So these were the original wonky pots that I made out of frustration of wanting to make the sort of work I wanted rather than being a production potter. The idea was to make them with plenty of chunky grog so fine details wouldn’t be possible. The slip was then dribbled down the pots and they were shock to encourage the slip to keep dripping
You may remember my post on Saggars and some of my results. I really want to talk a bit more how these wobbly pots are made.
It was when this wonky pot gained traction on instagram and ended up going to live in Portugal I decided it was time to make some more wonky pots.
Naked wobbly pots awaiting their decoration. They are made from a secret stoneware earthenware blend with some iron oxide added for effect. They were thrown loosely and then treated to a beating with a piece of 2 by 1 that was in the workshop.A stream of porcelain slip launched towards the wonky pots. I fill a cup of slip and fling it as hard and fast as I can.the impact of throwing the slip on the pottery sends it flying off in all directions. this is a different round of throwing slip to the video andthe splash is so violent there are still particles of slip in the air.Another batch of wonky pots all slipped and drying in the garden.Not all my wonky wobbly pots are saggar fired these days, this was fired next to the saggar and has gone to live with the amazing Lighthearts in Brum whom I owe a lot to.
I really love to make these, and I really want to make more, I don’t care about function with this form, I just want to create something different. In fact I want to make them more wobbly, wonky and uncontrolled.
I don’t make anything simply and I need more iron oxide and terracotta to make another batch of wonky pots.
I want to know as an audience if there is anything you want to see more off from my pottery videos or blog articles? Please just let me know in the comments below.
Staggered stumbling starts words awkwardly twist not forming cohesively stopping any progress -Red Fox Poet Writing for the lending library I sat each piece on my desk, I measured it, entered the technical data. I had made each one, I knew them intimately by the time I came to the story I didn’t have to think too hard. So within a few hours I had written over ten thousand words, without much pausing to think.
This was originally a talk given at MIRIAD on 28th January 2015, with the Adam Field YouTube video in the background and demonstrating making a pot while talking. THis post was first posted on my research blog. Reviewing all my research so far from observations, interviews and my own practise the main important themes that keep coming through the research are seeing watching talking touching and most importantly making
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It has been a long term goal to try and get a new workshop sorted. My old workshop was a rotten 13 year old wooden shed, that was a mere 5 foot by 7 foot (1.5m by 2.1m) and no matter what I did it was too cramped, and more than once I tripped over myself. The only major body of work I created in that form of the workshop was for the Harris Museum back in 2019. I was looking at building something this year but I randomly went on Facebook Marketplace and spotted a storage container that was…
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I really believe everyone should have and use a sketchbook, I don’t mean an expensive sketchbook like a Moleskine where you are afraid to crease a page. More like the Seawhite of Brighton starter sketchbook, the paper quality is nice but they aren’t too expensive and can be quicker to fill to give you a sense of accomplishment. This sort of cheaper sketchbook should be a good all rounder with pen, pencils or watercolours. There is no need to be afraid of making a mistake; a sketchbook is a working document. You don’t need to share it with anyone so…
