Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Porcelain wave bowl - Heather Bell

Although I generally choose to hand-build my work - I prefer the asymmetry of hand-built creations to the regularity of thrown pots - this was one throwing exercise whose results I still enjoy. 

I threw then turned the bowl, leaving quite a thick wall at the base.  Then I painted a layer of resist onto the bone dry clay, and eroded the non-resisted surface by sponging. It's easy to go too far - seeing daylight through a hole in the wall is one indicator; but also if the clay gets too thin, the weight of the remaining clay above can cause it to distort or collapse during firing - in what's called the pyroplastic stage.

 This piece is clear glazed, and overhead lighting shows its translucency.


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