If I’m being honest, the glazes I use typically stay precisely where put, that is, expect for this relatively new mossy green glaze that I’ve started using recently. Apply it too thickly, fire it too hot and this is what it does, I’m sure we’ve all been there, thankfully, unlike the mugs this happened to recently, where the glaze itself on the base of the interior bubbled into tiny craters, the inside of this vase was absolutely perfect, so all that needed to be done was some thorough grinding on the foot.   I use a tungsten carbide tipped tool to try and flake off the worst of the waddings, (these are the white feet the vase was fired upon), and to make sure I don’t accidentally miss and scratch the glaze, I position my thumb right in the way, protecting the glazed portion of the pot. Yes it gets whacked, but the amount of force I’m using isn’t enough to break the skin or really hurt at all for that matter.   Next, I use a variety of @diamondcoretools for grinding away the excess glaze on the foot, I start with diamond discs on the wheel, which are fantastic fun to use, although it’s a tricky process to see what you’re doing, hence why I’m hunched over at such a level.   After this, I use a few different diamond studded blocks of various grades, to work back the damaged area by hand. This final touch makes a big difference and it lets me be far more accurate as compared to polishing on the wheel.   And that’s the vessel back to a first, if the base of a pot is cleaned up and ground away properly without and excessive or accidental glaze scratching, then I generally sell the piece at the usual price, but I’ll of course include photographs of the tidied-up area so people know what they’re getting.   #pottery #qualitycontrol #fail #asmr #ceramics #handmade #vase      

Fresh from the kiln, a wadded-up jar that still needs to be cracked apart and both parts ground together to be rid of nasty scratchiness that grogged clay bodies often take on after being fired.   Despite being burnished smooth when leather hard to a glassy finish, as the stoneware fires the clay shrinks around the particles of grog, thus these become more noticeable again, causing the lid to grind as it spins in place, which isn’t ideal…   To remedy this, I use Chemico valve lapping paste, this was what Lisa Hammond used on all her store jars and I must have spent dozens of hours repeating this process over the years when working there. Paste goes on, it’s ground in place, it’s wiped off, (you can actually save and reuse some of the paste to make it go further), then it’s all washed off with soapy water.   Here’s some notes on that process as they always seem to come up, first of all, this paste is only ever used on BARE clay, never glaze, as it would scratch the glassy layer that coats pots severely.   Secondly, yes, you could use the wheel to help this process, by securing the lid in place and pressing the body of it, the thing is, often the lid needs to be ground in more than just one orientation. If I were to just press the body against the lid as it spun on the wheel it would just create one prominent groove in the stoneware, which isn’t really what I want. So, by doing it by hand I have a bit more control.   Thirdly, I know there are water soluble versions of this stuff, but what I like about this gel-based paste is that it clings in place, which means making grinding away a bit easier… unless of course you’ve got 30-40 pieces to get through, in which case even if it makes the grinding easier, the entire process itself is a loud, monotonous process.   #qualitycontrol #asmr #satisfying #pottery #ceramics #handmade  

There’s nothing quite like cooking outside. ⁣⁣⠀ ⁣⁣⠀ #summerrecipes #bbqrecipes #roastedredpeppers #cookingalfresco

I’ll be firing the kiln up tomorrow with a heap of pots stuffed inside, including many larger vases and some rather nice angular bowls, there’s also three black stoneware pieces I don’t have high hopes for but let’s see if my theory pans out and they survive without bloating.   I don’t fire this every month, or even every week. I tend to spend 2-3 months making and glazing, then I’ll do a whole spate of reduction firings, getting the work in and out as fast as I can. During the warmer months I’ll avoid firing on the stifling hot days as it becomes unbearable in the studio, kilns kept inside, or in your workspace, are great in the winter as it keeps the place toasty, but otherwise it’s essentially a gigantic noisy radiator.   This Rohde KG-340 is operated by hand, I manually turn valves and control the dampers in order to increase the temperature and to initiate the reduction atmosphere at 860ºC. This is relatively early in the firing cycle for this, yet any later and the bottom section of the kiln doesn’t catch the reduction and all the pots are ruined. That perhaps makes it all sound scarier and more difficult than it really is, in reality it’s a breeze to fire, I barely touch it for most of the time save for at a few opportune moments.   Once fired, the kiln normally takes about two days to cool down. I don’t rush it, I don’t open up the dampers prematurely, instead it’s just left after being crash cooled to 1000ºC to very gradually decrease in temperature. The one thing I try not to do, is let it cool for longer than this, as if I leave over a weekend, for instance, some of the glazes I use tend to grow far more crystals in the surface, which almost obliterate the intended glaze.   #glaze #rohdekilns #reductionfiring #pottery #glaze #kiln #handmade

Some people think I use specific rims to create my stepped forms, the types that have the exterior shape cut into them, so they can be used like a template almost, pressed against the soft spinning clay. Instead, the way I really do it, is simply by throwing a straight-sided form that’s then indented like so, with the sharp edge of a metal rib pressed into the wall, a crisp little ledge created. It’s not the easiest technique, especially if the walls are wafer thin, and much of what allows this to work is supporting the indentation from behind, from inside the pot, as pressure is exerted on the outside.   Beyond that, there are two other important factors to making a successful mug, (in my opinion), the first tip will help you to throw a shape without any trapped, ‘useless’ clay in the bottom, and that’s simply throwing an internal form that has a distinct flat base with walls that jut upwards vertically, without any gradual curve connecting the two. If you leave the floor curved in a shape like this, the raised portion closer to the walls will keep the vessel bottom heavy as you can’t trim it away easily thereafter.   The second tip is more ergonomic and that’s to create a lip that fits the shape of your mouth. I see so many cups that resolve in a thick, blocky rim, a form that simply doesn’t nestle into the corners of your lips. Instead, I throw the rim with a bevelled edge that comes to a sharp point on the outer portion of the wall, the sharpness is then softened with a chamois leather, yet it’s crisp enough to snuggle into the corners of your mouth. Think of a stool made with a shape that mimics your behind, comfortable, right? Well, the same can be said for a properly thrown lip.   #pottery #howto #potterytutorial #clay #ceramics #maker #wheelthrownpottery

This is just a brief preview of this weekend’s YouTube video. If you’re curious to learn more about the process of throwing, trimming, and managing the production of 200 mugs, I recommend watching the fully narrated film, available via the Linktree in my profile’s biography. The main focus is on handle pulling, which presents one of the greatest challenges, managing the moisture level of the pots. After trimming, the mugs must dry just enough to support a handle, but not so much that the clay becomes brittle and prone to cracking around the newly attached appendage. With only a few mugs, this is easily manageable but scale that up to 200, and drying becomes a process in itself, requiring as much attention as say, throwing or trimming. These particular mugs are a bit of a tease, as I can’t yet show the stamped bases or the glazes they'll eventually wear. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more on that soon. In the meantime, if you're interested in a deeper dive into repetition making and my enduring love for hand-pulled handles, I’d love for you to check out the full video. Thanks so much! #maker #wheelthrownpottery #craft #satisfying #pottery #ceramics #clay

Ceramic bowl ceramictechnique by @noma_ceramics 👉 Follow @clay_crafters_feed for more ceramic inspiration! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ 👉 Check out the link in bio for the best uniquely designed ceramics on the market! ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗ •┈┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈• #woodfiredpottery #stonewares #stonewarebowls #vintagepottery #claycreations #stonewarecups #barclayscenter #ceramicsstudio #potteryforall #artdaily #stonewarephilippines #stonewarepots #barclays #artisan #studiopottery #quartzcountertops #stonewarecupsph #fimoclay #rakupottery #crystalquartz #stonewaremugs #polimerclay #raedunnpottery #whitestoneware #potteryglaze #claylove #potterymugs #potteryclasses #stonewareplatesph #woodfiredceramics

There are so many small tricks that you develop when making pottery, some are always useful, others are more situational, a few you only whip out when you really mess up throwing a pot. I plan on making a much longer YouTube video that discusses many of these subtle techniques, for instance, spinning the wheel as the vessel is lifted away, or how you can compress the rim in the same moment that you lift it, nullifying an undulation in the rim you can feel developing.   Many of these you only out through intense repetition, as it takes encountering them hundreds of times before they become second nature, or for you to simply be able to react to the clay in a certain way, recognising what the issue is and how to fix it.   The joy is that this is a never-ending task, as each specific shape will lead to a whole trove of methodologies appearing, what’s even better is that every thrower or hand-builder or slip-caster, will find fixes to these tiny problems in their own way, adding to their unique language of pot making.   #mug #pottery #ceramic #crafts #wheelthrownpottery #clay  

During my college years, I threw many batches of bud vases with curved, bellied forms and narrow necks, they felt like the quintessential bud vase form, whatever that meant, they were rounded, soft shapes, akin to the vessels I threw many thousands of during my years as an apprentice.   Then, as my style gradually developed and became more angular and sharper too, these bud vases started to feel very out of place, almost as if they were made by another potter, so I started to create simple cylinders at first, straight up with a crisp lip, but the flowers and stems placed inside would often tilt over too much.   What they needed, to stay upright, was a narrower opening, hence how this specific shape developed, a form that’s quite tricky to make and one that requires careful clay allocation to certain parts in the initial cylinder.   These feel far more welcome within my range, part of the family, as compared to a distant cousin. It’s an unusual quality to notice, but sometimes a pot you make simply won’t feel right, it’s not yours, it’s another style and one you feel very disconnected to.   #vase #budvase #pottery #ceramics #satisfying #howto #craft  

I don’t always glaze the exterior first but I’ve gotten into the habit of doing so with this particular glaze as it’s so fragile once glazed. You’ll notice as I pull the form out of the glaze I have to grasp it by the rim, something that if I were to do when the interior was glazed, it could damage that section as it’s yanked out. Hence why I do the outside first, and then swirl it around the interiorly carefully, letting it pour out over the lip.   In theory, I could wax the outside portion just beneath the rim, this way the glaze wouldn’t peel over quite so much, but in the past when I’ve waxed this particular glaze it ended up leaving traces of where it once was. Perhaps it was simply a fluke, a one-off, but it was enough to cause me to never attempt it again, plus, layering wax over such a powdery-fluffed up layer of glaze is difficult enough in itself.   All of that leads to this rather convoluted process but it gets the job done and leaves me, hopefully, with a particularly uniform finish.   #satisfying #asmr #pottery #ceramics #glaze #bowl #crafts

This weekend’s YouTube video is slightly different in that I’m taking a shape that brought into question on the pottery subreddit, yes, I occasionally lurk when I probably have better things to do. A user there was asking about this particular shape, how to make it and trim it, and thus, here’s my response, discussing not only how to make a wide shallow bowl like this, but there’s also some suggestions in how to alter the shape in order for it to, well, survive being fired to cone ten. A shape like this, if thrown to initial sketch, would definitely slump in my reduction firing, unless of course the overhang was thrown and left much thicker, which goes against some of my making principles. I enjoy the challenge, and hopefully the OP will find the video helpful, if they every stumble upon it. This could be an interesting new series, troubleshooting shapes and assessing them as I go, and no matter how many pots I’ve made, whenever you try something new you learn something in the making and trimming. Let me know what you think! #pottery #potterytutorial #bowl #handmade #craft #ceramics

Why do I always end up loving the miniature versions of the pots I make?   Scaled down they just feel so precious, I hate to use the word cute, but there we go. They’re delicate and light and I simply want to pop them on a shelf somewhere, an object to pick up and hold occasionally.   The process of scaling pottery down is a challenge. It has to be done proportionally, together with shrinking feature such as the rim and foot, parts that become finer than you’ve perhaps ever made before. It’s also a challenge in regard to keeping the damned thing in place as you turn, you can pin them down with too much clay or that might damage them, you can’t apply too much pressure or you might squash them, thus you need to work softly and intentionally, carving back clay and releasing the tools delicately as to not pull the vessel off centre as they’re so light.   I can’t wait to glaze these miniatures and part of me wants to do something else but throw dozens and dozens more come next Monday.   #pottery #miniature #clay #ceramics #bowl #oddlysatisfying #craft

Out of all of the shapes I make, it’s the bowls that have undergone that greatest change over the past few years. Fundamentally, when they were simply fully curved forms, they were the objects that felt the least cohesive when compared to everything else I create. Yet, since introducing tall feet and angular sides, they’ve started to feel far more welcome within my body of work and they certainly are more unique and individual, I feel like I can have fun when throwing and trimming them, as the angularity opens up a vase realm of shapes that can be created verses those that are just simply rounded.   I never liked bowl forms that had an angular interior that matched an angular exterior, which is what happens you try and throw the angular shape straight off-the-bat. I prefer a rounded, sleek inside shape, as the glazes conform to it in a far better way, thus the solution, and the revelation I’ve sort of had since, is to throw a relatively thick curved shape that’s then trimmed back to be sharp and angular, a vessel made up from numerous straight planes.   Revelation is the right word too, as since beginning to make vessels like this my enjoyment of the process has rocketed, as have the quality of the pots themselves, not to mention that I’m far more content with how individual, in terms of character, they feel.   That’s a lot of words for a small change in my craft, but it’s had a considerable impact on my practice.   #bowl #craftsmanship #trimming #wheelthrownpottery #clay #pottery

These types of plates top the chart for most satisfying object to create, they’re straightforward to throw provided you have big enough bats and I’d say by far the single worst moment is wiring a vessel like this, off of the bat itself, the sheer potential for things to wrong is so astronomically high.   Once thrown and safely separated from the bat though, they’re a breeze, as long as they’re trimmed and dried evenly so they stay flat throughout the process, in fact that’s likely the second trickiest part of the making these, finishing them so they don’t warp, also a nightmare. It’s for this reason that whilst leather hard a pot like this is only ever flipped around between two bats as it’s so easy to accidentally bend the plate, warping it, which could eventually lead to cracks forming.   Once bisque fired, I lay these pieces on a flat surface to see if they teeter or spin. If they do it’s at this stage that I grind back the offending clay until it sits flat. If you catch it here it normally doesn’t come back to haunt you once reduction fired.   Glazing is simple, again provided you have a wide enough bucket, in and out, that’s it. I used to be wary about placing the pots on foam like I do, my fear was it would grind away the dry powdery glaze itself, and it can if you rub it around on that surface, but the heavier objects tend to hold themselves down firmly enough so this doesn’t occur.   Then it’s fired again, this is the final test and there’s still plenty that can go wrong, but it worked a treat this time. Thanks for watching!   #plate #tableware #pottery #ceramics #maker #craft #satisfying  

My YouTube video this weekend is one for the nerdy, tool-obsessed trimmers out there. It’s all about the spinners I use on top of my pots as I trim them, from what their function is, to why I think they’re useful and are perhaps better than simply using your fingertips, together with discussing my own personal preferences as to what I think makes a good one. If you’d like to indulge in 15-minutes of spinner chat, you can find a link to the fully narrated video in my profile’s biography. (Tap the Linktree and click on the very top link) When putting this video together and properly thinking about spinners, how I use them and why I use them, I did some to a sort of revelation, they were a step, so-to-speak, in my journey as a potter, as whilst they’re so incredibly simple, the difference they make is rather staggering. For instance, when filming this week’s film and returning to some of the older spinners I have, (those without a ball-bearing inside), the difference in concentration and pressure needed to pin the pot down is remarkable. When using a spinner with a ball-bearing and a comfortable handle, I can trim with more attention on my hand that’s holding the turning tool and therefore the shape of the pot itself, without a spinner, or using one that is just a simple flat surface, part of that attention is put back on my left hand, the one that supports the spinner, keeping it place, as you constantly have to readjust the fingers on it and the spinning motion of the spinner itself influences the movement of your fingers. I’m probably massively overthinking it but I’d wager I’m one of the potter’s that’s used a spinner like this the most so there’s no wonder why they’ve been in my thoughts so much. The truth is, there’s an awful lot of spinners online and some are far better than others in my opinion, so in this video I also breakdown what I think you should be looking for. Thanks for watching! #pottery #tools #toolsofthetrade #satisfying #asmr #crafting

When a pot has a particularly thin or delicate rim and it’s on the drier side, it’s more likely to crack if secured to the wheel with three lugs of clay or mechanical arms like found on a Giffin grip, equally, if the rim is finely trimmed and the clay is still relatively wet, it’s also likely to be deformed by the above. In these cases, as I’d be lying if I said I’m always trimming my work when it’s the perfect consistency, I often use a sticky pad like this—a round of chamois leather works too, as does a thin pad of foam. It works nicely provided you press down firmly enough from above, (using a spinner in this case), yet I’d say it does lend itself to be slightly more technical trimming and it’s remarkably easy for everything to abruptly go terribly wrong, or rather, the pot flinging off centre and destroying itself. Hence why this isn’t a technique I’d recommend to somebody that’s new to trimming, in that instance pinning the bowl to the wheel with clay stuffed around the rim is a much safer method. Thanks @DiamondCore Tools for the sticky pad and Kevin Scott for the super spinner. #pottery #trimming #handmade #satisfying #tools #ceramics