Month: March 2017

This is the first time I am trying pottery. I started this semester, at the end of January, in a class called “Pottery for Beginners” at the Arts Centre in Aberystwyth. It runs every Monday evening from 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm and is held by Laura Hughes.

My works so far:

This vase was made using the slab method – it consists of nine parts pieced together. In the first picture you can see the vase after its first firing, bisque firing, and in the second picture it has been glazed and is ready to be fired again, glaze firing.

This bowl is the first one I made, and is made using the pinch pot method. You start of with a lump of clay, making it round and smooth before making a hole in the midle and then pinching the clay from every side until it is the shape you want it to be. This bowl is supposed to be brown on the outside and green on the inside, but it is also covered in glaze – on its way to be glaze fired.

This is my first mug made by the throwing technique, probably what most people associate with pottery, where you thrown a lump of clay (smooth and round) onto a wheel that you spin while forming the lump with both hands. It’s not as easy as it looks! First state, not been fired yet –  it is now you paint it.

This bowl is made with the pinch pot method after a failed attempt to throw. Also in the first state and ready to be bisque fired.

I have also a bowl made by the coil method, but I didn’t take a picture of it since it is not very good. Using that method you make the clay into sausage shapes and build up a vase, bowl, mug (or whatever you like) out of these sausages and smooth it afterwards with damp sponges.

Luckily I still have a few classes left so I am looking forward to making more pottery. It is a nice way to spend an evening – relaxing and creative.