Squeeze in a last project

Next week you’ll be painting your fabulous shrines. It’s hard to estimate how long this will take. I want you to take your time and enjoy it. However, if you finish early, you can make a final project.
All of these options are made from white earthenware and painted with coloured glazes. Here are your choices:

1. Spoon rest
   I found these on the internet and I think they’re charming. It’s a quick slab build and will be a good project if there isn’t much time left. I’ll have the patterns for these, but you can certainly come with your own idea and pattern. You know how to slab build so you can work on this independently. Maximum size is 10x15cm
   

2. Pinch pots

You can make either a lidded pot or a little mug and decorate them with stamps or incising. (These examples are both unglazed) I will lead with this project because you haven’t made them before and pinch pots are more complicated than you might think. These also take longer to make and so will depend on how much class time is remaining.

3. Your own idea

If you have an idea for something, go ahead and make it! However, keep it on the small side and you do need to finish by the end of class

A shrine doesn’t have to be religious. We all have something we revere, a pet, a family member, nature, a holiday or even a favourite car.

Inspiration

Find inspiration for your shrine in the architecture and decoration of churches, reliquaries, mosques, Shinto shrines, or any other lavishly decorated object. Don’t forget that the Taj Mahal is also a shrine! Look in books or online for photos.

Sketch it

Make a rough sketch of the main features of your design. Think about the stamps and textures you played with.

Decide on the size

I want to hang mine on a specific wall so I put a piece of paper there and sketched out the size and the proportions that looked right to me.

I advise that your maximum dimensions are not bigger than 18x18x8cm (Height x Width x Depth). Bigger than that will be quite difficult to assemble.

Get out your ruler and transfer your measurements to your design. Begin with the back wall. It is the easiest because it won’t have any sculptural details. Start there and then figure out the side walls and the front. Stop there. Don’t worry about the roof and the base. We’ll work that out in class when you assemble the walls.

Make a pattern on card or heavy paper.

Transfer your building design to a heavy piece of paper or card.

We’ll build the basic structure of your Shrine in your next class.

Preparation

Hand-build something that’s just right for the purpose and make yourself happy.

Look around your house. Do you have disorder? Are your toothbrushes and combs all over the sink? Do you have an over-flowing junk drawer full rubber bands and paperclips? (Or do you just want to impress your guests with a stylish crisp bowl?)

Hooray! you can solve these problems in pottery class.

Step 1: Measure the offending disorder and make a sketch

Look sternly at the disorder. Ask yourself, what form can contain it? How wide and tall does it need to be? Is it better if it’s square? oval? round? Does it need a hole to hang on the wall? Would handles be handy?

Step 2: Make pattern pieces

What to avoid in your form

Wet coiling has some limitations. Firstly, it’s wet. This means it can slump easily. Avoid very wide or very narrow angles.

Also, wet coiling creates organic, soft forms and doesn’t like sharp corners.

Dimensions – restrictions and advice

The size of my kiln restricts the maximum size of your piece. Yet, it’s difficult to give hard and fast rules because the maximum changes depending on the shape of your form.

Here are some guidelines.

Decoration

We’ll also be working with texture and slips. I hope you’ll make handles or some other ornamental/functional feature. You can think about those but we’ll discuss in class.

Good luck!

Figurative forms can be a sculpture, a vase, candleholders, a pot…the possibilities are vast and the choice is yours.

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Preparation and Schedule for September 2024 Course Students

This is my grande scheme! I expect that working on your piece will take the entire class time. However, we all work at different paces. If you finish early, I have a few small projects you can do while the others keep working.

Before your next class: DESIGN

Find inspiration (see below) and come to class with a vision of what you want to make. Bring a picture on your phone or make a sketch.
Think about the building and decorating techniques you’ve learned. Consider how you’ll construct your form and then how you’ll decorate it.
It would be helpful if you know the final size* of your piece and make a paper template for your cylinder. (Or you can do it in class)

• *Maximum permitted size of your finished piece: 20 (height) x 15 x 15cm
• If you want to make a candle holder – make 2
• If figures just aren’t your thing, feel free to go off-piste

w/c16 Sept: BUILD YOUR FORM

I envision that we’ll discuss your design at the beginning of class and I’ll help you figure out how to make it and get you started.

w/c 23 Sept: DECORATE

Use one or all of the techniques from your practice piece; slips, wax resist, sgraffito, and slip trailing

w/c 30 Sept: APPLY UNDERGLAZES

Your piece will be bisque fired so you’ll be able to “colour in” the shapes you outlined with black underglaze.

Inspiration

As you look at these examples, try to think about how the form was constructed and the decorating techniques used by the potter.

In the September Course, two smaller projects will help you build a “toolbox” of pottery skills to equip you for making your main project

My autumn course schedule is now open. I hope you can come.

Figurative Forms
I’ve been in the US since June where I saw more corn than pottery in Nebraska. However, I did have time to make a small sculpture of a child wearing cowboy boots. It was a birthday gift for my brother. Making it was fun, absorbing and challenging – all desirable things when working with clay.

I’d like to do it again! So, one of the projects in the September course will be figurative forms. They’re  constructed with a variety of building techniques that you’ll first learn by making a few other projects.  Here are examples of what you could make. 

Taster Course

This term I am also offering a short taster course. If you’d just like to try out working with clay or can’t commit to a full course, this is for you! We’ll be making my ever-popular mugs. Made over two session, they are slab-built and decorated with stamps and glazes. It is a challenging project and great way to get to know clay.

Students in the May course built tiny (they are approx 4-6 inches long) shoes.  They were cut from a basic pattern (just like a cobbler would do) but then each student modified the pattern or added embellishments to create their own perfect footwear! (for a very small person). Have a look at the exhibition

Even when you’re practicing, you want to make something you like.

Next week, we will be practicing slip trailing on a small square tile. I know how it goes. I say, “just make something simple” and you think, “but I want to make something I like!” So, here are some examples of simple motifs you can use when you’re practicing. You won’t make exactly one of these designs, but they will give you a place to start.

I’m no Imelda Marcos, but I do like a pretty shoe. Recently I was wasting time on Pinterest and came across a book, “Shoes; The Complete Sourcebook” written by the delightfully named John Peacock. The book was advertised as the most comprehensive and detailed history of shoes ever published, including over 2000 specially drawn illustrations by Mr. Peacock.

Naturally I ordered the book and it has inspired one of our projects for the April course; little clay shoes. In addition, we’ll be making commemorative dishes with slipware, stamped stoneware mugs, (everybody loves those) and oxide rim tea lights.

If you haven’t already registered, please do so right away.