TeaChat

That firing went well for you, Adam. You have some great pieces there. So much can go wrong in a wood firing.
Congrats!

I'm trying something new today.





This is the biggest one I've made too.

It's so cool to see people putting in the time. Great work folks!

just gets better and better, I might have to order a pot soon haha.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to document the whole process again to see if I could get some feedback on it.



I've gone over how to get to this stage before. This is a hollow "egg of clay" mad by paddling and pounding. I've smoothed it with rubber which seems to work best. I think it looks OK on the top.




But the bottom is still less than ideal The more I try to smooth it the more lines appear. Since I have a lot more work to do I call this "good enough" and move forward.



Scrape the top flat with ox horn to prepare to make the lid assembly.



When I'm not wokring on a part and if I don't want it to dry out it goes in the muro.



I've started making templates-- this is much easier than the compass... but is there a disadvantage to template over the traditional method?



I don't use water to join I use yougart-thickness clay.



Perfect.



Making the lid.



Rough out the shape with slabs glued together.



Then smooth it out. I wish I had a better way to do this.



If I don't think about what is under something I can cause problems when removing it-- from now on I'll put the lid on a template so it won't stick to the banding wheel!



I'm happy with the way I make spouts for the most part.



It's fun!



The bottom of the lid.



Digging it out.



I have no idea how to make the handle smooth, I make it with very wet clay then let it get a little stiff before putting it on the teapot body. But look at how "hairy" it is. What can I try?



Smoothing with rubber is not effective on this kind of shape.



Everything is coming together! Here are all of the part needed to make the pot: body, spout, lid and lid base. Now just glue it together.



The total area of the holes should be greater than the spout opening! makes sense!



Ready to attach.



Non functional teapot need to cut out the lid!





Smooth the holes on the inside.



Add a handle to the lid and we are done!



I think this one is the best looking thus far.




Might be time to retire some of these "keepers"

Total time: 2.5 hours.

One hint that I was told is that when I get it down to 40min I'll be in business. Going faster helps since the clay can dry out.

One thing I've found hard is getting my clay to the right moisture level... any hints on how to do that?

Futurebird,

Thank you for sharing your process. I completely applaud your efforts and your willingness to share the journey. It's honestly fascinating!

Blessings!

Thanks I'm glad to know it's interesting. I find documenting things helps me to focus and plan with better clarity.

I'd love to see process sets from other artists and maybe not just amateurs...

Thread Revival

After initially being told that the Lansing Potters Guilds evening classes were full yet again (they seem to fill up instantly!), I received an email yesterday that a space opened up for the class starting next week and it is mine if I want it!

I can't wait to get back to working with clay, and it will be interesting to see how a different studio works.

Congratulations, Adam.

best,

...........john

Fun fun fun. Looking forward to your sharing as you work...

My wife and I have been meeting with Petr on Skype to share/teach Mandarin with him. The process has been rich, humorous and connective. My wife just recently threw her first gong fu teapot. It's about a 100ml, medium thickness, and has a very nice balance.

Petr gave us some very helpful assistance/hints/guidance about joining the spout/arm to the body of the pot and how to do the filter. This is the first time my wife did a sasame style filter and it is her first side-handle kyusu (she has made three other large teapots in the past). I did the finishing on the pot with a sponge and some ceramic tools while wet and then used some sandpaper on the dried body, following that with some light sponge work again. This is our first attempt and we like it very much. It has yet to be bisque fired and I still need to clean up the filter a bit more. We plan to glaze the pot inside and out. We are both excited for the next pieces. She threw some nice tea cups and other small gongfu accessories as well. Our hope is to design complete tea sets wherein she creates the ceramics and I assist and I make all the wooden accessories to accompany each set (tea pick, tea scoop, trays, etc.).









Blessings!

Woah!!! Lovely!!! I hope your wife plans to sell some of her work soon!

Congratulations my friend.
I sincerely hope that there will be many more, in the near future!

Hannah wrote:Woah!!! Lovely!!! I hope your wife plans to sell some of her work soon!

William wrote:Congratulations my friend.
I sincerely hope that there will be many more, in the near future!

Thank you both! I passed the comments along to my wife. She spent the weekend working on various lids, trimming old pieces, and a new shiboridashi.

Blessings!

This class I am determined to figure out the potters wheel. These little guys could be better, but I'll take it for day two!

https://flic.kr/p/mTdQ98


Sorry Flickr's ability to share photos apparently broke... I need to figure this out now.