Four Inch Bowls, Step 1. Throwing.

Further investigation into four inch bowls! I thought I would do a post describing the making process with pictures for each step. So here we are.

Start by making some balls. 9oz to be exact, although 8oz should be enough to get to the desired dimensions of 5" by 2". I have not included pictures of wedging/kneeding but will another day.

Weighing the clay.

Pat the clay into balls.

Many balls.

Sit down at the wheel and get comfy.

Plonk the clay in the middle of the wheel.

Cone up the clay.

Cone down the clay.

Make sure the clay is centred by compressing and containing it.

Start opening up. I use my right thumb.

As you can see the opening does not need to be very deep.

Open more and start pulling clay out of the base.

Half way to its final height and width. (Hopefully when I have done a few hundred more I will only need one pull)

Check the rim. Do this after every pull. Always.

Pull up once more.

Check the rim.

Undercut the bowl so it comes off the wheel easier and needs less turning.

The final move is running your fingers from the top of the rim, inside the bowl to the base. This should complete the curve, making the inside resemble half a tennis ball.

One final check of the rim.

Wire it off with your thumbs pressing the wire down onto the wheel head. Wheel slowly turning.

Gently slide it off. (Mike Finch would not approve of this, he prefers to pick them off the wheel, but I've found that I damage them less by sliding them).

And onto a board.

Now make another one.

My tasks so far at the pottery have been varied. Weed killing, stacking wood, boxing up orders, helping in the shop etc etc. But in terms of pots, I have been started off on four inch bowls.

You would not believe how difficult it is to make a pile of 9oz balls of clay turn into shelves full of identical four inch bowls. It is impossible. Of course you are never going to be able to get them identical. The nature of hand thrown pottery is that your end results will always vary a little. But my problem is that they don't just vary a little, but a lot.

They should look like half a tennis ball on the inside, with a continuous curve springing from the base and ending in a nicely rounded rim: a Winchcombe rim. The rim has been a battle to grasp but I think I am there now. It is a five finger grip, with each finger tip doing something very specific. Not easy to explain in words. The outside shape should match the inside but is not so crucial as you can adjust this when turning them at a leather hard stage.  Initially I was throwing them too narrow in the base so turning them was problematic.

Awaiting turning. You can see that some of the bases are smaller than others.

What else have I grappled with? The final move, pushing the curve into the bowl is an art in itself. You have to be gentle then a little harder and then gentle again. I will put up some pictures of each move soon, to show what I mean. Also, throwing to a stick is not as easy as it sounds… how close to the stick do you go??? Matt told me he has experimented with this and the answer is as close as possible.

They should all fit rim to rim. Should being the operative word.

Slipped with iron slip, combed and dry. Ready for bisquit firing.

So here is a video of me throwing a four inch bowl last week. I am sure if Mike F sees this he will berate me for doing it all wrong, but it’s a process. If I do another video in a week I hope the moves will be more direct and fluid.

So, we are up to date in terms of my potting history. Now it is Autumn 2013 and I am living on the premesis of the pott'ry with Lauren, my wonderful ladyfriend, in a shack/cabin. Here's tut pott'ry:

And here we are:

 

 Below is a close up of our hanging plants, lemon balm and strawberries. Not holding my breath for any strawbs though.

And here is the view from our door:

And a few pics taken on a walk up Gretton hill nearby.

 

Tomorrow I shall post on the serious business of four inch bowls.

Some pictures to go with my first post:

Harry Berman's studio in L.A:

One of Geofrey Pagan's pieces

The kiln Andrew and I built at his place, just getting going

Andrew stoaking the fire

Results from the first firing. Mostly good but some dry pots near the back of the kiln.

Second Firing. Pots stacked ready.

Results from the second firing. The peachy oranges came from experiments with different shinos.

An egg baker with brushed iron oxide decoration.

Third firing. Tried out some tenmoku recipes on mostly lidded pots.

As you can see, lots of browns and greens. A couple of pots over fired, perhaps unsurprisingly as we did get the pyro to read 1340 at one point!

On to Italy...

One of the many amazing sunsets, view from the balcony at La Meridiana

Pearl barley salad with basil, olives and tomatoes

Delightful aubergine treats with drizzled tomato sauce

Mark Hewitt adding a coil to finish the rim of an epic pot

Roman helping Mark put the finished pot in the wood kiln

Lisa and Donna's group, with the joint sculptures in the grounds.

Me with one of my efforts-terraforte clay

Liz's group groaning after devouring my scones and cream

Charlie hanging out in between two gas kilns

John Colbeck weighing out glazes

Claudia making a humungous jug for an art performance

Pietro demonstrating raku with terra sigillata

Apple torte with custard underneath the apples-to die for.

Luccia, the chef at La Meridiana, slicing perfectly pink beef as thinly as possible

The tiny birds that nested above my wheel in the barn

Roasted red pepper soup with sour cream, mint and poppy seeds

Various jugs sat on my wheel

Hello. I’m Hamish. May as well start with a picture of me:

On a walk in the beauteous Cotswolds, backpack full of blackberries

So yes. Hello. If you are reading this then I thank you, and apologise in advance. I have never written a blog before and am very much a trainee potter. My posts will mostly focus on pottery as I am trying to immerse myself in the craft but beware, I am still a beginner. Starting this blog is intended to be an aid in this pursuit. 

I can envisage occasional posts on other subjects, such as food, glass blowing, wine making and beer brewing but we’ll get there when they happen.

I thought I would begin with a potted history of my potting to date:

I first tried throwing a pot at the invitation of my girlfriend Lauren's dad, Nelson. He took me along to the studio where he goes in Los Angeles, run by Harry Berman.

As soon as I felt the clay on the wheel I knew I wanted to practice and practice and practice until I could centre clay and make a form. Any form. I found it very difficult at first. The clay seemed to want to fly off the wheel; it seemed to have a mind of its own. The frustration of it rose up in me. Everyone in the studio was calm and collected, getting on with their pieces, whilst I was huffing and puffing, clay and water flying everywhere. Nelson advised me to keep my arms locked in place, to contain the clay by not moving. Easier said than done, but after a few goes before I made a shape which resembled a bowl. 

I was elated. It was off-centre, wonky, but still I'd made a bowl. On return visits to the studio I managed to have it bisqued, then glazed, seeing it through to the finished article. It is now in my living room at home. I made a few other pieces at Harry's studio too. Enough to make me want to make a lot more. 

Then, as part of my university course I got to spend a year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Only half of my classes had to be literature, so I took creative writing, sculpture, book making, glass blowing and ceramics. They had a pottery studio, run by Geoffrey Pagan. It was an amazing opportunity to play. For $50 a term I got to use as much clay as I wanted and see many pieces fired. Geoffrey makes amazing work himself and taught me a lot. We did gas, raku and pit firings. The raku was particularly enjoyable.

The summer after Reed I came to Winchcombe Pottery to work for seven weeks, during which time I got a taste for production throwing and the history of English pottery. Michael Cardew appeared on my radar in a big way, as did Ray Finch who had passed away the previous January. It was exciting to dedicate all my time to pottery, and I enjoyed getting to know the whole team at Winchcombe-- Mike Finch, Matt Grimmitt, John Forster and Rhi Nathanson.

Back to Norwich to write my dissertation and finish my degree. Trying not to think about making pots whilst sat in the library! During this time I did manage to take trips over to Kings Lynn to see Andrew Douglas, an excellent potter who lives out in the Norfolk countryside. We built a small wood fired kiln that went up like a rocket and did a few firings together. This was great fun and convinced me wood firing is the way forward.

Earlier this summer I went over to La Meridiana, an International Ceramics School in Tuscany, to work as an assistant. This was a fantastic experience. Lots of work but plenty of perks such as a three-course Italian lunch every day, several different clays to experiment with and lots of very knowledgeable ceramicists to quiz. I was there for three courses. The first one was run by Mark Hewitt, who works in North Carolina. He was one of Michael Cardew's apprentices and it shows. Seeing him throw was incredible. He stands up to throw and is able to control a huge amount of clay and still apply delicate details. Master potter. 

The second course was run by Donna Polseno and Lisa Ehrich, focusing on sculptural forms for the garden. I had never done hand building, let alone sculpt figures. It is very challenging and I have a lot of respect for those who can do it. Donna and Lisa make beautiful work. The class did an excellent group sculpture too.

The final course I was there for was run by Liz Quackenbush, and focused on majolica. This was not something that had ever really interested me, but a combination of Liz's enthusiasm and our trips to local museums changed my view. The old traditional majolica pots have a much dirtier quality than their modern counterparts, which I liked a lot-- I'll post pictures soon.

Pietro Madelena, who started La Meridiana with his wife in 1981, was inspirational. A potter in his own right, he set up a kick wheel for me in a barn just up the hill from the main school studio. He showed me some excellent throwing techniques, some of which have been used in the Mediterranean for centuries. His friend John Colbeck was also at the school whilst I was there, doing tests of new clay bodies, and it was beneficial getting to talk to him about his experiences and help him.

Phew. That took a while. But there we go. I am up to date. Present day. Back at Winchcombe Pottery full time. I've been back a few weeks now. What a place! More soon.