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To ‘Turn’ or to ‘Throw’

2010
09.20

The choice of terms for potters is probably just semantics.  Whether a pot is thrown or turned implies a mechanical pottery wheel of some description either way.  What appears to be a trend is that crafts people tend to throw pots and artists prefer to turn clay.  There may be something in the marketing world that subliminally tells us that turned ceramics are somehow more valuable than thrown ceramics.

The expression, wheel thrown,  makes a lot of sense to me considering the mechanics of the device and the physics (centrifugal force) of the clay spinning on the wheel head.  On the other hand, turned pieces bring images of a craftsman working at a lathe…where pieces seem to emerge from within a solid block of wood. There are some economics to the word turned that I like as well.  Calling something ‘wheel turned’ seems redundant…and turned could easily concatenate what happens on the pottery wheel with what often happens on a banding wheel during construction and decoration.

Six Inch Tall MugsTo fan the flames of the artist-craftsman feud, perhaps turned requires verbalization with the head kicked back slightly, the nose pointed skyward, and the word sung as if it is a very long, one syllable word.

All that being said, I’m turning mugs this week.  For the most part they will become test pieces for glaze experiments and exercises to help me improve my throwing skills.

Tags: , Category Artist's Thoughts, Wheel-Throwing |

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Working in the Woods

2010
09.06

Pinch Pot OcainaFirst of all, parked in a paved space with a motor coach at a state park filled with amenities is hardly the woods. And secondly, doing what I do with clay while sitting beside a campfire is so far removed from work that I should be ashamed for typing in the title of this post. OK. I’m over it, but Manipulating Clay in the Comfort of Resort Living is not the sort of title that gets anyone’s attention, right?

The Labor Day weekend has been glorious and restful and fun.  I pulled out a ball of clay last evening just because it was a different stoneware than I have been using for the last year. Sure, I knew that ultimately it would become an flute or an ocarina, but I began the project with just the slightest idea of what I wanted and more in tune with what the clay was telling me it was capable of doing.  The result is a piece that is a bit eclectic and full of discovery and exploration.  The clay is a high fire stoneware and I am not terribly concerned about the survival of the musical parts if the piece actually turns out to be something worthy of decoration.  That is quite a paradigm shift for me…so I’ll rationalize my title as something that the woods is doing that is working.

Tags: , , , Category Artist's Thoughts, Ceramic Musical Instruments |

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First Pots – Let the Wheel Throwing Adventure Begin (Again)

2010
09.04

Stoneware - Test CylindersAfter a couple of hours or working on a potter’s wheel for the first time in years, my body reminded me of several parts that are ill-prepared to do this without practice and attention to form (mine, not the pots…well, maybe the pots too).  As a mental break from writing and research, signing up for a clay class looks to be one of the better decisions I have made.  It is fun. The class is full of students plus an great instructor, all young enough to be my children.  I have had more than a few curious looks from my fellow students as I played in the mud the first session or two.

I do have a few ulterior motives.  There are things that a skilled potter can do on the wheel that would make great pieces/parts for ceramic musical instruments…and some of my older sketchbooks attest to the fact that those ideas have been fermenting for some time in the back of my head.  The class also provides me access to a great gas kiln to do reduction firing…a method that produces great color in glazes and from the clay bodies alone.

These practice cylinders are my first.  I suspect that they will end up in the slop bucket, but the picture is a reminder of my first steps back into the (wonderfully addictive) world of wheel-thrown ceramics.

Tags: , , Category Construction Techniques, Wheel-Throwing |

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A time to glaze

2010
08.02

Bisque Firing OcarinasWith a sigh of relief and a longer than normal cooling off period, I opened the kiln this morning to discover that all of the ocarinas and MugPhlutes survived the bisque firing…in spite of some over-firing of the kiln that remains a mystery. From my experience, nothing about firing a kiln turns out perfectly and that would be the case in this instance as well. A few of the instruments warped just enough that they do not play easily. Those will become test pieces for some new glazing. Coming up soon, it is a time to glaze (click image for larger view).

Category Glazing and Firing |

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Kiln…errr Kil’n Time

2010
07.31

Kiln LoadAbout 40 greenware pieces are firing as I write this post. The tall pieces have been waiting several months because someone (that would be me) constructed the pieces taller than my kiln could hold. Anyway, bisque firing always makes me a little nervous..probably due to memories of past kiln disasters.

This first firing takes the dried pieces to about 1650 degrees Fahrenheit and places a lot of stress on the clay…the high temperature actually transforms clay by removing all water and pushing the clay closer to what qualifies as a mature ceramic material. A second (and sometimes third) firing will include glazes and even higher temperatures. Programmable controls and electronic pyrometers have taken away most of the guesswork and babysitting of a kiln as it heats up. What used to be a lot of up close and personal “Kiln Time” has evolved into “killing time” while the computer, the kiln, and the power source talk to one another…no doubt, a heated conversation.

Category Glazing and Firing |

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Four Hole Ocarina Magic

2010
07.16

I am not sure why I decided to do this. It may be simply the challenge to make an ocarina that plays a full octave with only four finger holes. Perhaps it is the frustration of carving out 8 to 12 holes and constantly fighting the airway in order to achieve a reasonable tone. Regardless, John Taylor’s English system for a 4 hole ocarina is the challenge I made for myself while taking some time off from the craziness of the office:

It will be a while before I am confident that I can play using this system. The permutations and combinations of fingering is quite an adjustment from what I learned as a second grader playing a song flute in one of dad’s music classes. There are a few tricks and tips that I need to pry from some of my ocarina building friends, but I am thrilled to better understand the magic of how 4 finger holes in a simple clay instrument can produce a full octave scale.

Tags: , , , Category Ceramic Musical Instruments, Construction Techniques, Multimedia |

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Where did all the ‘fun’ mugs go?

2010
07.12

Roy Overcast - Teaching at Mid-South CeramicsLast year while participating in a clay workshop with Roy Overcast I learned more about the history and construction of puzzle mugs and fuddling cups than I ever imagined. The history extends back when ceramicists over 1000 years ago produced statuary that included ocarina or flute-like functionality. All to say, that Dr. Bowen’s discovery of MugPhlutes should not surprise anyone…nor should my interest in adding whimsy to traditionally functional pots.

Purely by accident, I recently discovered an amazing artist who plays the Teacarina… a rather sophisticated cup that incorporates a four-hole ocarina. It is time to do some exploration of the four hole fingering system for ocarinas. There are some one-handed designs floating around in my head that may require the skills of a second hand, not to mention a few mystical stories from Dr. Bowen.

Category Construction Techniques |

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