Throwing Pots. Term 2 – Week 3

Big jugs and Espresso mugs

After a week off I feel like I’ve got some catching up to do but luckily the previous thrown pots aren’t dry enough to turn yet so I get to have a full evening of throwing.

I begin with quite a large bowl shaped object which I accidentally stick my thumb nail into right at the end. As the dent is on the rim I decide to turn it into a gravy jug. It looks pretty good for a salvage job at the moment but I think making the handle will be the tricky part.

One of my aims this term is to make some matching espresso cups. I know they need to be small so I grab a tiny lump of clay. Luckily I don’t get far with it because Morgan explains that you can use the same size lump of clay as normal but throw numerous cups from the same piece by sectioning off the amount you need each time but leaving it attached to the clay underneath, like this:

I think it is going to take a bit of practice to get this technique right and in particular to get every cup a similar shape and size but for now I have made one espresso cup and one egg cup!

Throwing Pots. Term 1 – Week 3

Fire Fire

This week I see the kiln room for the first time. The best thing about the kiln room is how lovely and warm it is. The temperature the kilns have to reach in order to fire a pot sounds a bit scary to me. Over 1000 degrees. Isn’t that hotter than the sun?! I’m sure the max most ovens go is 250. So maybe that just means a kiln is four times hotter than your average oven? I’ll find out for sure next week but whatever it is, it makes for a very cosy kiln room.
Before the pots can be glazed they have to be fired and then when they have been glazed they get fired again. Before a glaze is applied, the pots can be stacked into a kiln like this:

However, after a glaze has been applied the pots can’t be stacked otherwise they will stick together when the glaze heats up, so they are spaced out in bigger kilns like these:

After we have been shown the kilns we are free to work on some new creations. We are told that when the pots are fired they will shrink so to make a nice curvy bowl we will need to really exaggerate the curves.

I concentrate very hard and the time goes too quickly but I manage to do my best turning job yet:

And I throw a pot I’m so proud of I have to photograph it before I take it off the wheel in case something goes horribly wrong!