Pitchers

In this blog, I have shown pitcher forms before, but have not gone into detail about how they are made or how the form has evolved during the making.

This is a very small free form hand pitcher made from a slab with impressed design using a swizzle stick, a sea shell, and a bit of styrofoam packing material.

To make the pitcher, I cut out a bottom freehand in an oval-ish shape, then curved the body of the pitcher slab around the edge of the bottom to fit. I used the clay worm method to seal the sides and bottom together, closing the form with one seam at the front where the spout will go.

I cut a V shape in the front to fit the small hand-formed spout. I left evidence of the cut. I liked that and made a note in my mind to repeat it.

The glaze is celadon and the body is porcelain.

This is a later version of a more distinct surface treatment. This time I added two new patterns; a combed effect. The checked texture is from a scrap of plastic that I picked up in a parking lot. Must have been a part of a tail light….

The basic construction is the same as the hand pitcher shown above, but the body shape was drawn out on a piece of paper before assembly.

There is only one seam in this pitcher also under the spout. This is the beginning of new thinking about spout shapes.

During assembly, I decided there was too much stress on the dip area between the spout section and the back section, so I added a reinforcement 'button' to keep it from splitting. It makes a nice transition element in the design.

The hand fits nicely around the back of this pitcher with the curve resting easily on the hand between the thumb and fingers.

The body is porcelain and the glaze is a semi transparent rutile.

This little guy is also small. It is one of my first tries at hand formed pitchers. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I sold it. But at least I did have the gumption to photograph it.

In this case, I made the seam down the side instead of under the spout and cut a hole for the spout.

The same technique of cutting out the base first, then forming the body from one slab piece was followed and the spout is also hand-formed.

I pooched out the bottom a bit to give it weight.

This piece served as a glaze test as well. I liked the texture of the slab roller matt showing under the glaze. I named this piece "Black Nose" in my mind.


Another look at an earlier slabbed approach. Basically taking the same form and making two vessels into a creamer and sugar.

The forms are a bit more free and I was playing around more with altering the body and adding feet made of rolled clay.

It is also a glaze experiment using a white body and drizzling a dark brown glaze over edges of the form.



This is a medium sized pitcher and a very early piece. My main experiment was working with the relationship of the handle and the spout.

I wanted them to be the same size and I used the same trusty texture-making tools here. But the difference is the weight and thickness of the glaze. So the pattern comes off a bit more muted.

And the handle is the beginning of thoughts about using rolled clay and the attachment process for a vessel.

















This is a larger pitcher form, but here in the the watering can version. I am still experimenting with the spout and handle idea and also using texture on the exterior.

The thicker glaze mutes the surface more than I wanted, but the ideas of spout and handle are still being explored.

This piece is also in porcelain and the glaze is a version of weathered bronze.

The seam is still at the front of the piece and the spout is cut in and attached.

A new approach; using a thrown form and keeping the handle/spout forms only refining them. This time I'm cutting both the places where the handle attaches to the top rim as well as where the spout attaches.

I again used the reinforcing 'button' at the split for the top of the handle.  The spout is laid into the front split and blended into the body of the pitcher.

The new spout form is an imitation of a tropical leaf form; designed to shed water. It works very well.

I love the break in the glaze. It is Coyote Crocodile glaze fired at cone 5 OX. This is a slightly larger pitcher and it's a keeper.

The next pitcher is the same technique and form, but what a difference a glaze makes!

A slight modification to the form is the elevation of the base with the use of a bevel tool at the end of throwing. It improves the overall look of the piece, I think.

The clay is porcelain and the glaze is three different shinos.

This is one of my favorite pitchers.

Celadon Fish Tiles

Experimental tiles done with fish impressions. The impressions are concave, made from convex bisque molds and celadon glaze.

I like the look of the celadon with the impressions.

Worth pursuing in a more controlled, larger set of tiles, I think.

Test Tiles and Stamps

I'm in the process of making a lot of small test tiles for some new glazes.

I've just rolled out 1/4 inch thick, 1 inch by 3 inch tiles for drying.

These are previous test stamps.

I was doing just indentations across the bottom of the tiles to check for pooling and breaks, but when I looked at my great collection of stamps and these, I thought, "Why not use stamps on the new test tiles?".

More on Signing Pots

I sign my pots two ways: I write my name using a blown-out pen or a pencil--whatever is handy. My sig is pretty consistent, so it works well on a piece that will have a blazed bottom.

Other times I use the metal die for an old rubber stamp I had made years ago. The old stamp is long gone, but the die comes in handy because it's done in reverse and looks great on clay. It depends on the pot, mostly. The stamp is excellent on a flat surface such as a tile back or the bottom of a slab-built piece.

Care has to be taken when using a stamp to keep from creating stress in the clay on the reverse, but the stamp should be pressed against clay that has a good reverse support--either your hand or another flat surface.

I do also have a silicone stamp that comes in handy at times. You can go to your local rubber stamp store and order one. All you need is a well-drawn black and white image they can use to make the pattern.

You can make your own stamp out of fine-grained clay and a woodcut/linoleum tool called a veiner. The veiner can be found at an art or woodcraft supply store. The blade is shaped like a sharp V. Let the clay dry to bone hard, pencil on your design and carefully cut it into the surface. (Be sure to keep in mind the clay will shrink, so you need to make very strong lines.) Bisque the stamp and, if you want, fire it to vitrification. The incised design will be raised letters/symbols when you stamp your clay.

I did this to make a label for a company and it turned out well. (Don't have any samples, though.)

SIGN YOUR POTS!

Whose Pot is This?

It is reoccurring theme that appears on CLAYART discussion list as well as many other pages on the internet.

"Can anyone tell me who made this pot?".

Most of the time no one knows. Even fellow potters.

I find this most puzzling.

Artists who work in two dimensions nearly always sign their work. It is expected to find a signature or distinctive mark in the corner or on the reverse.

So why don't potters do the same? Granted, we do not seem to have the same copyright issues of artists who could have their work reproduced in print form. But does that make it really any different? And we have considerably less space to work with for applying our signatures.

We in the West have been heavily influenced by oriental craftsmen over a long course of time and, the mystique of 'the unknown craftsman or artisan' has been associated in tandem with the aesthetic.

It seems to me to be a sort of dreamy romanticism that doesn't serve the artist of today. And believe me, the modern craftsmen of Japan as well as the rest of the world does not seek to be anonymous.

Identity = Income these days. Branding plays an enormous part in marketing just about anything. And any savvy artist who wants to make an income on their work must market it in the face of stiff competition.

The first step, of course, is to master your art--that goes without saying. Quality work speaks for itself. Sometimes style can be so distinctive that it renders signatures redundant, but not that often. And it's a mighty long road to THAT destination, I can tell you. You still are in the clutches of the publicity monster no matter how you cut it.

Note: A few minutes' search on the web resulted in these images.

The pots are marked, but the marks are not enough to identify the maker.

Take a look at the bold signature beautifuly incorporayed into the design on English artist Sandy Brown's platter. Believe me, everyone knows who made that piece.

Or you could take the Robert Arneson tack and just do portraits of yourself and/or use your name prominently.

The Tile Project that Wouldn't Die II

So how did this fish tiles thing happen in the first place? Ah, it is a long and winding road, my friend.

First of all, I'm not a stranger to laying tile in houses. Several years ago, I got very serious about this and took a class from an expert. My first project was a full bathtub surround with a few custom-glazed tile pieces inset into the pattern. Then I laid a kitchen floor/access area to a deck; about a 9 x 12 floor. I made and matched the glaze of a 1950s kitchen floor for a builder. No small feat, that. Next, I did a counter-top, then a free-flowing designed shower pad and a utility room floor. (My tile man raved about this and kept saying, "You did this? You did this?") And I've tiled the infamous shower stall half-way up to befuddlement.

But I digress. My initial thought for the overall design was to make bas-relief tiles using a full fish mold of plaster. So I made this. In the photo it appears to be an 'outtie', but it's an 'innie'.

And the cigar in the fish's mouth? That's added clay the stands above the height of the mold in order to make an indentation into the clay for an open mouth....think about it. I later cut it away on the second head and made a closed mouth on that mold.


I merrily pressed clay into the mold, pulled the slab out, flipped it over and, OH NO! the fish is pointing the wrong way. Well, not the WRONG way, just the opposite way I wanted it to. (Forehead slap)

Do my chicken-walk out of the studio and go back to the house to think.

Then a brilliant idea hit me. Take that clay fish and cut it into sections, bisque it and use it as a press-mold to go INTO the tiles. Sorta anti-bas-relief tiles. Sorta the intaglio/cameo effect. Then I realized I could make more than one head and more than one tail. I could introduce movement into the design. So I made these:


Notice I haven't bothered to be neat on the back or edges. No need since the mold is very thick, which I wanted for strength and the back or edges would never come into use. So now the fish will be pointed in the RIGHT direction.