Whales!
Published May 6, 2012
My totem pole is almost finished and this is the top sphere – a smoke fired globe with whales and water
I have only used metal oxides to colour the clay
I used manganese, red iron and cobalt oxide – the smoke did the rest!
My inspiration for the sculpture is Dylan Thomas’s poem ‘The green fuse’ I wrote about it in an earlier post http://annakeiller.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/the-green-fuse/.
Ceramic workshops; bowl making
Published May 3, 2011A new ceramic workshop is planned at my studios in Dudley Road, Hastings, for May 14th at 10-3pm.
There is still one place available if you care to join us!
During this workshop we will concentrate on making bowls without using a potter’s wheel. I have made some plaster molds
from which to create individual bowls
Here is one such press molded bowl. It has got melted glass tessarae in the bottom.
This is another bowl – the frogs are added while the bowl is still inside the mold.
This bowl was made with the clay wrapped around the outside of the mold instead of on the inside. The possibilities are endless…
Find out how to join at http://annakeiller.com/workshops/workshop-diary/
Or email me here
Sold…Fat Birds
Published April 25, 2011
A couple of ceramic Fat Birds winged their way up north as an Easter gift…The bird sculptures are hand built and glazed with cobolt oxide and transparent glaze and then smoke fired. Size 6”x5”
See more at www.annakeiller@wordpress.com
Ceramic torso vase, the final result.
Published April 6, 2011
The ceramic torso vase looks pretty different from side to side, and that is down to what happened during the smoke firing process. I used red Botz glaze for the hearts,
while the body had a wash of copper, manganese and red iron oxide. It is glazed with transparent glaze on the inside to render it water tight and also to add a bit of contrast to the matt finish outside.
Oannes vs Cupid
Published March 8, 2011So here I am struggling with my Sky God, Oannes. As many other ancient Gods he is believed to have travelled from the dog star Sirius in a heavenly
ship, an ancient alien who taught the early Sumerians all they knew about civilisation.
And try as I might, I can’t get down to the serious business of homage; I would like to create a ceramic sculpture of Oannes. I have spent entire days in my studio, surrounded by fish heads from the beach and with tales from ancient Babylon and Mali whirling in my mind – I still come up with frippery.
Here is Cupid 
At least he has wings, so I am on the right track. I believe I’m going to make an entire new ceramic House God series based on this formula; Gods of Benevolence and Delight…
To see more, please go to my website at www.annakeiller.com
Autumn mist and ferns
Published October 5, 2009
Hunter’s Moon has passed and I feel relieved and sleepy…. This full moon was pink, huge and loud and it keept me awake several nights in a row. But now mellowness has returned. The earth is soft, giving up all her secrets as I walk across to collect ferns for my studio. The air is so moist and fragrant I can see our breath mingle in little clouds of mist. 
Lazy Hydrangeas shining in the rain.
Making a mould from a life cast.
Published April 20, 2009I was beginning to feel jinxed after having tried three times to get a decent life cast of Luke – you can see my earlier attempts in previous blog entries.
This weekend was my last chance to get it right! 
This is the original life cast as I was ripping away the plaster bandages. I then needed to pour plaster on top of it in order to make a mould. Preferably without it getting stuck together or caught by under cuts. So I was soft soaping and remodelling the cast until the early hours of the morning when I finally felt brave enough to pour in the plaster.
And the next day it was time to separate the two lumps of plaster and despite cutting my hands to ribbons with a spatula – it worked!
Now all I need to do is clean up the mould and start working with clay to create a ceramic torso! It has been such a long process and I just can’t wait to get back in the studio to see how it’ll turn out! To see more ceramic torsos please go to www.ANNAKEILLER.co.uk
Smoke firing
Published March 13, 2009Smoke firing is a method of changing the colour of bisque fired or glazed ceramics. When I smoke fire my work I usually put my pieces in a galvanised dust bin packed with sawdust and set fire to it.
This is a ceramic torso that has been coloured with manganese and copper oxide and then glazed with a transparent glaze and fired to 1050C.
This is a torso that has been treated in exactly the same way except it has also been smoke fired. The red colour is copper oxide that turned red because of lack of oxygen in the dustbin.
I will write a lot more about smoke fring so please check out my blog for new updates on a regular basis! This link will take you to another smoke firing entry. http://annakeiller.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/fire-and-earth/
To find out more, please email me here or go to www.ANNAKEILLER.co.uk to see my work.
The roof in my studio was leaking so I thought I’d get the builders in…
Published February 26, 2009They called themselves the Raccoon Willie Crew, little did I suspect…[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROg47j_TiG0] when they said raccoon, they did mean Raccoon!
Be careful who you love…
Published February 19, 2009[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DfGf4M3QZo]
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