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.
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
For the uninitiated, I should explain what a Saggar is, it is a big piece of pottery that smaller pottery is sealed in. Traditionally this was done in Stoke on Trent to protect the pottery from the coal fire that they fired their kilns with. Modern Potters use them to get a reduction environment inside an electric kiln, this stops the kiln from getting damaged and brings some different effects to the pots. I threw a a saggar a few years ago and it has been sat on the top shelf on my studio for a few years now, not…
“boredom haunts me as I work, I fear it will destroy me. I want to be better than my fears” -a note in my sketchbook. Not all old ideas and thoughts are comfortable. Putting them out into the world makes me feel uncertain like I am giving away too much. As for the date if this particular quote it is between January and December 2014. Finding this quote reminds me that I haven’t been happy with my work for some time. I am at the uncomfortable stage of being a maker where I am very aware of how bad I…
This week marks to start of the BBC’s Great British Pottery Throw Down, and from the pottery community there has been a mixed response as expected. Personally I am feeling more upbeat about the program.
Or should that be thinking backwards. Recently I have been finding myself rediscovering older thinking and going back to earlier ideas. For a start I decided to go back to my original title for my research and for my thesis, I also found a business card on my desk that showed marks into the clay that I had recently tried and thought was a new idea for my work. The business card was from my final year at university and I stopped making the marks as a tutor told me it made the work “too busy”.
In 2016 I started working as a Design Technology Technician at a local school, after I finished my Masters I felt like a change. The job means I work in a variety of materials, mainly wood and plastics but also metals. There is also an element of electronics which the department wants to expand in an I have qualifications in, so I am helping them expand what they offer to their students. The other main skill that they offer is computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacture (CAM), we have a laser cutter, cnc router and 3D printer that…
