Cooking is something I've always loved, and I love everything that has to do with
cooking, testing out a recipe for myself, making a small dish but a huge mess,
cooking for a group of people, working out how to size something up and
improvising with what's available. Also cooking utensils are a great passion of
mine, from plates for serving and eating to the pots, ladels and trays. Especially
ceramic cookware has a special place in our kitchen. It asks te be treated with a
certain care, unlike stainless steel which really doesn't care wheter you drop it
or brush it with a metal sponge. I would love to use ceramic cooking pots but
our induction cooker makes that hard. I'm sure there is a solution for that at
some point.
During my studies I loved working with ceramics and if covid would not have made
it impossible to use my schools workshops and kilns I would have used the material
way more and used it for my graduation work in 2020.
Last summer I realised how much I miss making things and especially working with
ceramics. It is easy to get influenced by all the online ceramic content, and I've
watched hours of video's and listened to even ore hours of podcast on the subject.
I knew it, I had to get into making ceramics again. Pottery specifically as it
connects to my love for cookware.
Making ceramics is messy and if you care about your furniture (and drains) I would
advice against doing it in your living room, B and I experimented with gypsum, clay
and paper mache when we were housemates. We were not particulary carefull with our
apartment. Now that I live in a smaller apartment with L and our cat, I really do
not want to make that kind of mess at home so I found a nice studio space in an
former office building. I'm sharing the space with R a very enthiousastic and
multi-talented artteacher who's also into ceramics.
I bought a pottery wheel and now I have to teach myself how to use it and make
pots. Working for the festival I haven't had un interupted time to spend full days
behind the wheel. Now the festival is over, I have a few quiet months and I have
decided to dedicate a lot of time to learning ceramics.
I like some structure and I found Vince Pitelka's Clay on the wheel syllabus that
he used for teaching pottery. I'm using his pace and assignments to teach myself
to trow.
Vince Pitelka's Clay on the wheel assignments in order:
1. Cylinders for skill development - at least 10cm tall, as many as are necessary
2. Six tumblers, at least 10cm tall
3. Four bisque stamps, including a small chop signature stamp
4. Six stoneware mugs, varying sizes, with pulled handles
5. Four stoneware bowls at least 18cm diameter, with trimmed foot
6. Twelve tea bowls, thrown off the hump, with trimmed foot, at last half exploring altered shape
7. 20cm-tall cylinders for skill development - as many as are necessary
8. One stoneware pitcher at least 20cm tall, with pulled handle
9. Two jar/vase forms at least 20cm tall
10. Two covered jars, at least 20cm tall, at least one with altered shape
11. Two stemmed vessels (two-piece, assembled), at least 18cm tall
12. Two thrown-and-altered square or oval open casseroles
13. Four stoneware plates at least 25cm diameter with a variety of slip decoration
14. Two covered boxes thrown as closed forms
15. One teapot with lid, handle, and thrown spout
This is quite an impressive list, the course takes fifteen weeks with 6 hours of class time and 6 hours of studio time a week.
Vince Pitelka's does not offer his class material online, so I'll make my own class material. I got gifted a huge book on ceramic
techniques with a extensive pottery section by L's family. I'll use this book as a guide and find what other material I need online.
So for the next 15 weeks I'll be in the studio for two days, one of the days I'll focus on learning the needed techniques and their
background, the second I'll practice by doing in order to complete the assignments.
Pitelka lays out the following scedule which I'll roughly use. I'll be updating my proces on this gopherhole. Wish me luck!
First Week - Intro to class, review syllabus, studio tour. Demo of wedging, centering, cylinders,
tumblers, mugs, bisque stamps. Read sections on basic throwing, cylinders, mugs, handles, and bisque
stamps. Work on wedging, centering, cylinders, tumblers, mugs, bisque stamps.
Second Week Slide show on thrown form and technique, including tumblers, mugs, teabowls, and
bowls. Demo of pulled handles. Finish cylinders and bisque-stamps. Work on tumblers, mugs, pulled
handles. Bisque-fire bisque stamps. Read sections on finishing bottoms, the rolled edge, throwing off-
the-hump, making bowls, and trimming.
Third Week Timed exercises throwing tumblers/mugs. Demos of bowls, throwing off-the-hump,
teabowls, trimming. Work on tumblers, mugs, tea bowls, bowls.
Fourth Week - Finish tumblers and mugs. Work on bowls, teabowls, larger cylinders. Read sections on
pitcher, jar, and vase forms
Fifth Week - Slide show on pitchers, jar/vase forms. Demo of pitchers, vases. Finish teabowls and
bowls. Work on larger cylinders, pitchers, jar/vase forms. Bisque-fire tumblers, mugs, teabowls, and
bowls. Read sections on covered jars and lids, and on glazing. Study handout of Guidelines for Glazing.
Sixth Week Slide show/demo of covered jars. Discussion/demo of cone-10 glazing. Glaze tumblers,
mugs, teabowls, and bowls for cone 10 firings. Work on pitchers, jar/vase forms, covered jars. Read
sections on making and trimming plates, and slip-decoration.
Seventh Week Demo of stemmed vessels. Slide show/demo on plates, slip decoration. Finish pitchers,
jar/vase forms, work on covered jars, stemmed vessels, plates. Midterm Review on Wednesday. Have
your tumblers, mugs, tea bowls and bowls glaze-fired, bisque-stamps bisque-fired, pitcher and jar/vase
forms in greenware.
Eighth Week Work on covered jars, stemmed vessels, plates. Read section on thrown-and-altered
forms.
Ninth Week - Demo of thrown-and-altered casserole, covered boxes thrown as closed forms. Finish
covered jars and stemmed vessels, work on casseroles, covered boxes, plates, slip decoration. Read
section on teapots.
Tenth Week Slide-show/demo on teapots. Work on casseroles, covered boxes, plates, slip decoration,
teapots.
Eleventh Week Finish casseroles, covered boxes, finish throwing plates. Work on slip decoration,
teapots.
Twelfth Week Finish making teapot components, slip decoration, trimming plates, work on
assembling teapots. Friday is Last Wet Clay Day. Review sections on glazing.
Thirteenth Week - Finish assembling teapot by Tuesday. Finish all greenware by Wednesday. Glaze all
wares already bisque-fired. Load bisque and glaze firings. Last bisque-firings loaded on Sunday.
Fourteenth Week Glaze all remaining work by Wednesday evening. Last cone 10 glaze firing loaded
on Friday.
Fifteenth Week - Finish any needed grinding and post-fire effects on wares. Group Final Review with
Pot-luck Refreshments on Wednesday
