Hand Building Pottery with Slabs of Clay and Kid Art
I use a banding wheel to construct my slab built pottery
Today’s post is down and dirty - lots of pictures, little text. Why? I’m working away in the studio and my in-laws are visiting which makes finding time for online activity a difficult. I’m still hand building work and thought I’d show you my set up. I tend to work on 4-6 mugs at a time now because it’s more efficient and it allows the clay to rest a bit while I go through the assembly line.
My tools are pretty basic. I use a drywall board, banding wheel, X-acto knife, sponge, water, paper clay slip, scoring tool, wooden kitchen spoons (both ends), mini Kemper extruder for coils that I force into the joints, along with beverage at the ready and music or favorite podcasts. What you don’t see is my wheel that is acting as the base of my work table. That’s going to change today though since I feel like throwing a bit.
Fat bottomed mug
A prerequisite for any mug that I buy nowadays is that it has to have at least a 10 oz.+ capacity and a very stable wide bottom, capable of sitting on the arm rest of my sofa without spilling because this is my favorite place to drink the first cup of coffee of the morning while I wake up. Most likely, you’ll find me answering emails, blogging and otherwise engaging in online activities in this very same spot. Sometimes I even read the newspaper, but I’m currently taking a news sabbatical for a bit for my mental sanity.
Bottom
I’ve also been playing around with making the bottom of my work as interesting as the visible portion of a piece.
Same linocut - different shape
Bottom
Linocut used to print my mugs
Kid's Mugs 2nd - 5th grade
I really love teaching kids - they’re a lot of fun and very high energy. We recently made “soup can” mugs for a project. They’re a way for the kids to make something functional just for themselves, though, some of the kids were also making presents for their parents.
Pinch pot covered jars
Here’s a recent project - everyone went with a Halloween theme. They will be glaze fired tomorrow or Sunday and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Gotta run, have a great weekend!
~Cynthia
