Thursday, December 3, 2009

Experiments in Pottery - 1

I took a pottery class this semester, and we are almost done for the year. The last time I took a class in pottery, it was a fully wheel-thrown, short class. I was also working full-time, so couldn't spend much time practicing.

So I took a class again this semester. This time I mostly learned hand-building, and it was so much fun! Slab pots, coil pots, pinch pots and so on ...

I did try one on the wheel to see if I remembered anything from the previous class several years ago. The result was yet another lopsided pot that I glazed a bright blue. :)



One of my first attempts at making a slab pot was this mug. The glazing left some uncovered spots, and I'm not sure how to fix that. So I won't be drinking tea from it as I'd hoped, but it will make a nice cactus-holder!



This coil pot I made just a couple weeks ago, and I think this is the one that turned out closest to what I wanted to do with it, so I quite like it. I've not quite decided what I'll do with it. It was going to be a fruit holder, but now I'm not sure.

Before glazing -


Glazed and finished, waiting for an identity ...



I have a bunch more that I am finishing up. So parts 2 and 3 will feature more experiments. I'm still very unclear about glazing techniques, and need a lot more practice. So please feel free to give me suggestions and comments.

Take care!

25 comments:

Rush said...

these are indeed masterpieces, unique with every hand, with every imagination that flowed into shaping the artifacts....love them!!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

How lovely! I love the rich blue glaze on the 'lopsided' pot. It must be a fulfilling experience to make these and then use them.

Mridula said...

To me every piece looks beautiful.

Neelima Vallangi said...

these are so beautiful Bindu! I should also try these classes one of these days.

I somehow liked the orange fruit holder before glazing, but the blue one is also nice. :)

SG said...

Fantastic creations. I absolutely love the mug. If I had it, I would just keep it for display in my living room shelf :)
Fuit holder for the coil pot is an excellent idea. I am thinking, you could also keep pretty napkins in this, arranged at the periphery, and the cot grandly centered on your dining table.

SG said...

The *pot* not the *cot*... dunno what I was thinking while typing :D

Nisha said...

They are beautiful masterpieces.

I liked the orange color more for that fruit basket. And that rich blue glaze on the 'lopsided' pot.

You can also gift them to your dear ones if you don't find any use urself. And to your readers as well. I am ready to take anyone of them. :-)

megha puNAter" said...

they are lovely bindu :)
keep on working with clay it is so stress relieving.

rocksea said...

wonderful pottery creations, bindu! you have a knack of it! lovely, would love to learn pottery sometime.

French Fancy... said...

I love anything blue and the colour of the first pot really is lovely. I also like the lattice effect on the coil pot. If these are early days in your renewed pottery classes then you will end up a first class potter.

GMG said...

Hi Bindu! Wow! I see great progress there; one of these days famous pottery will be available at the Internet...

There is a weird bridge waiting for you at Blogtrotter. Enjoy and have a great weekend!!

Shayla said...

Fun! I like the lopsidedness of your first piece. I'd love to take up pottery some time too.

Blu said...

so glad that you let us know how things were going, I kept wondering how the class was going. what fun, really love that coil pot, great glaze too!

LadyFi said...

I love the vibrant colours of your creations.. and somehow the small imperfections just bring out the beauty!

HELENA AFONSO said...

How nice of you to pass through my blog. Travels are really my priority in life, for me that is the way of knowing people and places, the great lesson of life. I like to share my experiences and that is my first purpose in my blog! Thank you again for your part in this sharing..... I will soon post some other experiences during this trip.
I have seen your last post, nice work, that is another thing I most appreciate in life, work of art, for me this is another way of showing yourself and share your talents!
I suggest you use the google translater, in my blog, so that you can better understand my texts as some parts are in english but others are in my language, portuguese,
HELENA
Take care, HELENA

ArtPropelled said...

Oooo I love the blue mug.... a lot!

Ruth said...

Perfectly imperfect.

Sagar Kolte said...

This is a beautiful blog. :)

Chris Daly said...

Wonderful pieces. I love your colors and shapes. Isn't hand building fun? I was a potter in my first artistic life and hope to be one someday again.

Abhilash said...

marvellous, superb and fantastic.

You are a genious. I dont know actually whether all can make it but yes it appears brilliant work to me.

Jude said...

What a delight!! Well done! Don't know whether you know but I am a potter...without the equipment..
It was my decision to leave it all behind, but sometimes when i see work, like yours and others, i get a sad sad feeling.I try to get my kicks from looking at friends I was studying with but sometimes I feel, well, something is missing.

Unknown said...

Bindu, your pottery is wonderful! I especially love that mug.

Sydney said...

Oh boy, I absolutely love the bowls and have not seen any design like them before. "lopsided" or not, you are so talented, it all looks great!

Don Madden said...

nice rich blue glaze.
the glazes we use at school can be problematic - by the end of the semester the buckets can be pretty contaminated by sloppy glazers. The kiln sometimes mis-fires. So in other words, it's not you. Will you be back in school this spring?
Don

Bhavesh Chhatbar said...

Late to comment here, but you've done an amazing work Bindu!

Mexican Prickly Poppy [Argemone Mexicana, Satyanashi, सत्यानाशी]