@floriangadsby: Throwing and trimming an angular bowl, starting with how I pick these pots off the wheel. I keep a reclaim bucket to my left that has a sharp plastic lip, this way I can scrape the slip off my palms and fingers, which then allows me to pluck the pots off the wheel without them sticking to hands. This works for vessels like mug bodies, vases and jars, and for those, I cup my hands lightly around the pots and gently lift it away, I’m not squeezing, just making contact. At the exact same moment, I also spin the potter’s wheel, this breaks any sticky seal there might be between the two parts. It’s worth noting that the above works better with some clays than others, for instance, very smooth bodies without any grog can stick to your hands even if you’ve scraped all the slip away from the vessel and your fingers. The wire you use is important too, as if you use a very smooth, nylon or metal wire, the cut itself is clean and it’ll stick back together very easily compared to what I use, which is a fine twisted metal wire. This creates a slice that’s less likely fuse again after the wire has passed through. The joy with these bowls though, really, is the amount of excess left in the base. I want to trim a tall foot on these, so I simply leave too much material in their bottoms, this way I can just prod scraped, relatively dry fingers, into the excess that surrounds the base, and then just pry the bowl away, making sure to keep my hands level so the bowl doesn’t tip to one side and deform. I’ve been unpacking new bowls like this from the kiln this morning and I can’t wait to include them in my next shop restock. #wheelthrownpottery #pottery #ceramics #clay #studiopottery #contemporaryceramics

Florian Gadsby

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Region: GB

Monday 25 March 2024 15:06:08 GMT