ceramics | Pincu Pottery

More Inspiration

Posted on February 20, 2011 by pincupottery

Last week I showed the beginning inspiration of my current work. Hopefully you could see my train of thought that led to my forms.

The evening after I posted the last blog, I saw this article on Shoko Teruyama and how she makes her bird boat form. I decided I had to include this in my ‘inspiration’ blog because her work is absolutely beautiful and, more importantly, her handles inspired me to make ‘puffy’ handles.

'puffy' leaf handle on creamer/sugar tray

Here is where Shoko’s inspiration comes to play – what kind of handle looks full? Sure, the mug handle has to be just right for my hand (read my comment to Michael Kline on my last post), but a casserole, baker or tray doesn’t need such a ‘strap-type’ handle. These shapes could have a full, rounded handle, I thought. And so after seeing Shoko’s work, I decided to make my own version of the puffed handle the way I imagined she made hers – a paper template (my shape is a leaf to go with the flower theme) to cut two clay shapes, fingered/pushed out and attached together (and this is before her online tutorial).

As I said in the last post, one of my inspirations is a budding flower. Flower petals tend to be papery thin and when I think to translate a flower into clay, my first idea is to use porcelain for its finery – translucent like paper held up to the light and so white that any glaze color is brighter on it. But my inspiration is also that rich, red dirt out my window that I love to play in so much! And so I use earthenware clay and put a white slip on top to allow a brighter glaze color to show up, just where I want it, and leave some of the red dirt clay raw and exposed, just where I want it.

Bisqued pots ready to be glazed. White slip covering part of each pot.

After working with the basic shaping, I began to want my pots to feel full – eventually I hope they will be full of food! More rounded shapes and round, full lips (rims) would make me happy and challenge me. Many of my large serving bowls and several casserole rims are hollow – looking full lipped, but without the thick clay weight.

Hollow lip bowl. (clay is rolled over to produce a hollow lip)

And so you can see, inspiration keeps coming and can come from many places. I steal from historical pots, contemporary pots, throw-away manufactured cups, nature, etc.

Inspiration

Posted on February 14, 2011 by pincupottery

I promised myself I would post a new blog post every Monday with a theme from my love of teaching. Well, my last minute idea is about inspiration, specifically one of the many things that inspired my current work. (This may not be a teaching post, but it may inspire ideas for students of pottery….)

Blast from my past - paper cup and plastic holder

My father owned his own business while I was growing up. Actually, he owned several, as great entrepreneurs tend to do. I have a fond memory of the water cooler in his store. This cooler offered both cold or hot water and had cone-shaped paper cups in a dispenser on the side of the cooler. Those paper cups would burn your hand with hot water, unless you used a little plastic holder with handle. This was a reusable sleeve that offered a handle to keep your fingers away from the heat. I found this plastic holder and cone-shaped cup to be intriguing.

As I began flirting with clay in my basement, after dedicating my time to librarianship for 5 years, I tried all kinds of shapes in the round. I was searching for a form that I enjoyed making, was challenging enough not to bore me but also easy enough to make so that I could make enough to sell at a reasonable price; after all, I am a functional potter, not a clay sculptor. Sure, I could have gone back to the pots of my past, but I no longer had access to a soda kiln to get the old decorations back, and I was using a new clay in a new place. Time for a change.

The potter’s wheel is only limited to round if you choose to leave the clay alone after forming your pot. Play led to my flirting with ovals, squares, darts, etc. Cutting and re-attaching clay (darting) or attaching bottoms to pots thrown with no bottom and ovaled seemed too complex for my idea of ease in process. Then I remembered that plastic cup holder and thought I could use that idea to highlight the red clay by making the glazed part look as though it was sitting within the bottom, unglazed earthenware. This is all done while forming on the wheel – no need for attaching, unless handles are added.

Previous work - mugs inspired by plastic cup holder

Well, this got a bit boring. It wasn’t challenging enough.

One spring day in the studio, after working in my garden, I came upon a budding flower and thought about how the green stem holds the paper-like flower within…. just as my inspirational plastic cup holds the paper cup within. Flowers are much more beautiful than plastic/paper cups… and I am a novice gardener. So why not see if I can reference a little bud in my pots?

generic Budding flower image thanks to pdphoto.org

And so I began to think of ways I could alter my pots just a bit more to make them unique, fun and a challenge to make, not too fussy as to become too expensive to create, beautiful, functional and referencing my love of my natural surroundings, specifically my garden sitting above this rich, red clay of Western North Carolina. And of course, still working with that first image of my cone-shaped paper cup sitting in a plastic holder with handle.

A little practice and patience and I found a tool that I could use to dimple my pots, take them out of round, and reference the multiple layers of a flower coming up from the stem. I like the way food looks in these altered shapes, too.

Phil Gelb, a fabulous vegan chef in Oakland, CA and Cori Spence, assistant cook and food photographer, use my bowls!

And so I have been working with this idea ever since. I play with new inspirations and attempt to create new ways of decorating, but the shape concept continues….

Currently, I am working on looking at a new inspiration that has come to me since making this work – fluted Korean celadon pots from 918–1392. Keep tuned in to see if they inspire a new decorating technique, shapes, or who knows!

What inspires your pottery?

Tools for Throwing

Posted on February 7, 2011 by pincupottery

I Love My Tools!

I was asked the other day to talk a little about the tools I use most often in the studio to make my pots. Well, here they are:

A typical tool kit for beginning pottery students usually includes the needle tool, cut-off wire, one or two ribs – metal and/or wood, one wooden knife tool and one or two trim tools. If you must buy a kit, buy a DooWoo kit.
Over time, a potter improves upon their basic tools, out of necessity, desire for more tools or because one or two tools went missing.

Here is a list of the tools in the picture and how I use them:
Dolan Trim Tools: A MUST! These babies are sharp and come in many shapes for a truly pleasurable trim job. Remember that all the metal is sharp, so learn to maneuver the tool to get the best cut – don’t just use the widest part but try using the round corners, etc.
Wax Brushes: I use an oil-based wax to paint on top of one glaze and then dip into another for a layered effect. The brushes stay soft when in water with a drop of dish soap.
Slip Bucket: Didn’t come with the kit, but boy do we need one! And I choose not to clean it after every throwing session – the slip adds up, gains a nasty smell, but is pretty handy when I slip ‘n’ score those handles! When it’s full, scoop out the clay onto a plaster bat and pretty soon you have more clay!
Ribs: The large wooden one is for low bowls, plates and platters – it really helps to have a stiff, large, rounded rib for these shapes. The green ribs are MudTools rubber ribs. I like the lime-green ones that are flexible but not soft like the red ones. I use them in place of the metal rib – helping me shape, dry the pot and compress the clay.
Sponge: This happens to be the foam from the box of cones I use in my firing. It is my favorite sponge for throwing! Holds water, almost chamois-like in feel and thin to hold.
Cut-off Wire: That one that comes in the kit gets kinks, then breaks. You can buy another – and I advise you to buy a DooWoo or MudTools brand – or make your own. this one is a piece of dowel and nylon fishing string twisted and glued to the dowel. Leaves a nice pattern on my feet.
Fettling Knife – I really like the clay knives that aren’t sharp but cut clay and don’t stick like small kitchen pairing knives. You need something to cut your clay when cutting slabs, handles, etc. An X-acto knife is my next best.
Calipers: I like how these fit in your vessel at one end and the lid fits in the other end. Simple to use and helps with those pesky lid fits!
Ruler: I actually measure the width of my cake plates & dinner plates and height of pitchers and lamps. Also a great straight edge for cutting those slabs of clay!
Wooden Modeling Tools: The wooden knife helps trim extra clay at the bottom of pots before cutting them off the wheel. This is especially helpful when I won’t be trimming the pot. The other wooden finger tool is used to smooth clay in places my finger won’t reach. I LOVE THIS TOOL! Especially helpful to smooth around attachments like handles.
Trim Blade: I use this baby to trim the extra clay on pitchers. ‘Why not use a Dolan,’ you ask? Well, a pitcher has a spout by the time it’s leather hard, so I trim it right-side-up. This tool allows me to trim a nice foot at the base of the pot. I throw the pitchers with a thin enough bottom to not need to be turned over and trimmed.
Rubber Shaper: The tool I use for making those Pincu Pot indents. Also helpful to smooth over rough spots instead of that wooden finger I spoke of earlier.
Serrated Rib: Makes scoring a bit quicker and easier. Just remember not to be timid with your scoring.

Those are my favorite tools. What is in your tool box? Do you have certain tools you use daily?