But anywho- What has been going on? Well, I have taken the first step to making large pieces. In the past few weeks I have made two jugs, and a djembe drum. I am extremely excited about the drum; I have never headed one myself but plan on learning for the sake of this project. I have had several people already question me about making more, so I think it could be a valid practice I could learn.
First up in the pictures above is my first big jug. I did it in two pieces and learned from that go that I needed to spend more effort in throwing consistent walls on closed in forms. The top piece, when removed from the batt, had about 2.5 inches of clay at the base. Luckily most of it was just thin chunks at the batthead, but I did still have pretty thick walls. I spent a good bit of time trimming it. I also learned to spend more time on the outside detail, specifically since trimming left grog drag marks.
The second piece, middle picture, is a comparison between the bisqued and glazed jug sitting on a bucket, with my second attempt next to it. This jug I had thrown a base and top for, as I did the first, but I didn't have calipers and tried to guess the diameter... that went bad, as you could have guessed. I ended up throwing a second top, since the first one I destroyed, but this time I used twine and made sure it was damn near an exact fit. I spent a good bit of time on polishing this piece, and spent a good bit of effort making a decent handle. Bad thing is that the handle started to show cracking since I let it dry out very quick. Lesson learned.
Third piece is my drum. It is the largest item I have made, standing at a wet height of 18 inches. I used two pieces again, the base, and the bowl. I trimmed a good bit out of the base, but purposefully left it rather heavy. The bowl I did real well on throwing and kept a consistently even wall. The rim is tapered outwards with an elevated point to allow no drag for the drum head on the interior, and good supporting surface area on the exterior.
I generated a good contour for bowls on my computer. I am interested in making a good stacking bowl, where the rims, foot, and walls touch so there is maximum stability and security. I think a big seller could be these bowls and the ability for me to mass produce these is pressing.
I have started looking for property. I am looking for 1-3 acres of land that I can pour a slab and construct a simple metal frame structure to live and work in. My rationale behind this is that the quicker I get self sufficient, the quicker I can become a full time potter. Instead of wasting money renting spaces for long periods of time, why not go ahead and invest that in a future.
Thesis for me is coming up also... At least this time I am more prepared. My only concern is that I will not get much enthusiasm from my committee when I tell them I still want to do tableware that relates to production pottery and the expansion of ceramics in America. I hope to use alternative salt firings to produce some nice work, but I really don't want to venture into something I don't feel comfortable with. I am comfortable with my preconceived idea of producing large jugs, crocks, churns, and jars. Although no one around these parts does this... I still feel like I will be talked out of doing it. It just doesn't have that "wow" factor they will be looking for, I'm sure of. I really just want to do, what I want to. Is that so hard to do?
I hope to update more coming soon, I have new books and videos to review. So keep checking back. Hopefully it won't be another month before updates.
The second piece, middle picture, is a comparison between the bisqued and glazed jug sitting on a bucket, with my second attempt next to it. This jug I had thrown a base and top for, as I did the first, but I didn't have calipers and tried to guess the diameter... that went bad, as you could have guessed. I ended up throwing a second top, since the first one I destroyed, but this time I used twine and made sure it was damn near an exact fit. I spent a good bit of time on polishing this piece, and spent a good bit of effort making a decent handle. Bad thing is that the handle started to show cracking since I let it dry out very quick. Lesson learned.
Third piece is my drum. It is the largest item I have made, standing at a wet height of 18 inches. I used two pieces again, the base, and the bowl. I trimmed a good bit out of the base, but purposefully left it rather heavy. The bowl I did real well on throwing and kept a consistently even wall. The rim is tapered outwards with an elevated point to allow no drag for the drum head on the interior, and good supporting surface area on the exterior.
I generated a good contour for bowls on my computer. I am interested in making a good stacking bowl, where the rims, foot, and walls touch so there is maximum stability and security. I think a big seller could be these bowls and the ability for me to mass produce these is pressing.
I have started looking for property. I am looking for 1-3 acres of land that I can pour a slab and construct a simple metal frame structure to live and work in. My rationale behind this is that the quicker I get self sufficient, the quicker I can become a full time potter. Instead of wasting money renting spaces for long periods of time, why not go ahead and invest that in a future.
Thesis for me is coming up also... At least this time I am more prepared. My only concern is that I will not get much enthusiasm from my committee when I tell them I still want to do tableware that relates to production pottery and the expansion of ceramics in America. I hope to use alternative salt firings to produce some nice work, but I really don't want to venture into something I don't feel comfortable with. I am comfortable with my preconceived idea of producing large jugs, crocks, churns, and jars. Although no one around these parts does this... I still feel like I will be talked out of doing it. It just doesn't have that "wow" factor they will be looking for, I'm sure of. I really just want to do, what I want to. Is that so hard to do?
I hope to update more coming soon, I have new books and videos to review. So keep checking back. Hopefully it won't be another month before updates.
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