Teapot Challenge

Should you be looking for a good challenge, learn how to make a vessel in the manner by which another potter does. Same tools, same techniques, same weight of clay. Try teapots. Joseph had been making some teapots last week and I was watching him, seeing how he attached his spouts, made the lids, etc. By the end of the week I decided to make a few of my own, and as I went to make the teapot, Joseph said to make it in the same shape as his. This bellied-out base is somewhat harder to achieve than it may look. It certainly fooled me! I went through about 15 teapots before I really started getting the hang of it and stopped making the walls too thin!

Spouts thrown off the hump

Joseph also has a different way of making spouts than what I was used to, so that was a bit of a late-evening nightmare trying to get the hang of it. Nothing really major to describe, just the shape, thinness, and throwing off of the hump was a lot to control!

Lids

So I got the shape down pretty well (FINALLY), made the lids and let everything dry out a bit before assembling and putting handles on them.

Teapot bodies with spouts

Today I got to decorate the little beasts and was very pleased with the decorations. I am excited to see the results. The darker slip is a manganese slip and should be blackish-brown. The two teapots with slip trailing over most of the upper-half will be glazed entirely in a yellow/brown ash glaze. All of these are going in the salt kiln in April.

Here are my decorations in detail:

I attempted to layer the slips in order to see what the colors would do over one another

I even put a little swirl-action on the top of the knob!

Handles

My usual handle

 For every potter I have ever worked with, I have learned different techniques for attaching and shaping handles. I made some mugs a few days ago and was attaching handles yesterday when Joseph demonstrated how he makes his handles. My usual handle shape is in the photo above.

Joseph's handle

The photo above is the handle Joseph demonstrated. Then I made a few handles. I think I will make some more mugs and continue trying out this style of handle. I do like that the edges of the handle are less sharp, but I have not decided whether I like the rounded juncture at the top.I have also been trying to make pieces of pottery much thinner than I have ever made them, and it is resulting in either some George Ohr sculptures or some decent looking mugs. 3/4 of a pound for a mug! Not a surprise, I know, and I know it's possible, it's just something new! Lots of learning!

My attempts at making a handle similar to Joseph's demonstration

How do you throw?

My little corner of the world at Joseph's

I have thrown on the pottery wheel sitting down for nearly ten years now. I've played around a bit with a kick wheel and tried a little throwing while standing up. At Joseph's I have been throwing on the wheel standing up. For making the larger pieces I have had to stand on several large bats in order to have more height (yeah, yeah, don't laugh). It's kind of a balancing act, but I really like the setup!

Throwing Bigger Pieces

 In apprenticing at Joseph Sand's I am learning about some of the techniques he uses to make larger pieces. While I am not up to the size of the pieces above, I did make two smaller versions of the larger vessels. I threw four roughly 10-12 pound sections this week. The bottom half has a galley and the upper half has a thin rounded edge.The bases for Joseph's pieces above are two 20 pound sections. I am working up to that! It certainly has been a learning experience to grasp (literally) how to manage large amounts of clay!

Sections

Today I joined those pieces together to make what I am plotting as a decorated water cooler. I made the lids today and will finish them up on Friday. I will try and take some more detailed photos of the process when I join the sections I made today.

Joined vessels from the 4 sections

Necessary Evils

Pile of reclaim clay ready to go through the pug mill

One of the necessary evils of making pottery, especially in a production setting, is putting clay through a pug mill. The clay is put into the mill where rotating discs push the clay to the front of the pug mill.

Clay getting ready to be pressed in to the mill

When the clay is pushed forward in the machine, it is compressed through a fine screen and then compressed again into a tube of clay.  

Reclaimed clay coming out of the pug mill

I am not a huge fan of putting clay through a pug mill, however, I intend to own one someday and appreciate the utility of the machinery.

The reclaimed clay was then used to make flowerpots in the afternoon. Joseph said that my small 1 pound rounded flowerpots looked like chamber pots. I have yet to decide whether that was a good thing or not. I am just thankful that we have advanced beyond the horse or mule-drawn mills which potters used to pug clay with. I'd hate to have to buy a mule too!

Warm puppies gathered by the stove all day