Fun w clay?!

[JoshuaRN]

After way way way too many videos and articles and tutorials , and some guidance from 2 of the immensely talented potters here I decided to try my hand at handbuilding . Haven’t fired yet but wanted to share for the hell of it . Just for fun really but the goal is to build large pots that can be tricky to find for me.
The 2 posted are still being cleaned up and trimmed but I felt good so figured I’d share the diy week progress

 

[JoshuaRN]

Lol I forgot also, single hardest part (not including realizing why in the videos the clay looks easier to work with) was building a fricken diy branding wheel . Lazy Susan bearings might be worse than the chairs/dressor/etc in a box

 

[JoshuaRN]

Quick update , rim carving (before the relief carving) getting it even was proving to be tricky lol but so far it’s coming along nice

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Nice start man. The carving is pretty dope for a first time pot. The only criticism is that the lip is way too big proportionally for that one pot.

 

[JoshuaRN]

Thanks Mike , btw nice to see someone else local (albany here) yeah as far as the lip I was just hoping for a large surface to carve . As I’m sure you know the first hand build is fear/confusion lol. I’m doing 2 more pots and going traditional and large then firing to see what I need to work on, what did and didn’t work.
That symmetric carved round you did is amaizing btw. I was testing out the idea of free hand carving when I did the first 2 , no rhyme or reason just seeing what came out ok. I love the carved/painted pots you don’t see used that often, and wanted to see if I could make it work once I got a better grasp.
The challenge this moment is figuring out the best way to roll a giant slab lol.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Thanks Mike , btw nice to see someone else local (albany here) yeah as far as the lip I was just hoping for a large surface to carve . As I’m sure you know the first hand build is fear/confusion lol. I’m doing 2 more pots and going traditional and large then firing to see what I need to work on, what did and didn’t work.
That symmetric carved round you did is amaizing btw. I was testing out the idea of free hand carving when I did the first 2 , no rhyme or reason just seeing what came out ok. I love the carved/painted pots you don’t see used that often, and wanted to see if I could make it work once I got a better grasp.
The challenge this moment is figuring out the best way to roll a giant slab lol.

Thanks man! Yea that one was pretty intense. It can be kind of nerve wracking for sure. I suppose a really big rolling pin and a couple wooden slats could do the trick. Thankfully I have access to a slab roller.

 

[Soldano666]

Get it....

 

[sorce]

roll a giant slab lol.

slab roller.

Get it....

Yeah!

Sorce

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Yeah!

Sorce

?

 

[sorce]

?

Sorce

 

[JoshuaRN]

Get it....

The most patient man in American bonsai pottery... soldano. I get tunnel vision and it leads to enthusiasm which can be a bit much. Lol many thanks sir

 

[JoshuaRN]

Source wanna see how you solve a problem and convince the wifey you’ve lost your mind?

 

[JoshuaRN]

It’s been a long holiday break and after alil tradegy hit I buried my 1 year old husky found that idle hands are bad for me, which resulted in 12 large pots loaded and firing today
, I decided to keep it traditional and not try to come up with anything crazy, just tried and true designs with alil interpretation (lotus is a pain) No Moulds , no wheel , just hand building and one shameful round carved pot . Pics coming later this week before final fire. Once again thanks for the guidance , never touched clay untill a few weeks ago and still have more questions than answers but you guys have helped crack the basics .

 

[Carol 83]

Nice pots, sorry about your pup.

 

[GGB]

damn dude, those are looking pretty legit. almost makes me want to try

 

[penumbra]

From a potter I have to say they look good. Be sure you use either a mid fire clay or high fire clay, cone 6 to cone 10 or more. Don't use a low fire clay. You want a stoneware or even a porcelain. Don't use earthenware. It will not hold up and it will crack in the winter. Also, some clays are more resistant to the this sort of use than others. Study your clays, there are hundreds of prepared clays from dozens of clayworks.

 

[JoshuaRN]

Thank you carol , that was nice of you to say, huskies are a handful but he should
Have been a pain in the ass for many more years .

Yeah ggb, it was surprisingly similar to wood working once I got the frustrating basic details sorted, at the same time I’m speaking from 1 month if that if experience so I probally have no place to comment. I just didn’t want to spend the cash on large containers and figured with my level of tunnel vision and I could research the hell out of it and give it a stab. But like so far it’s a lot of planning and oddly gentle handwork considering I don’t look like a guy who’s capable of gentle work (even as a nurse I’m the guy who gets code greys dumped on him) we’ll see how it all pans out post fire and glazing.

 

[JoshuaRN]

Quick update ,figured out a lot of what works and what doesn’t after this last fire, next batch going in on Tuesday should be alil more refined.

 

[JoshuaRN]

 

[JoshuaRN]

double post