Adventures of A pottery Beginner: Starting Over

Its been almost 2 years since I did any pottery I think. Life and work got crazy and I moved and my wheel has been in a box ever since.... I registered for a pottery class again that starts April 9th so I am gearing up for that by Trying to practice what I remembered and also with the help of Youtube.

I have an accounts course t=doing as well so I too so I cant practice pottery everyday but lets see how it goes

Earlier this week.... tried pulling up a cylinder....Hardest thing ever but I managed to pull it up

Im not too happy with it but that's the best one that day....which doesn't exist anymore cause I don't know when to stop so I pinched right through it .... trying to reduce the thickness of thoses walls. Its also kinda cone shaped and not cylinder.

April 2: Attempting a bowl

Ok so this bowl.....uneven about to collapse ... I stopped so I could have something to try and trim

And trimming didn't work out so great either...trimmed right trough the bowl

                                                                                                                     

April 2 continued: Cylinder: Not giving up!
Ok I am a lot happier with this one. the walls are more even. and the shape is a little less cone shaped and more cylinder shaped. I didn't break this one so I can try trimming it tomorrow.

 Speaking of trimming I did that bowl in the morning and left it on the window to get hard. It got hard way quicker than I expected and by the time I got home from work it was too hard to trim. But I tried just the same.

This time I put this cylinder in plastic (its still soft but I'm tired and need to go to bed) I'll see how it feels when I wake up.

I woke up...and it was still squishy. .. what a difference. ... ok so I left it out again and kept checking  it till I thought it was dry enough to play around with. 

I'm so happy  with this :)... my carving needs work  but I'll keep practicing  :)

April 3: Gonna try a slip decoration technique I saw on YouTube.



Pottery Class 101 - Reseach! - My collection Of How to Youtube Videos

I love ceramics but I have only just begun my journey with clay. I am trying to learn all I can from the wonderful people on Youtube that share their knowledge and experience with the world. I thank you so much.

My progress for actually making stuff
I will post my worst the date and my best the date.

Cylinder:
what am I supposed to do? SIMON LEACH - 7 forms to aid throwing cylinder
Ok... now how do I do that? SIMON LEACH - 7 steps to making a cylinder !
Home work -  cut your first 100 pots and see - pottery throwing a simple pottery cylinder
Mats Svensson  - Throwing a cylinder on a potters wheel not in English but its nice and slow
rogerjyee " Centering clay / how to center on a pottery wheel tips demo : Pottery Making. Part 1. "
Timsee clay "Help! I can't center"
Timsee clay HELP! I can't pull a wall

Yay! I did a Cylinder!!! Now what?

Spheres
youdanxxx pottery - Throwing a spherical round Korean type pottery Vase on the wheel
geobeats - Pottery Making: How to Make Enclosed Candles and Shakers

Yay! Then What?

A Teapot!
OMG! --- really did I just make that?


ok now how do I get it off the wheel >.<

Help! Now it's Stuck Pottery Wheel Throwing Demonstion
Slip Decorations
Slip decoration tool - by Charan Sachar  Thank you for sharing Charan this is amazing in its simplicity and brilliance

Ooooohs and AAAhhhhhs
Tevisan Ceramics: pottery and porcelain Creations (English)
HOW TO SCULPT A DRAGON ATTACKING IN MID FLIGHT - MONSTER MONTH - DAY 17

Basket - omg
MAKING A HANDWOVEN HILLGROVE PORCELAIN BASKET CAHIRCIVEEN IRELAND
Making a woven Ring of Kerry Rose Basket at Hillgrove Porcelain Cahirciveen Ireland

Pottery Class starts in a few days

8 weeks of fun coming right up. I am Gearing up for a Pottery Class that starts April 9th. This is my second class and I am really excited  because the First one I did was just amazing. The teacher was very nice and found the time to run around to everyone giving them personal advice on the piece they were working on. I got a lot out of that class and I love working with clay because of it.... Many thanks to Teacher Ms. Kate Leach

So now I signed up for another class. I am now preparing a list of projects to work on. So Far I have

• Kitchen Tablet Rest,
• Phone Rest,
• Kitchen Spoon Rest,
• Salt and pepper Shaker
• Cat mug ,
• candle holder I broke,
• flower pots, soap dish,
• pottery stamps.
• Mini Doll House
• Cat Mug Bowl Plate Set.

I love the pottery class because they mix the beginners with the intermediates and experts. I swear I spent more time walking around ooohhhhing and aaahhhhing than I did making stuff.....lol

Here are some of the things I made in my First pottery class.

• Here we have a Cat Mug -
• I have to redo it as it didn't get fired or glazed. We learned throwing at the end of the class so I ran out of time.
• Little Clay Studio
• At the end of class I bought me a wheel and did a little clay area in my apartment. But things got a little crazy. I moved and didn't get to practice at all and now my clay studio is in a box. Unpacking Time! The class will get me energized and pumped with lots of new things to work on.
• Clay envelops
• It was a project in class - I have no idea what to do with them
• Mini Pinch Pots
• Again a project in Class - again no idea what to do with them
• Square Tile
• This one is Kitchen worthy! No more hot pots on my counter top now I have a pot rest.
• Little House
• Was going for a mini clay Dollhouse but It needs some work. To the Drawing Board!
• Cat Mug Bowl Plate Set
• I Moved... cant find them.... arg!... must redo them!
• Fluted Bowls
• Ahhhh My masterpiece. I love them so much. The small ones I eat ice-cream with. These were me trying to throw a bowl on the wheel in class.... The big bowl started to collapse on me ......no no no....I saved it!....lol....The small ones turned out good but ... you know you have to have a matching set ....so I "Saved" then too....lol. No regrets I love them.
• Kitty Treat Box
• Love it!... Love Love Love
• Ninja Fish Phone stand
• Sad to say this one disappeared after class and was never seen again. Oh well shared spaces. On my list to make another one.

Spring Baskets and Squishy Pumpkin Measuring Quarter!

 I am happy I sold my Easter Egg Basket. My crafts are very special to me so I missed it. So I decided to make more baskets.

 https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/109153460/spring-basket-doll-house-furniture?ref=shop_home_active_1

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/109153460/spring-basket-doll-house-furniture?ref=shop_home_active_1

 

 

I made quite a few things so let me tell you a little about them.
I love spring. As winter comes to an end I look forward to all the flowers and flower shopping and decorating my small space apartment with colourful flowers. This is what inspired this piece.

The doll house basket can sit on any flat surface. It can decorate a table or sit beside a chair or sit on the porch of your doll house.

The hanging basket charms , If you can find a place to hang them on your doll house that's great. You can also use them as charms.

The magnet. I personally love these because the places to put them are endless. My personal favourite place is my laptop monitor. Yup mine is made with some metal so magnets sticks. I love making little laptop friends. Other places are the fridge, my locker, my cubicle wall at work to hold up important notes. To my sewing and beading friends I also use the magnets to pick up and hold unto my pins and needles so that I'm not always on Pins and Needles.....Ouch ....lol.

The Sewing Pins - attached to the magnet in one of those pics that is doing its pin holding job very nicely - flower pin and a fruit pie pin

 

 

 

Updated my  measuring quarter to a Squishy Pumpkin Measuring Quarter!

Gave my little measuring quarter to help my peeps judge the size of things a little more design. Here is the before and after. I picked a pumpkin design. It came out a little flat and squishy...so ill call it Squishy Pumpkin Measuring Quarter!

What am I doing today....hmmmmm :)

Keeping busy.... Doing what? ..... Possibly nothing....

(see what I am up to today in the comments below)

Adventures of A pottery Beginner: Mug attempt Day 3

DAY 3

 

 

Day 3 was a short day. 4 balls of clay. The aim was 4 mugs practicing making a cylinder. Actual number of mugs... only One survived. Kind of a frustrating day. Three of them did whats in the video below. 

 

I think I was adding too much pressure when I was pulling up.

 

 watch this: http://youtu.be/gfU2Kl8zCYQ

1

 

 

Also I noticed with the last one that made it that the walls were very very wavy. Applying too much pressure in one spot maybe. And I was left with a super thick rim and couldn't and found myself not being able to do much with it because the middle of my mug was already buckling because of the weight up top. yikes!!!

So from those failed attempts I have a lot of wet mushy clay. The good news?  Let it dry a bit then practice wedging. Always something to do :)

 

Well this is how that turned out

 

 I trimmed this one better than I did the others. She was using a Shimpo whisper which is pretty close to the ground and I sat on the ground with my other classmate. The perfect view as you could see every turn  and angle of her hand well.  I sat and watched my teacher trim 2 bowls and she talked while trimming them on how to hold the tool when she wanted a certain effect. I tried and that helped a lot. I didn't feel so lost anymore.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201168072626614

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201168072986623

~Things Achieved~
(1)My sponge on a stick - I hot glued a sponge to a dowel I got at the dollar store. I'll let you know how it turned out
(2) Centering - I have to tell you this.. PUSH THE CLAY TOWARDS THE CENTER OF THE WHEEL with a steady hand.. it was a light bulb that went off after seeing my teacher doing it a million times and hearing it a million times on YouTube.

~Things to work on~
1) Cut your first 100 pots in half  - I got some advice from a youtube potter. Cut your first 100 puts in half and check the thickness and evenness
               - yeah I know I said " what? 100 pots?!?! soooo many and they are my babies.
               - Then he said that they are not your babies till they are fired
               - Ok I accept! Lets try to learn from this..... I didn't have to cut that cup to know it was uneven I could feel it waving in my fingers as I ran them up the sides >.<
2)Coning - I am getting better at centering but coning is still tricky for me ... more practice
3) Watching how much pressure I apply when pulling up my cylinder.
4)Wedging


~Links: ~
Day 1:  http://yolybearz.blogspot.ca/2013/05/hi-guys-i-am-expanding-my-clay.html
Day 2:  http://yolybearz.blogspot.ca/2013/05/adventures-of-pottery-beginner-mug.html






Adventures of A pottery Beginner: Mug attempt Day 2

 

 

DAY 2 

Hi everyone. This is day 2 all alone unsupervised. Good thing I have YouTube to help me. Special thanks to hobbypotter and her videos on 365 days of clay cups on YouTube. She is so right to improve you have to practice and what better way than to have a commitment to yourself to make something every day. Its fun and you really see your improvement.  Also special thanks to ThatLynnGirl  and all the other potters who was with hobbypotter every step of the way making very very informative comments. They are helping so much.  I'm currently on Day 4 of hobbypotter videos. :)

 

 



                                                          cup 5        cup  4           cup 3

So for Day 1 and even cup 3 I have been having issues pulling up a cylinder. I think I apply too much pressure in some spots and so I am thinning out the wall in some spots too much. Well lets see how cup 3 turns out on trimming day. Cup 3 too I forgot to trim the edges prior to taking it off the wheel that will be more work trimming day for sure.

Cup 4 I took a break and decided to attempt this throwing off the hump thing and try to make a miniature pot it worked for a bit but then there came those thin wall again to haunt me. Cutting it off the clay was hard too. I tried using a pin tool .... lets just say it didn't work out so well.  So again lets see what trimming day brings.

Cup 5 worked out almost perfect I was so happy. In my amateur eyes the clay was centred better than I ever got it before and I was able to pull up the walls. I'm gonna love trimming day on this one

Things that I need to practice:
1) Getting my clay centred.
2) Watching how much pressure I apply when pulling up my cylinder.
3) I will make a sponge on a stick - for when I have to dip my hand into the pot to compress and take out the water sometimes the opening is too small may hand cant fit and I end up distorting the whole thing.

Links:
Day 1:  http://yolybearz.blogspot.ca/2013/05/hi-guys-i-am-expanding-my-clay.html