the pieces, so I got a ceramic drill bit and made holes at the bases of some of these and got to planting them with a variety of succulents. Other pots with no holes are now home to water plants 
Repurposed Pots with Plants
Making use of pots with small defects which would otherwise be smashed and gone to pot heaven, these pots have been given new life with a variety of plants living happily within. All less than perfect but ready for a home with a heart. All one-of-a-kind. Prices range from RM40 onwards.
ps. look at those beautiful new white walls! and that slatted light gray table… I’m so happy with the new coats of paint in the studio. It’s made all the difference to me.
Be you, be true, love what you do. Ayeeeee. The studio is in shambles right now, as painters move stuff around painting the entire house, and I’ve carefully so carefully moved most fragile stuff indoors. Taking this time to mend the broken legs on a cabinet, and renew a gnawed timber table (the work of two energetic and hungry puppies from a year ago. Thankfully they are past the chewy stage!), paint white a shelf that was sticking out like a sore thumb in black, and do up a poster wall. This is gonna be one of the pieces up there, just so I remember.
Looking at these words, I’m realising that ‘love what you do’ is much deeper than it seems. Because it’s when I make pots with full diligence and attention to detail, step by step with no hurry and a smile in my head… that’s when they are good. And it takes love to do that. Where does this love come from? Perhaps it is simply a desire to do right. Right now. The right way. And love is there.
The blues to me is like being very sad, very sick, going church, being very happy. There’s two kinds of blues. there’s happy blues then there’s sad blues. Don’t think I’ve ever sang the same way twice. Don’t think I ever sing the same tempo. One night it’s a little bit slower the next night it’s a little bit brighter. That’s cause i have ‘feel’
– Billie Holiday
I transcribed this from the prelude to ‘Fine and Mellow’. What do these pots feel like to you?
A new crop of windy blue pots…
Malapascua Winds – Three Cups
I picked up a little prickly seed pod on the beach in Malapascua, Philippines. Did I mention the crazy beautiful powerful sea there? It’s still in my mind. All I wanted to do was sit and watch the waves and sky. On these cups, I used my fingers to track the pod over the lower halves, resulting in a trail of tiny dots for texture. Some black slip for extra colour and a matte blue glaze complete the piece. The matte on some pieces is kinda rough, so these cups may end up holding plants instead. They measure 3.5 inches across.
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Three-Colour Blues Bird Vases
It’s the familiar bird vases, but in new blue tones! Matte blue overlaps with shiny dark blue to produce a frothy blue, with a splash of brown thrown in for extra tonal depth. Measures 5 inches tall without the bird, 6.25 tall with the bird.
RM100 each
SOLD
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Blue Touched Mugs
Large cups to hold lots of water… the way I like it When glazing, I gripped the cups at the base and submerged the piece in glaze, leaving negative areas where my fingers held them. These were touched with a clear slightly greenish glaze for extra interest. Some of the bases have a swirly blue texture too. Sizes vary between 3.5 to 4 inches in height. Again, some of these may be too rough (because of firing method) for use as mugs, so I’ll go through them and some may turn up with plants in the future.
I’ve been considering the idea of a whole table covered with houses ever since Nadiah from Nukilan suggested it. And now it’s finally real! It took a lot of patient sculpting and planning out how to display them – I imagined a seaside cliff town and wanted to recreate that. So this Art For Grabs, it’s going to be just houses and some prints, and sister Jia Mayne will be showing nesting hedgehogs If you’ve got a spare corner on a shelf or window ledge somewhere, could be it’d be improved with a few houses perched there for a little magic!
That’s… tomorrow!!! I’ve been running around like a mad rabbit getting stuff together, and packing for most of today, and I’m almost ready See u there!
One of my biggest weaknesses is for new tools. I’m so guilty of purchasing tools online or in the hardware shop, using them once and then moving on to new projects, when I could get so much more mileage (and mastery) out of just a few core tools. This bowl just reminded me of the chatter tool lying at the bottom of the tool drawer… really should make more use of it, for that rhythmic marking inside it.
Chatter-Tooled Platter
Beautiful earthy platter with iron ‘blossoms’, glazed matte white. The surface is uneven with some bubbling up (1cm) on one side. Chatter tooled inside surface. Perfect for sushi or a small salad!
Measures 7.5 inches across, and 1.75 inches tall.
RM80
SOLD
Bird Vase
A little white bird brings to life a simple cylinder tumbler… good for holding fresh flowers, herbs, water plants or just as it is. Glazed shining white.
Measures 5.5 inches tall including bird, 3 inches diameter
RM80
SOLD
Six Rickety Houses (I)
A special edition! These houses were straight when they were formed, but the hot winds of the kiln swept them all awry! They’d fit in a storybook telling where houses can walk and sing, Tim Burton-esque and spooky-friendly.
Six houses, measuring anywhere from 0.75 inches tall to 1.4 inches tall.
RM90
SOLD
Six Rickety Houses (II)
Another set of rickety houses, these have a more Malaysian feel to them
Six houses, measuring anywhere from 0.75 inches tall to 1.4 inches tall.
RM90
SOLD
It felt weird branding pots after my name - Loo Jia Wen - so I sell them under the name 'inkypots'. Gives me a level of anonymity and allows me to talk about my pots like I am not talking about myself. I am a maker. I find purpose in making things. I don't talk much... in fact, this blog is probably going to be my biggest collection of personal words. Strangely, my other job is that of a copywriter :)
