How is my handmade pottery created?
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Clay is cut, weighed and wedged to remove air bubbles.
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Clay is thrown on the wheel. This means steps such as centering, coning up and opening out before pulling up. There are actually around 14 or 15 steps here to create a pottery form! I use a few tools to create some shapes such as wooden ribs but mostly just use my fingers.
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My pieces are normally left on a bat to dry which takes between 3 days to well over a week depending on shape of piece, size and clay used.
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When leather hard (firm but not bone dry) pieces are ‘finished’ this involves trimming, creating a foot or taking excess weight off the piece. Sometimes it involves adding texture or decorating slip colours and patterns. They are smoothed off with a sponge and left to finish drying. They are quite delicate at this stage.
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When the pieces are totally dry – ‘bone dry’ they are bisque fired around 1000 degrees C in a kiln. They are now more stable and harder as well as porous, ready to apply decoration and colour.
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Each piece then has glaze (glassy coating) applied, which I paint on usually 3 coats with brushes, underglaze (pigments and oxides) which I also paint on around 3 coats or underglaze transfers, which are applied with a sponge and water over underglaze and then given a few coats of transparent glaze.
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When glaze is totally dry then they are fired again this time for a glaze firing to around 1220 degrees C. During this second firing the clay matures and the glaze forms a bond with the surface. This enables the piece to be strong and durable.
Fingers are crossed during this stage as lots of things can happen to the pieces in the kiln such as cracks, splitting, glaze crawling across the piece, pottery shattering into hundreds of pieces and glaze running and sticking to shelf which can take chunks out of the bottom of the piece. Glazes are not always what you expect as they can change depending on how thick they are applied, the position of the piece in the kiln and the type of clay used.
It is not a quick process and there is always the element of surprise and delight when the kiln is opened and pieces look good!
Each hand made piece of pottery is made with care and love and I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.
Jean x