This picture is for all those folks who take classes in community clay studios and have to clean your wheel completely every time you use it: my wheel after a couple of days of throwing. Someday you will have your very own wheel! The little piles of clay get firmed up on plaster and get used for handles. Its the clay I remove from ribbing the pots. The clay that is covering the edge of the splash pan actually performs a very important role. It protects the plastic from burning when I use my torch and it takes a couple of weeks to really "form".


Here are a couple of pitchers that I threw this evening. They're both made from about 7 lbs of firm clay and are about 12-13" tall, now. They will hold about a gallon and a half when fired. The one on the left is pretty light, but I wanted to see if I could get a different feeling of balance between the two. We'll have to wait and see. One of the riddles of potting centers around putting handles on pots. You can't really pick the pot up to check the feel until it's too late to change, another ceramic conundrum.


Lastly a jar that was planning to be a pitcher but took a left turn somewhere. Instead of fighting my plan I went with it. I kind of like the roundness. It will be nice to paint. Sometimes these things happen and certain forms exert themselves, either by some sort of distraction or maybe a subconscious desire. I've been finding that with the specific forms that I am making, very slight changes in the throwing change the feeling of the pot and sometimes ruin the line. I tend to over do it and have been trying to be decisive and resist the urge for one more pull or one more ribbing.

For those interested in what may be playing in my headphones...
tonight, in this order:
Bob Seger mix
Boston- More Than a Feeling(1978?)
Modest Mouse- We were Dead Before We...
Chattanooga PulseCast #9 (11/24/06)