Toquerville Pottery: On Showing Up

Toquerville Pottery: On Showing Up: " The other day, a friend stopped by for a visit and asked how my sculpture was coming and my answer was' 'Good, I'm still s..."

Beginning Throwing: Other shapes (Week 5)

For next week:
Please have 2 of any shape leatherhard and ready for finishing.

Resources:
Handout: clay weights & measurements for various pottery shapes
This is the handout from class; includes clay weights and measurements for making a bowl, 12 oz. mug/pitcher, 24 oz. mug/pitcher, bud vase, side plate, dinner plate, and serving bowl.

Next week we'll look at making plates on the potters wheel. Also, hopefully our pots will be bisque fired by then!

Thanks,
Jay

Beginning Throwing class week 4: Glazing

Hi,

For next Beginning Throwing class:
Please continue to finish and glaze 4 bowls and 2 mugs.

Next class, we'll take a look at making other shapes on the potters wheel (big bowls, plates, pitchers, etc.) and some more techniques for glazing.

Glazing resources:

Here is a handout you can print and take with you to the studio on the basic procedure for glazing your pots. Remember to wax the bottom!:

Notes on glazing

I've found a pretty good series of videos on various glazing techniques by Emily Owen of Little e Pottery in Austin, TX. For some reason, they're out-of-order, but I hope you find them useful anyway:

Little e pottery glazing videos


Cheers,
Jay

Potter John Britt makes a "cream cheese and lox" bowl

Potter John Britt makes a "cream cheese and lox" bowl

Beginning Throwing Week 3: Mugs, handles, and softening and reclaiming clay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/ / CC BY 2.0

Next week, we'll glaze the four bowls you've made that have been bisque fired. Please also have 2 mugs ready to bisque fire.

Resources for week 3: 

Mugs
Simon leach throws mugs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7v_s7kL-Jg

Handles
SIMON LEACH - handling of the mugs
Video of Simon Leach pulling handles for mugs; Simon pull handles while they're on the pot rather than separately, but the principle's the same.

Softening and reclaiming clay
Clay as it comes from the factory is usually too stiff to center easily. It’s often a good idea to soften your clay before use.

The best way to soften clay is by making a sandwich: alternate layers of new clay with very thin layers of slurry from the reclaim bucket (the best slurry for this is at the very bottom of the bucket).

Make the clay+slurry sandwich, bag it, let it age for at least 24 hours, then wedge it. The clay should be just dry enough that it doesn't stick to your hands after it's been thoroughly wedged.

Incidentally, you may reclaim as much clay as you like for free from the slurry bucket. Just set some slurry out on a plaster bat and let it dry to workable consistency. Clay on a plaster bat dries very quickly, so wrap the whole thing (clay and bat) in plastic before you leave the studio for the day.

Beginning wheelthrowing class week 2

Hi folks,


For next class, please have at least 2 bowls on bisque shelf, and 2 bowls leatherhard and ready to trim. If you haven't already, please purchase another 12 pounds of clay form the ACC studio front desk ($12)

Resources:

Drying and finishing your pots

• cut the piece off as soon as the water has dried from the surface of the bat
• Let piece stiffen on the bat
• As soon as the piece is stiff enough to handle without distortion, flip it over so the bottom can dry
• Dry slowly; wrap in plastic to keep moist (newspaper square top and bottom)
• Remember to label your piece with your name and the date while it's on the shelf
  
• When piece is leatherhard (about the hardness of cheddar cheese)
• Trim the bottom
• see video by Simon Leach- I like his trick of using one bowl to hold another for trimming
• see trimming demo notes
• Write your name and the date on the bottom
  
• Clean up rough surfaces with a rubber or metal rib and a damp sponge
• Put the piece on the "to bisque" shelf for bisque firing

Underglaze decoration
The leatherhard stage is also the best time to apply underglaze decoration. Underglazes are located in the glaze room in the cabinet above the sink; brushes are in the drawer to the right of the sink, and small plastic dishes are under the sink in the clay studio.

Simon leach applies slip to pots in a similar way to the way we use underglazes:
Simon leach slip decoration video

Next class we'll talk about:

• throwing mugs & making handles
• softening & reclaiming clay

Cheers!
Jay

Beginning Throwing week 1

Hi Folks,


For next Beginning Throwing class:
make 8 bowls, keep 2 and dry to leatherhard and ready to trim; rent a locker ($15 for the semester). Also, it's probably a good idea to purchase another 12 pounds of clay before next class, $12 at the Arts and Crafts Center (ACC) front desk.




In week 2,  we'll look at:
* trimming
* decorating a leatherhard pot: underglaze and scrafitto
* reclaiming and softening clay




resources:
Learning to make pots on the potters wheel
General advice on making pots

Stack-and-slam wedging
The author uses a stretched wire instead of a cut-off wire, so his method is slightly different from what we did in class. The wedging table against the back wall has a wire like this, so you can try his exact method if you like.


Tips on centering
Video of English potter Simon Leach on how to center your clay on the wheel

Here's a video of potter Simon Leach making a bowl from beginning to end:
SIMON LEACH - Close up - GP bowl !!

-Jay