On Tuesday night I joined the Aurora Potter's Guild and got my hands in clay again after 2 dry months. The vases above are what I made yesterday. I'm working on this new form in small, medium, & large - miniatures, which remind me of Adele's character in Synecdoche, NY; cups; and vases. The cups were the easy part; though between the 2 month break, having too-soft clay, and trying to make the form just right it was still difficult. There is only one out of four cups and one vase that came close to what I had envisioned (it's the tallest vase in this photo). The vases and miniatures were difficult to center and to throw thin without deforming. My overall goal this season is to create a cohesive body of work that includes a whole place setting and a wide variety of pots. I'd like to become comfortable throwing different things, especially different sizes.
One skill I'd like to master is getting the pot off the wheel without deforming it and without a bat. My wonderful Wonderbat with square inserts doesn't fit in my locker at the Guild so I was hoping to downsize and simplify my ceramic life by using less stuff. The trouble is when I don't use a bat the pot gets deformed when I take it off the wheel with my hands. What do you other potters do? How do you get it off the wheel without squishing it? Are pot lifters any good?
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