Gregory F. Wandell on fri 5 dec 97
An open letter to Mel Jacobson and other Clayarters:
I have been reading your posts lots of enjoyment since the summer. I
especially liked the reflections of your stay in Japan, especially since
I had an opportunity in October to spend a week in Koyoto on vacation.
I enjoyed my stay and can see why you have been charmed by the Japanese.
On the subway today I read your Ceramics Monthly article and very much
enjoyed seeing your work and further reading. It's neat to put faces
and work together with faceless email messages. Please submit more
articles, and pictures! Anyways, in your article you said: "I was
showing my work at the first uptown art fair in Minneapolis and heard
myself say to a guy, I am not into sets, I like one-of-a-king. The
truth was I was not capable of making sets of matching dishes. I had
caught myself in the classic potter's lie, and it really bothered me."
That thought fits me to a T, except I freely admit (to anyone who will
listen) I do not have the skill to make sets. My "sets" couldn't even
pass the laugh test!
To get to the point, I have some questions regarding developing this
skill. I realize you are quite busy and may not have the time to
respond. If you, or anyone else is able to respond, I would greatly
appreciate it.
My question is this, what "exercises" or "tips" would you recommend to
develop this skill? I am a fairly skilled thrower (However, I certainly
would be but in the back room of Sensi Uchida's studio, if not his back
yard or the neighbors back yard.), but this skill has eluded and daunted
me for far too long. Perhaps over the winter, I will have the
opportunity to focus on developing this skill and it would be nice to
have a good start.
Anything you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
Gregory F. Wandell
GWandell@USECRE.ORG
Bethesda, Maryland
Stephen Mills on sun 7 dec 97
I hope you don't mind a Limey butting in. I have done my time repetition
throwing and found that initially a good pot guage and a mirror were
esential; the guage had a moveable pointer and was set to give height
and width at the rim, and the mirror was set to show me the profile as I
threw each piece. The only other must was clay weight: all pieces must
be the same. Apart from that Practice, practice, practice. The mirror
became redundant quite quickly, I find now I can throw to size without
the guage if the clay weight is right.
You'll do it chum.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , "Gregory F. Wandell" writes
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>An open letter to Mel Jacobson and other Clayarters:
>
>I have been reading your posts lots of enjoyment since the summer. I
>especially liked the reflections of your stay in Japan, especially since
>I had an opportunity in October to spend a week in Koyoto on vacation.
>I enjoyed my stay and can see why you have been charmed by the Japanese.
>
>On the subway today I read your Ceramics Monthly article and very much
>enjoyed seeing your work and further reading. It's neat to put faces
>and work together with faceless email messages. Please submit more
>articles, and pictures! Anyways, in your article you said: "I was
>showing my work at the first uptown art fair in Minneapolis and heard
>myself say to a guy, I am not into sets, I like one-of-a-king. The
>truth was I was not capable of making sets of matching dishes. I had
>caught myself in the classic potter's lie, and it really bothered me."
>That thought fits me to a T, except I freely admit (to anyone who will
>listen) I do not have the skill to make sets. My "sets" couldn't even
>pass the laugh test!
>
>To get to the point, I have some questions regarding developing this
>skill. I realize you are quite busy and may not have the time to
>respond. If you, or anyone else is able to respond, I would greatly
>appreciate it.
>
>My question is this, what "exercises" or "tips" would you recommend to
>develop this skill? I am a fairly skilled thrower (However, I certainly
>would be but in the back room of Sensi Uchida's studio, if not his back
>yard or the neighbors back yard.), but this skill has eluded and daunted
>me for far too long. Perhaps over the winter, I will have the
>opportunity to focus on developing this skill and it would be nice to
>have a good start.
>
>Anything you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Cheers!
>
>Gregory F. Wandell
>GWandell@USECRE.ORG
>Bethesda, Maryland
>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
home tel: (44) (0)1225 311699
work tel: (44) (0)1225 337046
Pranton on sun 7 dec 97
Greg,
Well, here I go sticking my neck out. I call myself an intermediate beginner,
but feel I may have something to contribute to your query about making sets.
I always weigh my clay. I do not have the experience or the eye to gauge
without weighing and also being an anal retentive, this is how we work. I find
that I work the clay to its limits, if I use 1# for a mug, it works great, use
1.25# on the next one, even tho I measure, it will force me into making a
larger mug and throw off the match.
I have a small dowell, a little more than .25" in dia and 12" long. I clip on
a clothespin, the spring kind and wrap the tip of the pin with a rubber band
to keep press on the pin to stay put. Then I measure my height with this,
adjust the pin for the series and my height is ready. Next I use my calipers
for width.
If I am throwing a lot of small bowls (cereal, soup, stir fry) I make
templates out of countertop (Formica) scraps. Make a cylinder and when the
height and width of the base are correct, I slowly force the clay into the
template (making sure I have allowed thickness for this).
Some day, when I can really spend full time to develop my skills, I hope to be
able to throw like the experts, no templates needed, no scales cause I'll be
able to throw off the hump without distorting the pot when removing or getting
s-cracks in the bottoms and just feel comfortable enough to let myself go.
For now, the way I work is great for an AR personality and have to let just a
little control go at a time. Remember, too, that you shouldn't expect the
matches to be perfect (yes, I have let that control go somewhat). Otherwise,
you would be using molds or jiggers. There is a market for all kinds and
customers will seek the kind most pleasing to their eye.
Lynne Antone
Olympia WA
Sharing is so scary sometimes!!! Now if I can only make myself hit the SEND
button.
Teri Seeley on sun 7 dec 97
Gregory F. Wandell wrote:
>
> My question is this, what "exercises" or "tips" would you recommend to
> develop this skill [throwing sets]?
>
In addition to practice here are some tips that are very useful for
throwing sets:
1. Start with identical weights of clay for each piece. Two ways
to do this are
a. Pug your clay and cut the extrusions into identical lengths.
I use "clay miter boxes" for this - long (1-2'), open ended,
U-shaped boxes with saw cuts at right angles to the length,
spaced for the desired weight. Just lay lengths of extruded
clay in the box and cut with a wire. A variation on this
approach uses a giant "cheese cutter" to cut the extrusions -
multiple wires stretched across a long metal or wooden frame.
b. Cut your wedged clay into rough sized pieces and adjust their
weights using a scale. For example, I use 12 oz of clay for
each mug. I wedge 6 pounds of clay at a time, slap it into
a square "coil" and slice it into 8 pieces. It only takes a
few minutes to adjust each weight to exactly 12 oz by using a
wire to slice clay from the heavy pieces and add it to the
light pieces.
2. Use a throwing gauge. This can be any device which enables you to
quickly measure the height and width of a pot. The simplest is a
stick in a lump of clay next to the wheel head set to point to
the height and width. I use an old lab ringstand and a right
angle clamp holding a horizontal rod with a rubber tip. I can
easily adjust the rod to any height or width I want.
3. Keep a log of weights and sizes. For example, I have a table for
different size mugs, bowls, pitchers, etc. Each entry has the
weight, height, diameter and a sketch of the form. I also record
the diameter and length of the extrusion blanks that I use as the
starting point for pulled handles.
4. Don't obsess too much at first about getting all of the pieces
exactly the same size. Instead concentrate on form (the skill
part) and just make lots of pieces. Sort the bisqued pieces by
size before glazing in sets. As time goes by the difference
between the smallest and largest pieces in the series will become
less and less.
Bill
--
Theresa and William Seeley 410 486-3171 (voice)
Villa Nova Pottery 410 484-6273 (fax)
4015 Buckingham Rd. Baltimore, MD 21207
"186,000 miles/second is not just a good idea - it's the law!"
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