I was taught this technique by Mark Griffiths, two segments. A four pound flat base on a bat and a 6 pound doughnut also on a bat.
I have mastered the throwing but have a high failure rate when it comes to firing them. Cracking and sticking to the kiln shelves are the most common faults.
Great fun however.
Happy potting.
Mark Griffiths has a retrospective at the Leach Pottery in St Ives. He is a potter truly in the ‘Leach’ tradition and has made his name as a thrower of very large forms. I was fortunate to have been taught by Mark during the residential I attended two years ago. Fabulous techniques, great surface decoration, beautiful forms and a master of wood firing to high temperatures.
It was great to wonder around the Leach pottery and see the spot were the master, (Leach) practiced his craft, I learnt to throw on an identical wheel. The three chambered, ‘stepped kiln’ was really interesting to look at. Originally he fired it using wood but converted it to air blown oil burners considering the time and effort needed to stoke the kiln with wood too much. Leach managed to retain the fly ash effect on the surface of his work by inserting sticks into the fire chamber right at the end of the firing cycle of about 25 hours.
St Ives is a beautiful Cornish town, out of season! Chris and I stumbled across a real gem The Pier Coffee Bar. A lovely Italian coffee shop, great place to sit eat and watch the world go by. The board of Italian meats and Cornish cheese is fabulous and great value at £10, you get more that enough for two.
I made this 10 lb. pot in two sections, a 4 lb. bottomless ring and a 6 lb. cylinder with a base. I joined the smaller ring onto the larger shape and re-threw the joined pot.
For a long time I have striven to achieve perfectly smooth symmetrical shapes, I am beginning to understand now how this attempt at perfection is denying the fundamental nature of clay. It is plastic, prone to do its own thing and that after you have made a shape and its still on the wheel you have the opportunity to work the shape and use texture as a way of allowing the glaze to run and catch on the surface of the form. I used a steak tenderising hammer I bought for 50p in Totnes to get the diagonal pattern and a wheel on a stick I made from the remains of a drawing board for the banding ring. Both techniques I saw demonstarted by Mark Griffiths during the summer.
My sister brought me a set of ‘Mud Tools’ for my birthday, I used them for the first time throwing this shape, very effective, thank you Judy.
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