PINCH POTS
This unit, we got to make six pinch pots. Although I’ve done “clay-work” before in art classes for little kids (where we squish around clay), I never really tried a full-out ceramics before this where we actually learned things. This was reflected in my pots as a lot of the recurring “themes” that I chose were based on trial and error of what worked and didn’t.
My potion vial pot was my first pot, a experimental one that I got to try a lot of the new techniques such as hitting the pot with a flat surface and making a smaller mouth, as well as use new tools such as the rib, fettling knife, loop tool etc. It was also the first pot that I got to try a CTL glaze on, a glaze that fired with rocks that sparked colors. I really liked the midnight sky feeling that the 1st pot gave, which is why I used CTL for most of my other pinch pots as well. The curvy mouth that appeared on the 1st pot ( because I was having a hard time making a perfect smooth mouth) also ended up being used in my other pots as well, the teapot being the main example.
The teapot, (the other pot that I am very proud of )I would say is the pot that really shows how much I have grown over the course of this unit. Making a pot like the teapot needed the skills to make a sprout, a workable handle, a lid, a foot, a small opening with a large body, and the technique of merging 2 domes to make a sphere. While it took the longest to make out of all of my pots, I would say that It’s my favorite pot. I was not only able to make a teapot but one with a wiggly handle, lid and a foot! I tried to keep the teapot cute and funky so I went with the red accents for the wiggles and poka-dots to cover the outside of my pot. Unfortunately, the white glaze that I 3rd layered apparently needed a 4th or even 5th layer because it turned out a little uneven, but I still love the pot a lot.
My other pots include the baby face pot, which I am in love with because it’s fabulous and scary. What started out as a “for fun” pot became one of my favorite pots because of how scary and nice it turned out, especially with my new discovery of the awesomeness of the pewter glaze. The pouch pot also is up there in my love pots because of how wonderfully turned out. Although I was not able to work on the pot itself for a very long time, and watercolor it thoroughly, the clay color showing through the clear glaze created a nice effect overall, maybe a even better effect than an actual brown glaze would have made. The Dish swirl pot is also another example of how a pot “succeeded” despite the time spent because of the effective use of glaze. This pinch pot experience allowed me to discover new glaze patterns and colors that I really liked that I look forward to using again. (I really like the CTL ones.)