Small Leaps

These larger bowls I threw the other day are finally close to being finished. Luckily I've been getting a lot of other pots finished while waiting for these to dry and trim. I threw these with 8 pounds of clay and thought they were big, but it's funny how it all was trimmed away to make the foot and now they don't seem so big. When you are throwing all that clay gets lost in that angle around the foot, that sensitive spot where you have to stop throwing and know you'll just trim it off later. So next I'm going to try to make some even bigger ones. It was more difficult slipping these larger bowls since they don't fit in my 5 gallon buckets of flashing slip. I ended up holding them upside down and pouring the slip over the sides, which made a huge mess all over the floor! I just have to learn how to get over the drips and the places where it didn't go on as smoothly like when I dip pots upright into flashing slip.

I'm excited about these new "dimpled" bowls, which is my new name for them. The simplicity of the line is enough for me and I don't feel the need to go on and add more texture. Lately I've been thinking about how neat it is when all of a sudden you have a detail or form that is new in your work. I like to trace back in thought and ponder about how it evolved. One bowl that I made a year ago led me to do one thing and then that form led me to this small development. You never know which way one thing might take you. Sometimes there are big leaps in the studio, but most often for me there are small leaps, like a change in a rim, that can still be very significant.

I've been working in a mug factory with carving, adding handles and slipping them. I finished 24 yesterday and have 24 more waiting on me to be carved and for handles. The carving and cleaning can take a while to finish. Also I need to throw some today...better get back, the clay is calling...