Belly Out

It is good to have a friend who is a journalist.  She remembers to take pictures when I don't.  Thanks to Megan (once again) for sending me a cool picture to include here. 

So what am I doing in this photo?  First of all, I feel compelled to point out that I am wearing shorts.  They just don't show much under my apron.  As for the pottery, this is that last couple of pounds of clay from a bag that had been open for a while.  It was kind of hard and difficult to work with, so I thought I'd just see what I could make it do.  

In this picture, I am using a stick to "belly out."  

From www.thefreedictionary.com   Verb1.belly out - swell out or bulge out 

I started with a cylinder and left the walls kind of thick.  I choked the top in to keep the opening small.  This was to be sure that I could close in the top when I was done.  Then, since the opening at the top was too small for my hand, I used a throwing stick to push the clay out while the wheel turned.  This stretches the clay and after a few passes creates a wide, round "belly" in the pot.  In this particular case, I wasn't able to stretch the clay very far.  I'd hoped to make something almost globe shaped, but the walls started to rupture.  I "saved' the pot by using a metal rib to compress the clay and fix the sides where the problems were beginning.  

Then, I choked the top in a little bit more and pulled that extra clay up to make sort of a spout at the top.  I  flared it out a little bit to make it prettier, and decided that I'd done what I could with that lump of clay.  The result is heavier than I'd like since I wasn't able to stretch out the belly as far as I'd hoped.  I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow to show what the end piece looks like.