Inside
May/June 2015 Volume 18 Number 3
Features
12 Form Follows Construction
by Shana Angela Salaff
12
Using your scraps to play with new ideas may lead to
discovering new forms.
17 Staying in Shape by Jim Wylder
Have more success throwing globe shapes, and keeping
your rims perfectly round, with this very simple homemade device.
22 Blended Influences by Paul Linhares
17
Learn to paddle tall, thrown cylinders into flattened
bottle forms, giving you a blank canvas to explore surface decoration.
29 Tempting Transparency by Sasha Wardell
Curious about bone china, but leery of its finicky nature?
Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.
35 Compose and Contain: Flower Rafts
by Mark Johnson
22
Like both throwing and handbuilding? Combine the best
of both worlds while making these creative vases for
your spring flowers.
40 InFormed Pinching by Lilly Zuckerman
Increase the variety of your pinch pots by brainstoming
with simple clay sketches.
35
In the Studio
8 Center Justified by Simon Levin
29
10 Nobashigote Throwing Ribs by Naomi Tsukamoto
Inspiration
44 In the Potter’s Kitchen
Taco Night by Mark Cole
48 Pottery Illustrated
Vintage Fiesta Ware by Robin Ouellette
40
On the Cover
Sasha Wardell’s slip-cast bowls created
with multiple layers of colored bone china.
www.potterymaking.org | May/June 2015
3
editor’s note
Risk and Reward
Years ago when I was learning to throw, my very first assignment was to throw
five 6-inch-tall cylinders. I remember struggling so hard just to get to 4 inches. I
was so worried I would fail at this thing I wanted to be so good at, that I overly
stressed about the whole thing, and barely reached the requirement. A few days
later, when the instructor was grading the assignment and all the pots were dry,
I recall watching her hold a shrinkage ruler up to each pot. I was flushed with anger. Really? A shrinkage ruler? After all the effort I put into those precious pots!
Years later, when I was teaching wheel throwing, it occurred to me what my
problem was in that first class. I was too invested in the outcome. I was so serious
about making the perfect object that I was missing out on how enjoyable the process of throwing actually was—no risk, no reward. Ceramics is all about process
after all—the process of making and the process of using—little is about the preciousness of the object. So before I gave a similar assignment to my own students,
I had them throw cylinders that they could not keep. Each finished piece had to
be rewedged for another day’s throwing. We spent a few days with this exercise
and I noticed everyone not only having more success, but also more fun. No one
thought of their pots as precious, risks were taken, and little time was wasted worrying about results.
Ironically, I recently needed to be reminded that a little humor in our lives (and
the magazine) can also have its rewards. We’ve been known to get a tad too serious
in the office trying to make sure everything is perfect. In this issue, we focus on
those who love to throw pots on the wheel, and we also throw in a little humor just
for fun—pun intended. Paul Linhares shows us how to throw and flatten bottles
(pg. 22), Jim Wylder takes the mystery out of throwing globe-shaped pots (pg. 17),
Mark Johnson introduces us to the flower raft (pg. 35), Shana Salaff constructs
squared plates with altered rims (pg. 10), and Simon Levin gives us tips for throwing and trimming off the hump
(pg. 22). We also explore bone china, pinched vessels, Fiesta ware,
and taco trays for taco night.
So put your shrinkage rulers
away, lighten up, and throw with
abandon. The risk usually pays off.
My niece Alexis’ first wheel-thrown pot
(thrown April 6th, 2015)—age five, zero anxiety, and thrilled to be elbow deep in mud.
Holly Goring
Editor
Volume 18 • Number 3
Publisher Charles Spahr
Editorial
Editor Holly Goring
Associate Editor Jessica Knapp
Assistant Editor Forrest Sincoff Gard
Editorial Support Jan Moloney
Editorial Support Linda Stover
[email protected]
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Marketing Steve Hecker
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National Sales Director Mona Thiel
Telephone: (614) 794-5834
Advertising Services Marianna Bracht
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Telephone: (614) 794-5826
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