Planter

Worked for almost 6 hours in the studio yesterday. I am still having my ass handed to me by porcelain. It's so great when it's fired and at leather hard, it can be incised with designs so easily, but it can be so finicky on the wheel. I realize that there are other porcelains that might be easier to throw with, but I've got to use what I already have.

5 1/2 hours of studio time and I used a little more than 75 lbs of clay. I'm trying to get up to speed with Isaac Button, who would use a ton of clay per day. Yes, a ton - literally. He was making identical pots too. I still have a long way to go before that happens.

One of my goals this term is to throw big, > 25 lbs. The pot below is my first attempt. It's a bag of dark brown clay. Lots of sand and pretty stiff. I pulled the walls alright except for about two thirds of the way up. I always seem to get a thin spot just below the lip. When I cut this in half, sure enough, there it was, quarter of an inch all the way up except for three inches below the lip. I tried a couple more times with similar results. I'm not sure what to do with the form once I get it into a cylinder. I wonder if I shouldn't leave it a bit thicker.

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