You can often find me here

You can often find me here

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Candle Holder??

Here's another something new that I tried this weekend.  The inspiration for this piece came from a video clip that my dad sent.  (http://www.wimp.com/puzzlejug/)  While I'm not up to making a puzzle jug, I thought that  the interlocking circles were really cool.  

I threw the vase shape and let it dry a bit.  I think I should have let it dry a little more than I did, but patience is really not one of my strengths.  I measured the circumference of the vase and worked out what size circles I wanted to use.  I marked where the centers should line up and then used a compass to mark the circles.  


That was the fun part.  The not so fun part involved cutting away the pieces that I needed to remove.  I may also regret starting this when the piece is dry and I have to sand it to remove all the sharp edges before firing.  I tried to be as careful as possible and smooth off edges as I worked, but I am sure I missed things.  It was getting late and I was hungry - not a combination for me to do my best work.  


I am less than pleased with the triangles that I cut out at the tops of the circles.  I should have been more careful with them to make them more uniform (the late/hungry thing contributed to this issue as well).  Now that I'm looking at it today, I think I need some cut outs at the bottom too.  I was a little worried about cutting away too much too low and ending up with a piece that was going to collapse under the weight of the clay left at the top.  For a first effort, it's not awful I guess.  Sometimes I need to do something the wrong way so that I can figure out the right way to do it next time.  Will there be a next time?  I really don't know.  It will depend on how much "fun" I have with it from here on.  

For reference (in case you weren't willing to watch the whole video from wimp.com in the link above), this is the jug from the Victoria and Albert Museum that inspired this piece.  




Rectangular Baker

There's an article in the Mar/Apr 2013 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated on making a Rhubarb Crisp Baker that reminded me of a similar article in an older issue that I have read in the last year.  (I can't put my hands on the issue with the other article in it, so it must be an older one that Allen or Ronnie brought in to the studio.)  In both, the project consists of making a ceramic baker by throwing a large ring, altering it, and then attaching it to a slab.  This technique allows the potter to make a square, rectangular, or oval shaped baker.  

This weekend, I gave it a shot.  I took about 4 pounds of clay and threw a large ring.  I left it a little thicker on the rim on purpose.  After a few hours (I went home and took a shower and nap in the interim) when it was dry enough to handle, I cut it off the bat and shaped it into the rectangle that you see here. 

  

While the sides continued to dry, I worked on making the bottom.  I rolled out a slab, moved it to the wheel so that I could add the swirl design, and cut out the rectangular shape that I needed.  


Then I attached the ring to the slab.  The last step was to add the handles.  


For this project, I made this as big as I could.  Honestly I didn't even measure the diameter of the ring before I removed it from the bat, so I have no idea how large this is.  Sometimes I just jump in and see what I can do.  It will be interesting to see what size it is once it is fired twice.  Next time around I might be a little more careful and try to make something that is a standard size.