"The chief source of art is man's pleasure in his daily work, which expresses itself and is embodied in that art itself."
William Morris (1834-1896)
Showing posts with label making pots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label making pots. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pots, pots, pots



Those of you familiar with the Arts & Crafts pottery made between 1890-1910+ are familiar with the Roseville jardineres on pedestals. We thought we would attempt to make at least one. It is a difficult challenge because the two pieces are made separately and must fit together after the 15% shrinkage our pieces undergo from thrown to finish. Roseville pottery was cast and though handling plaster molds fill of liquid clay slip is tricky, they were a factory and had appropriate mechanization. Here is a large base Steve has thrown. He'll put a slab on top from which he'll make a rim for the bowl to sit on. Next he'll make the bowl.



This is also a difficult piece, inspired by an original Teco design. The donut shape at the bottom was thrown first, allowed to set up while the next section was thrown. Then the two were joined and here you see Steve adding yet another section for additional height after the first two pieces have set up. He was successful and that is a feat in itself with all that weight sitting on the donut.
Now he'll decorate it.


Of the two, which has the scariest Halloween face?

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Making pots again







We are back in the studio after a whirlwind of art fairs in August. September is clear so we'll be catching up on orders and getting ready for 2 art fairs in October. We are also in a group show at a local gallery in October so I'm hoping to make some special pieces soon. These photos show Steve throwing pots and then the pots setting up before he trims them. The bottom two are of Cherie decorating a mini. Steve set himself a goal of making 111 minis! We don't have orders for that many but they slip away steadily.