forks throws pottery (and maybe you do too?) - An ILX Ceramics Thread

i been doing pottery on a wheel for the past year.

gonna start with the first stuff I did, from my first semester. It's all amateur work soup to nuts but i'm sharing and i'd be curious to see your work if you do this too.
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14621323977/1/tumblr_lwm72qUR0J1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620957639/1/tumblr_lwm6luTNab1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620939019/1/tumblr_lwm6kzvSGf1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620859443/1/tumblr_lwm6hazMaG1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620946933/1/tumblr_lwm6lcDcJs1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620884610/1/tumblr_lwm6igT7VN1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620876303/1/tumblr_lwm6i3rX1b1qzyx8y
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/forksclovetofu/14620867894/1/tumblr_lwm6hpoX221qzyx8y

I love the 2nd piece, and the last 2 especially.

Haven't done pottery in so long, this makes me miss it! arrr I need to find me some classes

wtf no lionel richie head? ;)

it is very hard to throw lionel ritchie's head

but you could try... :D

What a difference an apostrophe s makes

slam pottery

♫♪ ba-da-ba-ba-baaaa i'm lovin forks' pottery ♫♪

will post more from later semesters soon but here's a pair from this afternoon with foot for scale. i'm getting a bit better.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz9ddzBKKh1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

Very nice!

ilx users whose interior lives i basically don't understand at all

My wife bought a kiln a few years ago, used it twice, and promptly gave up pottery. I've thought about getting a wheel and seeing what might emerge.

oh man, do it! it's very freeing and empowering to make something with your hands from pretty much literally nothing. You will be shitty for awhile, but you will get better!

maybe i should explain how u throw a pot in this thread.
how much do people understand about the process by which a hunk of clay becomes a glazed bowl?

teach us how to (vicariously) live

i want the forks 411 on pot throwing

I sorta vaguely know about wheel-sculpting but ive only ever done hand scultping meself. Its fun! I made a sort of Venus di Milo with an apple for a head, once.

My mum was a professional potter for most of my life, though she mostly teaches now.

okay so step one is you start out with a big block o clay. you take a garotte and use it to slice off a chunk. The heavier the clay the harder it is to shape and center so beginners tend to stick with between 1 1/2 and 2 pounds. Serious potters can take a ten pound hunk of clay or more. I max out around five pounds. Once you get the hunk out, you need to reshape it into a globe, both to handle it better and to get all the air bubbles (which can disfigure the final piece). There's a process of kneading and reshaping called wedging that takes like three to five minutes per chunk. When you throw clay, you're likely to fuck up so you wanna have a few of these globes of clay to work with so you don't have to stop and clean up and re-wedge. So you start out by chopping off these chunks of clay, wedging them and chucking them into a plastic bag so they don't dry out... the clay should be soft and slightly wet to the touch but not goopy and not hard as say, meat.

There's several types of clay you can use and the main difference from a beginners standpoint is how much sand or grog there is in the clay. The more particulate, the easier it is to give the piece body. Porcelain has less grog and is like sculpting with cream cheese. Stoneware, which I use, has solid body. Later on, the type of clay you use affects what colors you can get from glazes and other stuff. Chances are, you'll start with stoneware.

Later: Approaching the wheel

guys, i'm picking up TWENTY SEVEN PIECES on Saturday
and a few of my stuff made th' wall of fame!
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html
this is me, i'm pretty proud. Should be about a foot tall?
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html%2324

ah well.
This is the one i meant.
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#24

also this teacup
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#17

i also wanna hear about emily's mum.

nice work!!

thanks!
my ex, who i still do pottery with, did some AMAZING stuff:

http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#31
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#4
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#27
http://web.me.com/nynjaca/nynjceramics/academy_students/Pages/student_work_w_12.html#36

i will be posting ten gazillion pictures in here over the weekend fo sho

and yet, still no lionel ritchie head...

nice work forks!

love those colors

my ex, who i still do pottery with

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a3QgRpt7bUM/S6DmKUobWiI/AAAAAAAABJI/PouVYOptuMA/s400/ghost-pottery-wheel.jpg

hey, what movie is that?

please tell me you're joking forks

as a person who does pottery i have never heard of such a movie

"Ghost" starring patrick swayze and demi moore

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27y6yrLhG1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

192 stoneware.
Reduction firing. Davis Shino glaze on body. Davis Red Shino glaze on handle.
4 inches tall. About 4 inches wide at lip, 6 1/2 wide with handle.

This is one in an ongoing series of attempts to make a working stein. The bumpy "crawling" texture is a hallmark of the Shino glazes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shino_(glaze) ). They break up once they're applied to pottery and can lump up like acne or break apart like psoriasis. In any case, it's bad skin replicated as a covering on clay and that makes for some bizarre effects on something you're meant to drink out of. Thankfully the glaze "breaks" differently along edges; it runs off steep angles and leaves a rock-colored but smooth-to-the-touch finish.

Unfortunately, this cup got an extremely common bit of damage when throwing: the "s-crack". This happens when the clay at the bottom of a piece isn't properly compressed or there's water left in the bottom after you throw it; you end up with a serpentine or curved crack in the base of the pot. Some s-cracks don't penetrate all the way through and are simply cosmetic flaws that are more or less sealed during glazing and some render a piece practically useless. This one is the latter; you can see daylight straight through. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

;_;

pity about the s-crack, it's a great looking mug! and the glaze looks A+

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27yjxdzAK1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

As an exercise this semester, I threw about eight teacups in succession that started out roughly 4 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches tall and then trimmed and glazed them drastically different. This is one of the more successful pieces in my opinion: it's eminently functional, the color is nice, the crackle in the glaze is pretty and the general construction looks almost factory built (which appeals to the perfectionist elements of my aesthetic).

182 white clay.
Reduction. Blue Ying Ching glaze.
3 3/4 inches wide at lip. About 2 1/2 inches tall.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ykudSUq1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg
Another piece from my now-four-deep, faux-Japanese, green and white serving set. The exposed raw-clay dagger shapes are achieved by applying wax to the bisque-fired clay prior to glazing. The glaze runs off the wax and, after the piece is fired, the wax vaporizes to leave exposed stoneware.

192 stoneware.
Reduction firing. Buttermilk glaze on interior. Randy's Oribe glaze on exterior.
4 inches wide at lip. 3 1/4 inches tall.

I was particularly pleased by the spotting up by the rim with this piece; this is as refined as I've gotten this particular motif thus far.

moved this outta 77 because i can't see if the images are lolhuge when i log out

also not especially 77'y.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ylrk5Pg1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

Process here was that I took a teacup, then painted the entire exterior with black "slip", which is a liquid colored clay with the consistency of thick syrup. Once it dries, you can treat it the same way as you would the clay body and once the pot is fired, it bonds permanently. Having applied the slip, I went in with a wire tool and carefully crosshatched out tiny strips of slip, exposing the white clay beneath. After it bisque fired (that's where you take the wet clay and bake it so that it turns into porous pottery, like a rough flowerpot), I dipped the entire thing in a glaze called Ox Blood that tends to leave the surface translucent and jadelike so that the cup is smooth to the touch. Kinda proud of the end result.

182 white clay with black slip cover.
Oxidation firing. Ox Blood glaze.
4 inches wide at lip. 2 1/2 inches tall.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ymxcjgj1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

I painted the rim with black "slip", a liquid colored clay, and carved wormlike gouges out of the body. I like the way the black slip and the blue glaze play off each other.

182 white clay with black slip on rim.
Reduction. Blue Ying Ching glaze.
3 3/4 inches wide at lip. About 2 1/2 inches tall.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27yorKCBx1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

192 stoneware.
Reduction. Charlie D Black glaze on interior and lip. Norton Red glaze on exterior.
4 inches wide at lip. 3 inches tall.

This flowerpot mushroomed out a bit and is notably less clean looking in person. The inside got sanguine from the incisions at the bottom. Don't really think I needed to wax those irrigation holes; will avoid doing that in the future.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ypzAtso1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

So when you fire "Ox Blood" glaze under a level of heat and intensity known as oxidation, it comes out translucent. Fire it at a higher rate called "reduction" and it turns shiny apple red. Yellow Salt "breaks" in such a way that it tends to leave a tan line across a raised surface so I wanted to use it on a piece with a great deal of carved striation.

182 white clay.
Reduction. Yellow Salt glaze. Ox Blood glaze accents.
4 inches wide at lip. About 3 inches tall.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27yraePWz1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

Here's a case where an accident turned out to produce one of my favorite pots: when you are trimming your pieces to remove excess clay, the potter affixes the pot to the spinning wheel head and then judiciously carves off unwanted thickness. Sometimes the pot can come off the wheel head and when it does the pot is generally destroyed. That's what happened with this piece, but it was salvageable to the extent that one side was mashed completely flat. I took a wooden paddle to the other sides to flatten them out in the same way and the pot was thankfully thick enough that it didn't break apart. It fired up pleasingly square and in one piece.

182 white clay.
Reduction. Academy Mix glaze. Yellow Salt glaze accents.
4 inches wide by 3 inches wide. 2 1/2 inches tall.

The depth of the Academy Mix glaze in reduction is really interesting; there's brown and black and cranberry and orange in there. The foamy wash of Yellow Salt on either side of this square little sugarbowl was applied by Robin; the effect is really quite pretty.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ysi3USn1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg

The Candace Oil Spot glaze in oxidation fires up shiny and, well, oil spotted. If, after you put the glaze on, you paint over the top with a cover glaze, you can get some neat effects. I gave the exterior a thin coat of Harding cover and, under direct light, it filled in the space between the oil spots to make it look almost cheetah-ish. Bear in mind that when it's _not_ under direct light, it just looks black. It's a cool effect.

182 white clay.
Oxidation. Candace Black Oil Spot glaze with Harding cover.
4 inches wide at lip. 2 1/2 inches tall.

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27ytnSDrp1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg
This knobby little vase was first dipped in a blue glaze and then had a white glaze ladled over it.

192 stoneware.
Oxidation. Lapis Blue glaze accented with Mamo White glaze drizzle.
3 1/4 inches wide, 1 3/4 inch wide at lip. 3 3/4 inches tall.

The interactions of the glazes when they touch varies widely and intensely depending on the temperature the pottery is fired and the composition of the glaze. It can be violent or pretty and either destroy or make a piece complete. Better living through chemistry!

omg forks, these are fantastic

thank ye! they're all less interesting in person.

pretty doubtful!

I love the ox blood glaze upthread, such a great color

Wow forks, you've got some really good work here.

appreciated! guess I'll go ahead and throw em all up.
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m27yudNwxd1qzyx8yo1_500.jpg
The white smudges on this vase are dollops of slip (liquid clay) daubed on prior to the first firing.

182 white clay.
Oxidation. Ox Blood glaze.
3 3/4 inches wide at rim, 2 1/3 inches wide at lip. About 3 1/2 inches tall.

Yeah, the weird thing about pottery compared to painting or sculpture is that element: almost like baking bread, you don't truly know how a piece will turn out until it comes out of the oven/kiln.

I think that is what excites me about the big tunnel kilns, 6 month or a year throwing pots, weeks of loading, choosing spots in the kiln, days and nights of firing, weeks of cooling and unloading and only then do you know if your tea bowl is a masterpiece or a heap of fragments.

The guy in PA who I linked to above said he loses up to 50% of his pots in a firing. Crazy.

yyyyyyes the baking analogy is not inaccurate but it's worth noting that if you really want to just make basic pots, you can pretty reliably produce work in an electric kiln. Like everything else, it's a question of the risks you're taking and the effect you want to get. Some breakage and error is almost inevitable though, yes.

Kiln god vase came out pretty good! Will photo.

Until then, here's a hopeful detail (about an inch by and inch and a half) from a piece i made after the 2018 elections

http://i.imgur.com/YX9ecYx.png

Good luck charm.

buddy at the studio was working on making cork-nose piggybanks for his kids and I asked if he wanted me to try my hand at freehand decorating one. Got it back to him about two hours later and he seemed real happy so we may do it again!
http://i.imgur.com/EwRVQdn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CbMnbez.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JbbQDJ8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4lAC2HU.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BYNFvliyR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2onuBxhafg

Great Pottery Throwdown S4 started a bubble season this week with a rebooted judge/host/studio tech and I already like it better than before!

Heh, yes. Much-needed comfort TV for me, will be watching along.

improvements:
1) they got rid of the previous "our host is a model" host and replaced with someone much more fun to be around
2) they took their previous (immensely likable) studio tech and made him a judge. Both Sue and Kate were fine but added a note of rigor and precision to the judging that feels less appropriate given the global circumstances.
3) the emotions are even higher than usual and people are almost all in a continuous state of nearly sobbing which makes this the realest and most healthy looking show on television right now. It's chill without being background tv or just pap.
4) our new studio tech is Rose Schmitts whose work reminds me of some things I've done in the past, dresses snazzy, and makes an explicit point about the show's stance on gender politics
https://www.instagram.com/roseschmits/
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/01/11/rose-schmits-trans-great-pottery-throw-down-channel-4/

Yeah, I never understood the presenter choices, this one seems much less annoying so far. Also didn't know anything about the studio tech, she seems very cool!

that cheekless Dolly Parton belongs on the 'cursed images thread'

i lost my shit when real dolly came on. who knew she was a fan!?!?

also: there have been like three covid positives in my studio which leaves me unwilling to visit. it's making me very sad. haven't touched clay in months.

Oh god, the cheekless Dolly was a nightmare. The other one was amazing though, and I kind of liked it even with the damage, it made it look like a newly-recovered Greek statue or something.

Stick to the brief ya morons!

Shock double booting though, imo.

lol, every time anyone ever does this on a reality show I always cringe. Moron, do you not watch the shows? Don't you know how this turns out?

or the equally stupid "I've never tried this before but I feel like it's worth a shot." It's not! You're on international television! Practice first!

Agh spoilers! hidden tag! not on the t0rr3ntz yet!

sorry! I didn't say who got booted though...

Oh shit, I'll edit that into hidden now.

it's okay it's okay

I do think that sometimes the line between "innovated within the brief" and "didn't stick to the brief" is blurry. But then there are other times when it's pretty clear that the brief has been completely missed or ignored (hi certain people on Blown Away).

it was a bit brutal and the people will be missed

but it also felt a bit lazy

slow work these days. here's a few things in process or done. let me know if better pics would be welcome.

http://i.imgur.com/29cYbvb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/KXRtp2A.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TfYPRN2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MLOiy4u.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AD0qNzd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GUXKIx0.jpg
this last one stands about a foot and a half tall and the glazing is taking forever.

and a few more, including the kiln god vase mentioned upthread

http://i.imgur.com/u43B7gZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3NRoA6t.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/t7sxFBX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8frW9VU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cTlJcMP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xtrahKo.jpg

In the 4th and 5th photos posted today, are those two separate pieces that fit together or is it all one piece with two separate glazes/finishes.

two separate pieces joined. it's part of a series of work i'm doing with my friend/collaborator about communities where two pieces are fused into one to support each other structurally and aesthetically. the dancing/loving vases directly above are part of the same project and the first post of a clown shoe shape has a mate of the same size and design that will support from below.

Cool stuff.

much obliged

hey forks do you sell your stuff? i really love your style!

Thanks! I don't sell as a rule so much but make me an offer and a request via ilxmail and i can see about making you a thing? Be warned I am slow!

several in progress pieces, many collabos

http://i.imgur.com/IXcIWiN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xxdLsgp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/teZz0AL.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EtfI4CH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fXMhxG9.jpg

Wow! That is trippy stuff. I took a beginner wheel class this summer and made one basic thing (a plant pot) but the idea of keeping on with making pottery was extremely tempting! But I think I would be boring and conventional and make, like dishes...your work is much more interesting.

well i hardly STARTED there, you can scroll up to the top of the thread and see my boring and conventional work up there! it takes everyone time to progress from basic forms and decoration into their own voice. I strongly recommend you keep with it; it's been a real life saver for me.

New episodes of Pottery Throwdown tomorrow

Pottery Throwdown. AJ's orange sponge walkman earphones, are they functional or decoration? looks like the leads come down and join in the middle with something ornamental there.

hahaha i have been asking myself that same question. they could be some sort of retro-enabled bluetooth thing but the fact that they are totally clean and have no clay on them leads me to think they are an affectation.

They are really fun potters by the way!

the ornamental thing looks like a tiny silver hammer. i've seen iron mongers wear something similar, like a thor's hammer (below), but this is a more modern shape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mj%C3%B6lnir

Might be headphones to block out noise/distraction? I love AJ - in the beginning they were my favourite person but not my favourite potter, but the last couple of shows they have done amazing work.

to further my point: if you wear headphones when you throw, you are going to get clay on them. those little foam earpieces are a magnet.

been out here making stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j01zbTjxDWM

Gorgeous, forks!

thanks! just joined a new studio and am pumping out work to try to get my hands moving again. feels good man.

here's a short stack of a few more.

http://i.imgur.com/TlWq00b.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/zbNnJvY.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/vgkwHYv.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/3ryuC4C.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/NK5Ngjj.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/3Xo7yZe.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/tYOJi9r.jpeg
http://i.imgur.com/PaWM8uE.jpeg

Really like the third one.

The phlegmy amoeba? Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y65PB9PTN84
unsure if shorts embed, testing

Right, well that's a new collaboration with a friend: he on sculpting and me on surface. Will revisit when it's out of the bisque kiln and ready for glazing.

And another, this one also sculpted by the same friend but out of bisque and freshly underglazed to emphasize carved textures. Next step is glazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABX-hW8Oz_g

Last finished piece of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sosBn6wbcRM