Post Snow Days

The first of these cups holds 9 ounces, the second holds 8, and the third holds 7. 

I am working on the lidded container project. If I were explaining this project I would tell a person not to forget to make sure both pieces dry at the same time, to make sure the rolling machine is set for a quarter inch, and to make sure the clay is wedged well enough that there are no air bubbles once it is rolled out. I am concentrating on unity and form in this project

3rd Quarter Project

When should you take your work off of wooden boards and why? - What element and principle did you focus on during this project? - What did you learn from this project? - What would you change or add to this project to make it more interesting? 

• You should take your work off the wooden boards when it is leatherhard and ready to trim, so that it does not become too dry to trim.
• We focused on balance and form for the cup project. 
• I learned how to use the wheel a lot better during this project, and I learned that trimming the cups is a lot easier when you don't have a lot of extra clay around the base of the cup.
•  I liked the project the way it was, I like the simplicity of how the cups look even though they are difficult to make.

February Post

I am working on the cup project on the wheel. I have made 6 cups. 2 are in the kiln for the first time, 3 are fired for the first time, one is waiting to be fired for the second time, and one is drying so that I can trim it. I have trouble trimming the foot and keeping it even, but I think I'm improving. I am a lot better now at actually making the cup on the wheel. 

End of Semester 1/Happy Holidays

• Leather Hard - Clay which has dried sufficiently to be stiff, but is still damp enough to be joined to other pieces.
• Bone Dry - Clay that is completely dried but not yet fired.  Clay forms are most fragile at this stage.

It is important to connect slab work or trim pottery on the wheel when clay is leather hard so that it is damp enough to connect, but still keeps its shape when you touch it.