Today was our second day of making pottery after classes. We arrived at the studio and collected the in-progress chawan that we had begun last week. We were then given a demonstration on how to shape the bottom of the bowl. Essentially you turned the bowl over, used a knife to sketch a circle on the bottom (the diameter of which would become the base of the bowl) and then physically cut away, at an angle, clay from the sides of your chawan. You used a wire pulled taut between a curved piece of metal...kind of like a bow? Then you attached a thing rope of clay around your circle to form the raised base. I ended up with something like this:
You can see how the angle of the bowl changes and there's a raised base.
Now.
Some of you observant readers might notice the shape of the bowl above. You might notice how it seems like the top edge is wavy and the bowl itself is not quite symmetrical, which is a must for Claire art. You might be suspecting that this bowl's shape is quite different from the one I showed you in the last pottery entry. Observant reader, you would be quite correct. This is, in fact, a completely new bowl. How can this be, you might wonder. Well. I, in my infinite brilliance, when attempting to scrape away the sides of my bowl, ended up completely shredding it. Like a curled piece of orange peel that you garnish fancy cocktails with. Completely and utterly beyond repair. I was a little too eager and overconfident, and went for it all at once like the professional instead of mincing along. So. I hurriedly fashioned a new bowl, dried the bejeezes out of it with a blow-dryer, and had the teacher help me with the bottom. In no way is this up to my standards of quality, but perhaps it will turn out all right in the end.
The, ah, large curved-ish chunk of clay there is part of the remains of my first bowl...
Anyways! To brighter topics: tomorrow and this weekend will be full of exciting things, so be sure to check back!
You can see how the angle of the bowl changes and there's a raised base.
Now.
Some of you observant readers might notice the shape of the bowl above. You might notice how it seems like the top edge is wavy and the bowl itself is not quite symmetrical, which is a must for Claire art. You might be suspecting that this bowl's shape is quite different from the one I showed you in the last pottery entry. Observant reader, you would be quite correct. This is, in fact, a completely new bowl. How can this be, you might wonder. Well. I, in my infinite brilliance, when attempting to scrape away the sides of my bowl, ended up completely shredding it. Like a curled piece of orange peel that you garnish fancy cocktails with. Completely and utterly beyond repair. I was a little too eager and overconfident, and went for it all at once like the professional instead of mincing along. So. I hurriedly fashioned a new bowl, dried the bejeezes out of it with a blow-dryer, and had the teacher help me with the bottom. In no way is this up to my standards of quality, but perhaps it will turn out all right in the end.
The, ah, large curved-ish chunk of clay there is part of the remains of my first bowl...
Anyways! To brighter topics: tomorrow and this weekend will be full of exciting things, so be sure to check back!
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