These pieces are my earliest work in South Carolina. It bugs me that these posts will not be in chronological order, but I want to create an archive of my work that I continue to build on.
January-February 09
For Christmas 08 Matthew bought me one session of classes (2 months) at Southern Pottery. Instruction focused on wheel-thrown ceramics. The class was mixed with beginners and intermediate potters. The format: one weekly night class of 2hr instruction, then open studio on Saturday from 12-4pm. Low-fire clay and glazes were provided by the studio.
I had some experience with throwing on the wheel from my time at Montreat. The basics came back as I struggled to center the clay and make basic forms. All these are all from the second half of my first session. And all these pieces are rather heavy... I tend to create thin walls and the bases remain heavy. I was (and always am really) experimenting with different glazes. These pieces have alot of dripping... which I don't prefer... it seems messy to me. I almost always like my work more before the pieces are glazed - I still struggle with this.
I learned alot in these early classes about size and construction. Clay shrinks about 20% when it is fired, and that makes it difficult to make, say, an appropriately sized coffee mug. Also, the trick of handles - how to position them in a way that is comfortable to pour and/or drink from. Most of these pieces look nice but aren't really functional for daily use.
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