How I started to be a potter. 5th month. October 2020
Hi there, I am Kate, beginner potter. This is an article about the 5th month of me doing pottery. You can check the previous post here.
This month I have concentrated on glazes and new forms.
Firing
I have done quite a lot of firings this month but most of the time I was so anxious about unloading the kiln that I took photos only of the top shelf, and totally forgot to take the rest of them 🙈
Ceramic Materials Workshop
As I already mentioned earlier, I signed up for the Ceramic Materials Workshop and their “Understanding Glazes” course is stunning: the topics, the format, the labs and everything related to the nature of glazes.
There was plenty of fascinating stuff this month. I had lectures on materials, geology, main components of the glazes and I did 3 labs where I investigated the nature of glazes and ceramics. I don’t want to spoil much, but if you are interested in understanding how glazes work, I would highly recommend this course. The only minor problem is the glaze I chose for the labs. I really like the way the it looks, but some of the results are not very noticeable because my glaze is transparent. On the other hand, you do see the differences when you touch the surfaces and look closer into the structure.
New Glazes
I have also mixed some of the new glazes this month. Thanks to the workshop, now I can do it more consciously and with understanding. I can already adapt some of the glazes to the desired firing temperature, read the UMF formulas of the glazes and replace the materials I use to the local ones and do the proper recalculations I need.
Perfect Matte glaze draw my attention this month because I like the way this glaze looks and feels and I also haven’t used the matte glaze before. I am currently experimenting with the colorants I want to use with that glaze.
Progress
This month I have tried throwing larger forms and continued improving the forms that I used to throw before.
I am not yet very confident with large pieces, but I threw my first planters and bowls. And I also tried to do some simple carving.
I also threw my first teapot but I haven’t yet assembled it all of its parts together. I’ll show it out in the next article.
There were a lot of fails, of course, but I usually don't want to take a photo of them 😂. Many cups and plates have been broken at various stages of production. Some of those losses were really hurtful but I’m trying to take it easier.
In order to assess my progress, I started to count the actual number of the pieces of clay that I’ve thrown instead of the actual amount of the finished pots. That shift in focus from result to actual process made me less anxious and more motivated.
I have also tried making cups of different shapes and bowls.
I started feeling less struggle in centering and pulling the walls, but I still have problem with understanding and creating the desired shape that I’ve got in my head.
Next month I am planning to finish the teapot, work on some sushi forms, bowls, continue with my CMW course and create some other things. Will keep you posted. See you in a month in the next episode of my blog!
Here you can check my instagram account.
Thank you for reading 🍯 ✌
