Pottery

I took a 4 week handbuilding pottery class in March.

In thee first session we made a mug. I wasn't too sure of what I was doing, but the shape turned out okay. We painted them with an underglaze and later just glazed it with a clear coat. I think the handle is a bit too wide and I certainly did not put enough coats of blue in some places

The second session was a platter. I chose to do a round shape that had no pre-defined bottom. I had to make a foot for it. We did a mono-print transfer which is to paint on a piece of paper, then apply slip to both the painted paper and the platter. Once it dried a little, put them together then paint on some water on the back of the paper so the painted part will apply itself to the platter. I'm not very artistic, but once you get past the design, I like how it looks. It has a bit of a "worn" look as opposed to simply painting.

The third session was a pitcher. We started with an 8.5x11 slab and made a cylinder. We then darted it to give it some shape. Add a spout and a handle, and you're done. I glazed the interior white and had it go down a little of the top of the outside. I thought I chose a tan color for the rest of the pitcher, but there must have been some reaction where it overlapped the white. That or some teal bits got in the tan glaze.

The final session was coil building. I decided to make a planter. I didn't do that good a job at keeping the shape correct, but the instructor was very helpful. I did eventually dart it a bit to make it more stable. And I really like how the navy blue glaze turned out. it's half navy, half "black". But the black definitely turned out much more like a dark brown. The picture does not do the colors justice.

They have studio time on Sundays, and utilized it to do a few other projects. I wanted more of a tea cup instead of the large mug from the first day. I didn't take shrinkage into consideration and got this. There's not much to give perspective, but it is certainly small. I'm also not a big fan of the handle I made. I like that it's thinner, but the shape is all wonky

They only had two templates for cups/mugs there, so I did a little free-styling to get a compromise between the large mug and small cup. I glazed it in "black" at the same time I did the planter, so I didn't know I was really getting dark brown. Still, I like it and will bring it to work eventually.

I asked Jessica about anything else that she'd like me to make, and she mentioned a spoon rest. I probably should have googled a few images to have a better idea of what I should be going for, but this turned out okay. I tried to get a "drip" look with the teal glaze. I was somewhat successful.

Finally, I had a lot of clay left and decided one way to use a lot of it up was to make another planter. I had a little more trouble with this one so it ended up a little smaller. Glazing is new to me and I wasn't quite sure how things would turn out. Next time I will probably not choose the white glaze, though I think it works a little better here than the pitcher.

Currently I have three unglazed pieces at the art studio. Another planter, another spoon rest and a small bowl. I made what I was calling a cat food dish, but when I searched the fired pieces the last time I was at the studio, I could not find it. Maybe it will turn up, but I'm guessing not.