Assigment #3, Quarter status

Here are some photos that illustrate what I've been doing in ceramics for the past two weeks.  I'll lead you through the photos with some text.

I've been building up forms from damp clay slabs.  Here are two greenware (meaning they aren't dry yet) bowls.  I'm working on a set and would like to have two matching cups.

I have trimmed the lip on one of the bowls.  You can see the trimmings.  Now I'll let this cup dry to the "bone dry" stage and bisque fire it to 1850 degrees so it will be stronger for the glazing step.

Here is a cup set.  These will have trimmed lips, then I'll add handles, let them dry slowly and bisque fire them.  

To make handles I hand roll a ball of damp clay into a "roll", then flatten it with a dowel, cut it to length, and roll the handle over the dowel to get the handle shape.  It is a bit larger on the ends to make the cup attachment a bit stronger. That handle on the bottom is ready to attach to the cup.  I'll score both the cup and the handle ends, apply clay slip, and press it on.

Here is a cup with the handle attached.  I look the cup over closely to find a good side to attach the handle, looking for balance and fit.  also, about this time I put my "mark" on the form.  My marks are more to tell me the kind of clay and when it was made than an actual signature. 

You will see that the lip of this cup is "wabi sabi" and the handle hasn't been attached.  It takes about two weeks to make a cup like this, as it must dry slowly, and during drying I make sure there are no holes in the cup.  A cup that wont' hold liquid is problematic to coffee drinkers.  See the little blobs of wet clay on the right? I take bits of that clay and plug up any holes I find. 

Here are three small, square bowls drying, four "spindle whorls", and a couple of larger bowls.  After they dry a bit I'll cut the lips, add a mark, and let them dry slowly.  Once they are bone dry they will be bisque fired.  Right now these bowls can still be manipulated a bit.  I want them to sit flat on a flat surface, the whorls should be balanced, and some surface direction may be added.

I hope  you have enjoyed this "status" report.  These pieces should be bisque fired in a couple of weeks.  Once this set is bone dry I'll start another set.  I generally go from set to set, each representing 10 to 12 pieces.  These pieces are all "Kleiber" porcelain clay formula from Tacoma Clay Arts.  Most of these pieces will eventually be glaze fired to a stone ware temperature, but I may hold one or two back and experiment with earthenware glazes/mh:October 10