Pottery
Well, I’m back on this journey that is pottery.
In 2022 I took a short weekly course for beginning pottery and, oh, it was way harder than it looks. I was able to make some really tiny pots, mostly about 1-2inches, with my largest pot closer to a 4×2inch size. I loved it, but let my membership at the studio expire.
So, here we are, back at it. Delving back into the youtubes and the tiktoks to understand how to do this thing. I will say, I feel way more capable somehow, and I feel a connection with my improved procedural dexterity at my job. Here’s what I’ve made so far!
This is the one piece I made that came out the way that I had expected it to. Green shino glaze, single layer on white clay. The bottom is underglaze that I placed before bisque firing. Love this thing!
Our instructor taught us a body mechanic which let me throw bowls successfully for the first time. With that, there were many firsts. I tried using a rib to really remove the slip and clean the bowl on the wheel. I flattened the top rim. When I trimmed, I was able to try out the suction technique on the wheel and trimmed a foot. With the foot, I carved out a few spots to make gaps. It survived bisque fire, and ultimately, I really love the way the glaze settled on this one. In some lights, it looks iridescent. I think this was orange matte glaze with a powder blue center on white clay.
Some pics from trimming and after the initial bisque fire.
This was my first attempt with trying to make one of those berry bowls I’ve seen on the interwebs. It wasn’t so difficult to get the center part going but, this was my third bowl ever, so I struggled more so with building the bowl. Because I knew the bowl I threw was too small, I didn’t attach the spout that is usually on these berry bowls. But it was perfect practice for the second attempt.
I didn’t have enough depth to make a proper foot, so I actually rolled a coil and slip/scored the little feet on. I like how it turned out! Good little trick. I also wanted to play with glaze. This was a single dip of root beer glaze and a brushed stripe of pike’s purple. Here’s what I learned- the root beer lays on thick, so I didn’t double dip, but I wish I did. I think that’s why it is translucent in so many spots. With the purple, I should have really layed it on. The areas where it is thick are really wonderful. A partial dip would be cool. Something that I was worried about with this was glaze dripping through the holes, as well as the integrity of the holes. So, prior to firing, I took a needle tool and scraped the excess glaze off the interior of the holes. I think this was successful.
Overall, I don’t really care for this piece but it was very helpful in terms of being able to try things for the first time.
So then I moved on to a second attempt, which you see above! This is the largest bowl I’ve thrown to date. I really like a lot of aspects of this guy, just sad it doesn’t actually work well as a spinny berry bowl. Oh well, still a success in my book!
So, I threw the bowl, used the rib to clean it up on the wheel, and then when it was leatherhard I flattened the rim and then used that flat side to suction it onto the wheel for trimming. I had a good amount of clay at the base to to get a foot out of it- my best yet! I also was pleased with the consistent thickness I achieved as a pulled the walls up. This was also the first time I burnished a piece- just used a flexible rib- which made the piece so much more polished. After that, I poked the holes, carved out the middle guys, and attached the spout.
For glazing, I tried out the airbrusher. I used orange matte on the inside and then a mix of the orange matte and white on the outside. I think I need more practice with the airbrush but I think I’m going to like it! It realy comes out even and clean. I want to try a rainbow at some point.
I do need to study some successful pieces first but I think that I will get a better berry spin if the spout enters the bowl lower and if the bowl bottom was less flat and more rounded. TBD.
Ok, and finally, what I made out of scrap clay that I love the most- my Mystical Tia.
In all honesty, it didn’t come out exactly how I envisioned. But, I love it.
Before bisque fire I used black, white, and pink underglaze and then sent it for fire. Pictures of that result are below.
When I got it back from bisque, there were some areas of imperfections where I put underglaze on, then in an effort to have a couple different textures, I dipped the whole thing in the satin clear glaze. I wiped the glaze from the nose and eyes and used a black glossy glaze in the area. Well, I didn’t realize that the satin glaze had an opaque quality, hence why the piece came out with a blue-ish tone. I do like the effect, but it was not what I intended for this piece. You can count on me trying again!
And finally, here are a couple baby vases that came to fruition that didn’t come out anywhere near how I wanted but, they exist. My sgraffito failed so hard! I am most interested in perfecting it.
In all, pottery fun, glad to be doing it. There are so many things I want to make!! Watering bells, mugs, bowls, sponge holders… Getting ready for christmas now I guess lol
Thanks for reading this far!
xo A
