So, this week we finished off our first pots ready to be fired. In my case a bit of tidying up of the edges and some decoration of the rim and the fold. There wasn’t really a lot left I could do to it, without it ending up looking a bit fussy.
We were then shown how to make a square slab pot (I think this is the only thing I made during my Ceramics module in my Foundation year). However, this one wont be textured like the first one, as we are going to decorate them using the Sgraffito technique.
The clay was rolled out and then cut to a template as a whole piece, rather than five separate pieces with mitered edges, which is the standard practice. The sides are folded up and the edges molded together (it’s makes more sense if you look at the pictures). The folding method allows for rounded edges and doesn’t require quite the same level of accuracy. If you are wondering what the patterns are inside the box, it’s the remains of the newspaper that the clay was rolled out on. The clay was very moist and the paper will burn off in the firing.
It was nice to be able to take some more time with this one, learn more about techniques and chat to the other students.
My task for next week is to come up with a design for the sides of my square slab pot.
