Friday, September 18, 2009

Journey Workshop Sept 14 - 20 Paper Clay Pots



Well I have been having problems with some cracking on my hand built pots so decided to try some paper clay - made from Tucker's Sandstone - the same as my regular clay. I was amazed how strong the slabs were and so I could make them a lot thinner. Whenever I start on a hand built pot I usually need to let the form sit around for a while while my mind churns over various applique designs.

However I did find the paper clay was harder to cut once it was leather hard and even the applique, if very fine detail was required, was harder to cut out. However I really like the way I could add to the rim and base to thicken it. We'll see how it fires and glazes.



The first pot was another fishing lady and the second was a landscape-like decoration. I thought that I would take a picture of the raw glazed pot before it gets ruined in the glaze firing. My last firing at the end of August was a total disaster - the sprayed glazes were too thin on all the pots and so they had to be all reglazed.

The tops were fun to do - definitely I find the wavy tops really enhance the design. What a change from pre-Steven when I felt I needed a plain straight top so as not to distract from the applique design.

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