First Pottery Cylinders

After many months of mangled lumps of clay, I present to you....our first successful cylinders!!

My first mug!

On our visit to Deep River this past month, D and I got some pointers from D's mom (thank you Alison!) that really improved our cylinder-throwing. D's mom has been potting since last November, and her progress has been really amazing to see - her pieces are incredibly professional-looking with beautifully done glazes. I think she is just being modest about her work, because she pots with other experienced potters, but honestly they were much nicer than the pieces we have seen in our classes. Particularly the glazes. I can't get over how great they looked. I hate glazing. Well, I don't really. But it can be very frustrating when things don't turn out how you expect. It's all part of the learning process.

D's pencil jars

Anyhow, their house has become something of a ceramics gallery of pitchers, planters, casseroles, lidded jars, tea pots, mugs, bowls, plates, and various serving ware. D and I kind of looked at each other and were like, "how is it possible we have been doing pottery for nearly just as long?!!" It was definitely very inspiring, and we're both excited to go back to our next session of pottery. For those of you that don't remember, we were struggling with having to throw five 10" tall cylinders for class. We are determined to conquer our cylinders!

We also played around with throwing off the hump, a technique in which you plop a giant mound of clay on the wheel and only concentrate on centering the small portion on top to make small objects. It is much easier to centre using this method. Here's a little vase I made:

That's it for now...more progress in September. Next up: some sewing goodies.