Now that the show is over....

...it's time to get back into the mud. Made a 14" diameter bonsai on Sunday that I'll trim up today. Got invited to a bonsai sale Dec 4th so I'll be making some shohin and mame pots this afternoon. Then I'll need to stock up for another bonsai sale in April. Stay tuned for photos of my latest creations.

Trimmed foot and texture detail

Unexpected results

Experimenting with various materials to advance my cracking textures. Most the time sand leaves a course surface


but this black reptile sand melted giving the it a smooth lava like texture. Will be doing more tested with, maybe some square or rectangles. Got lots of ideas...

My next commision, test pots

Got a request for a 14" diameter bonsai pot, he wants the fissures to golden yellow and the dark brown with a rim. After some thought I made these to see how easy/difficult it would be to create.

1st attempt the rim came out too heavy and the walls too vertical


2nd came out much better, nice round shape with a finer rim.

One more test before starting the large pot, stay tuned....

Saggar test

I've been reading about saggar firing and found a guy in England that does it in an electric kiln. After seeing his work I thought it was time I tried. Using an old stoneware nursery pot, kiln batting and a kiln shelf (for the lid). Now I just needed a shino recipes, selected Malcolm Davis just because of the least ingredients. Not sure how to apply the glaze and how many coats to get the best results I simply brushed it on.


Not bad, just need to play with glaze application some. Most exciting thing is I can now do some reduction work!

Conophytum springbokensis

Purchased this for a $1, not really into Aizoaceae but I was told this one quite old.

Looks pretty good in one of my 3in round pots

Pachypodium brevicaule

Purchased this beauty in 2006, the winter of 2007 it rotted. I cleaned out all dead tissue and was left with half the plant. I was told the only way to save it was to graft it onto lamerei. I'm not a fan of graft so I attempted to root it. After 16mo it started to push new foliage, I knew it had finally rooted and flowered soon after



Made a simple shallow bowl to be able to show it off


While it looks kinda cool I wasn't happy with the presentation. It needed a wider container, I started playing with ovals until I created something worth of this baby.



2 months later I entered it in the 25th Inter City C&S Show and won a blue ribbon and outstanding specimen!

Adenia spinosa

Have had this plant for years in a 14in terracotta pot and decided to repot into a container I made 2yrs ago. How knows why I waited till now to combine the two. Pot is 16in wide by 3in deep.

Before you get all psycho about me drastically pruning the roots let me tell you I did not have to. The taproot had rotted some time ago and was sending out new roots so none were harmed in this staging.

Seyrigia humbertii

Purchased this specimen 2yrs ago from a private collector, it was nice but I wanted to something more with it
Last year I decided to add it to my list of 2010 show plants. After some thought and some major pruning this is what I ended up with...a blue ribbon winner at the Inter-City C&S show.

The pot is a 6in oval

cracked bonsai

Astrophytum commission complete

Took me some time to figure out what type of pot to make. Created 2, the 1st was too formal and did not look right with this gnarly of a plant. I looked at habitat photos to come up with this design and staging. The is 12" diameter and 3" deep. The owner was very happy with the way it turned out, so happy she is inviting me over to find other plants I can stage.

Next big project

Well here it is, a 25lb block of clay transformed into 16" diameter crackpot. It's either going to house a large Operculicarya or Cyphostemma (may not be big enough for the Cypho), all depends on the final look.

Couple new pots

To be a 4in tall cylinder

This one will be a 9" oval bonsai

My next commission

A 30+yo Astrophytum that I will design a container and stage it for Mrs. V. The craziest myriostigma I've ever seen, she says the right arm started to twist and go prostrate some years ago.

Euphorbia enormis

One of my favorite recent pots, have looked through all my plants to find something when I came a cross the enormis. Only problem the roots were 4” deeper than the 1.5” depth of the pot. Got my pruners and remover the fattest roots and repositioned the thinner ones. Pot is 6” wide

Euphorbia decidua

I've had this plant for a couple of years and kept it in a 6in nursery pot till today. This latest creation came out of the kiln this morning. Caudex is 2.5in wide.

Tear Down Time lapse

I've been playing with time lapse photography for a few weeks now, trying to get the settings right so I could do the short video of the tear down of the Cactus and Succulent show last weekend.

Sacramento Cactus & Succulent Show Tear Down from Kitoi T on Vimeo.

Low fire

Received a request to make some low fire pots. Oxides don't melt at 1922f so I added some 3134 frit to reduce the melting point of the manganese dioxide.

Chop or my signage

Have been busy making pots and getting ready for the 1st C&S show of the year. The Sacramento C&S club show and sale is May 1st. There's a load of pots in a bisque fire this morning and will fire again on Wednesday so I can a have a couple pots done by Friday for setup.


As you can see this is how you can identify a Kitoi pot. I've been attempting to design a stamp but have not been happy with the results so far. I'll keep trying....

Disappointment

After many hours and effort this is the result. This 18" oval cracked horribly....but why? having sharp edges along the fissures I'm guessing the damage occurred on the cool down.

Shallow Bonsai Pots

A couple of bonsai containers from my last firing. Both are 1.25" deep and both oval. The 1st one has a 12.5" diameter. A Jatropha is destined for this pot.

The 2nd is 7.5" wide

Drying Big pots

Thought I'd better post something to show I'm still at it.

My next project is a large oval, finished dimensions will be approximately 18"x 4" deep. The intention is for an Operculicarya to be staged in a wind swept style, hopefull to be completed by the August for the Intercity show in L.A.

Here are a few more large pots drying


The plastic under the bottom pot is too keep the feet from drying too fast while resting on a sheet of plywood, if the plastic was not there the wood would wick moisture out too quickly causing the feet not to bond properly.

Dorstenia gigas

Dorstenia gigas, 31cm tall x 6cm at soil level

Bud detail

Pot detail

Favorites from my last firing

3" round, love the way the fissures twist and lift

3.5" oval, the mixture of RIO and manganese give it a rock look

8" oval, cracks from top to bottom

6" round, not sure why I just like it

5" round, great ash glaze!

Oxalis gigantea

Out of the kiln