Rocks have Lids?

Or how something I created due to injury became of of my favourite ceramic creations.

In 2018 I was preparing for Earth and Fire in Nottinghamshire and working as a Design Technology Technician (wood, metal and plastics) as a day job, I was using a bandsaw which was something I did most days as I was generally using the laser cutter and supervising classes at the same time.

Our bandsaw wasn’t the best, it was in all likelihood bought by the school long before I was born and it was in constant need of TLC. Regardless, as I made a cut I had pushed forward too much and the blade bounced back and took a bite out of the tip of my thumb. It didn’t hurt but shocked me. It looked grizzly and I knew throwing was out of the question so I sat down with a sketchbook and came up with the design of a lidded piece of pottery.

They are made from a block of clay that is tapped into a long cuboid and then twisted each one off the block tapping down the bottom on the concrete till they sit nicely having picked up the floors texture.

The top is cut off and then the clay removed from the inside, letting them dry out and then further scraping until they are the correct thickness. They are glazed inside (there are some that aren’t) and glazed on the top too giving some variety where they are snapped off the block of clay.

Because there is so much space on these they are made from a variety of clay bodies, but also there are various other ways of changing the outside colour by adding a layer of powdered clay so as you open up and look inside it can be a surprise what you will find as they don’t match.

Like a lot of my seaside saggar work they are tumble stacked with shells between them, so most have seashell marks and the larger surfaces are nice for picking up imprints from the various materials I use.

Currently I’m making some that are much bigger, and they will be available at the “Made in Lancashire” exhibition at the Platform Gallery in Clitheroe from 11th July to 14th September 2022.