A Potters Progress

[W3rk]

I'm so slow at making pots, it takes me a long time to make enough to fill my small kiln. Perhaps because I'm experimenting with so many things. Anyhow, I thought I'd share a pic of what I'm up to, trying to fill a kiln of unglazed pots:

View attachment 445534
The design is based on a bag/incurved rim, but it has an internal wall too, so no incurve to battle when repotting. They're still drying, and I'm weeks away from having a kiln full! This potter can't exist in isolation.

Bonus points if you can name the potter who inspired this design

Those are some really nice clean looking edges on your horizontal lines. Do you have a form/template that you are using to keep them consistent - it looks like it since I see the same pattern/lines on both pots.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I'm working on a decent reply...

In between sculpting work.. working on larger pieces... and all my crazy high-summer plant chores...

Looking GREAT!

(just wanted to let you know I'm still watching.. just lengthy responses are tough.. and I feel your claywork warrants a full response.)

 

[HorseloverFat]

Bonus points if you can name the potter who inspired this design

Definitely Nao.

 

[JeffS73]

Those are some really nice clean looking edges on your horizontal lines. Do you have a form/template that you are using to keep them consistent - it looks like it since I see the same pattern/lines on both pots.

Thanks, it's like the Oribe glazed pot above, I make ribs from plastic and use these to form the sides. If there's a bead or indent that's normally part of the rib. It's a versatile method, but the outward bulge of this pot is tricky as the flat wall slab has to be stretched/deformed a lot. It would possibly be better to use coil & pinch instead of a slab.

 

[JeffS73]

Definitely Nao.

Weeeeell, I love Naos work, but not this time!
It's Peter Krebs, German potter extraordinaire Sometimes you see his pots used by Walter Pall.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Thanks, it's like the Oribe glazed pot above, I make ribs from plastic and use these to form the sides. If there's a bead or indent that's normally part of the rib. It's a versatile method, but the outward bulge of this pot is tricky as the flat wall slab has to be stretched/deformed a lot. It would possibly be better to use coil & pinch instead of a slab.

This is a great method..

I've watched a Japanese potter make pots this way.

It's not, personally, my favorite..


But I have respect for any method that produces results.

Watch all those potter "Immersives", and you will see quite quickly that beyond "making your piece, ONE piece".. there are really no INCORRECT methods..

I've been trying sculpture, recently... SO different than my normal methods operation.

Damn it.. this WASN'T what I wanted to respond to.

I'll be back

 

[JeffS73]

My son made a kiln goddess to watch over the kiln, so I set her to work last night....

 

[JeffS73]

And what can I say, she must have popped the kool aid and gone to sleep, just like me!

Not a total disaster, but...


This is black clay, chunky grog. Difficult build due to thin slabs and the grog, so I'd build thicker if I use it again. The base bowed and cracked. I'd tested a Soda ash spray for a slight sheen, but I must have got the amount wrong, because look at the surface!

 

[JeffS73]

Black clay again, smaller grog, a lot easier to use. But, same mistake with the soda ash. BUT, the twin wall bag design held up and didn't explode, so that was a win. The unglazed pots are single fired. I had to add 10% neph sy to bring down the porosity.

 

[JeffS73]

This is a nice grey clay, fine grog. However, it does not like to be meddled with. The Soda ash, combined with fuming from the Manganese in the black pots has left a brown cast on it. Base is more like how it should look.

 

[JeffS73]

I was a bit sad about this one. My Bat pot. Grey clay again, fumed again. But, I did a test where I added black to the grey clay, to try and make it darker, but Manganese + chrome (in the grey clay) does not make darker grey! So, for this one, I added crushed bisqued black clay as grog. But, the off gassing from the black clay has bloated the grey clay! Gah. Maybe it would work if I full fired the black clay instead?

 

[JeffS73]

This is the grey clay with black added and some white grog added. Colour came out oatmeal, looks OK but not the darker colour I wanted. Weirdly really heavy.

 

[JeffS73]

This glaze is based on DDM. First black slip, then glaze. It looked great on a test tile, first firing it crawled badly, but behaved itself mostly, ie, didn't run off the bottom. I decided to patch it up and refire it. So it crawled again, though less so, and ran off the pot to boot

 

[JeffS73]

Saved my favourite for last. The colour is kind of liver purple, not brown. Pics are so-so I'm afraid. I did the Soda ash on this one too, less, but it still puckered the surface. The feet must have been slightly saturated, because two broke when I removed it.

So many lessons.... Next firing will be better!

 

[Colorado]

Really good looking pots.

I really like the “fancy” feet. How do you make them? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[JeffS73]

Ha, I'm doing some right now. I carve them, I suppose I broke it down into manageable steps:

I cut a slab to the thickness I want, I like thin feet at the moment. I use my paper template for the base which is marked equally for feet. Accuracy is harder with carving and you spot imbalance when they're on very easily. My wife kindly pointed this out straight away on my first pots


Cut a slant on outside faces.


I made a foot template from watercolour paper. I use this to get the bottom edge the same on each foot.line up off the middle corner.


I freehand the internal pattern with a needle, then go over that with the knife to the right depth.


Then I can slice that off from the top.

I let the clay firm up to leather hard, then I can tidy them up and stick them on. Final fettle after they've been on for a day or so. I use some wax tools, the metal ballpoint tools and a silicone brush to finish. Hope that helps.

 

[Colorado]

Ha, I'm doing some right now. I carve them, I suppose I broke it down into manageable steps:
View attachment 449105
I cut a slab to the thickness I want, I like thin feet at the moment. I use my paper template for the base which is marked equally for feet. Accuracy is harder with carving and you spot imbalance when they're on very easily. My wife kindly pointed this out straight away on my first pots

View attachment 449106
Cut a slant on outside faces.

View attachment 449107
I made a foot template from watercolour paper. I use this to get the bottom edge the same on each foot.line up off the middle corner.

View attachment 449108
I freehand the internal pattern with a needle, then go over that with the knife to the right depth.

View attachment 449109
Then I can slice that off from the top.

I let the clay firm up to leather hard, then I can tidy them up and stick them on. Final fettle after they've been on for a day or so. I use some wax tools, the metal ballpoint tools and a silicone brush to finish. Hope that helps.

Super helpful, thank you!

 

[HorseloverFat]

I've been doing 'non-assuming' feet lately. But when I was messing with low-fire, I spent time doing a lot of weird "foot stuff".

Time to revisit "fancy feet"! I'm inspired by yours.. they really are super!

I like the black ones. (and the ones I "loved", I love!)

Be careful when sanding down those feet... there's a "post-leather stage" that marks the realistic wet-sanding "end mark"... If you miss it.. gotta do it dry.

This is particularly aggravating with chunky/higher grogged clay... sanding destroys the "friction treated surface" which leaves chunks exposed and apt to move and crumble off during firing..

Beyond this..... are you waxing your feet?

 

[JeffS73]

I've been doing 'non-assuming' feet lately. But when I was messing with low-fire, I spent time doing a lot of weird "foot stuff".

Time to revisit "fancy feet"! I'm inspired by yours.. they really are super!

I like the black ones. (and the ones I "loved", I love!)

Be careful when sanding down those feet... there's a "post-leather stage" that marks the realistic wet-sanding "end mark"... If you miss it.. gotta do it dry.

This is particularly aggravating with chunky/higher grogged clay... sanding destroys the "friction treated surface" which leaves chunks exposed and apt to move and crumble off during firing..

Beyond this..... are you waxing your feet?

Sanding - most of these I've had to do a small grind to stop any wobble. With the really low ones, there's not much room for error. I need to refine the design a bit so it doesn't show.

I haven't been waxing the feet on unglazed pots, do you do that as a matter of course? I didn't expect unglazed to stick, but the Soda ash would have changed that.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Sanding - most of these I've had to do a small grind to stop any wobble. With the really low ones, there's not much room for error. I need to refine the design a bit so it doesn't show.

I haven't been waxing the feet on unglazed pots, do you do that as a matter of course? I didn't expect unglazed to stick, but the Soda ash would have changed that.

I don't 'fuse' my benches... so I HAVE to wax my feet.. I was just curious.

And what I'm saying is..

If you get everything 'even' BEFORE the piece slips too much
past Leather-hard, then dry real slow.. it won't be an issue... Because any substantial dry sanding of anything BUT ultrafine or supersmooth clay will produce this issue. (Even on smooth clays... I find leather-stage((and slightly post)) sanding to be far superior.. and keeps the clay as "one piece")

I literally JUST solved this problem in my own work, quite recently...

Also... setting them on something that will "give" horizontally to any slight changes in the drying piece, but still allow vertical force to remain consistent from weights or gravity, is a real plus, for me.

...In other words... drying them on wax/parchment paper, even a little square under each foot, has helped me immensely in the "working the wobbles out of my modus operandi" department.