Bottoms Up

Well, bottoms are not up but they are on the pieces I threw last weekend. I also have attached lug handles on all the casseroles and for the three pieces with a galley rim, I have started working on a slab lid - a process I'm not very skilled at yet.

The white powder on some of the pieces is cornstarch which keeps the damp lid from sticking to the pot while being worked on.

The one urn from the weekend is progressing nicely though I need to cut the foot rim so it has "feet". Notice that the rectangular dish next to it hasn't had its bottom slab shaved to fit the walls.

A Productive Weekend

Our weekend house on Anderson Island has a potters' wheel in the basement and nothing else in the way of pottery equipment. Water must be brought downstairs and after throwing for a few hours, the resulting slurry is pitched outside to avoid clogging the plumbing.

But the advantage of working in the basement (huddled close to the wood burning stove) is that there are few distractions and I get lots of throwing done. This weekend was no exception.

At the end of the weekend I leave the wet pieces attached to bats and remarkably they make it back to town without incident in the back of our old VW camper. Except for the mugs and one urn, everything I threw this Saturday was without a bottom. I'm still enjoying the process of making altered casseroles.

The other photo shows a couple pieces after the sides have been decorated with texture and the walls moved into oval or rectangular shapes. The next step will be to attach a slab bottom once the clay is more firm.

Ovals

For the first time since November, I have gotten around to firing my gas kiln. With the winter holidays, company and entertaining, pottery making took a backseat to the pleasures of the season.

But now it is back to the pleasures of clay. I have been having fun making pots that have been altered into ovals. I throw the sides without a bottom and then once the clay is somewhat firm, it is manipulated into another shape. Add a slab of clay for the bottom, some lugs for handles and, voila!, a casserole.

Here is some recent work in different stages. The dish with the leaf stamp is waiting to be glaze fired, the large casserole with lid is drying and the other photos are of finished pieces.