MartinDEpstein on sun 20 jan 02
Dear Marianne,
I can't help much with techno crystal ion eoeffiecient of expansi=
on
oxyprobe questions but I can throw a bowl. =
When I first learned to throw (1966-OY!) I was taught to open the=
centered mound by pushing my thumbs into it no matter what form I was
making. I took a workshop at Peter's Valley in Layton, NJ (which for all=
it's administrative problems in the past has let me continue my ceramic
education over the past 30 years taking workshops with some of the best
potters and teachers in the country) with Victor Babu from Kansas City Ar=
t
Institute. =
Anyway, he taught me something that made so much sense i wondered=
why I didn't think of it myself. =
When you open for a bowl, use a thick curved rib. Hold it very
tightly in both hands with the widest part of the curve going into the cl=
ay
at about a 45 degree angle. Your fingers are on top of the rib towards th=
e
ceiling and your thumbs are under the rib towards the floor. Your hands=
are in the middle of your body. I don't have a scanner or I would show y=
ou
a picture. You push down into the clay leaving enough for the bottom. I=
t
is easy to make the bottom too thin because you don't have the same
sensation as you do with your thumbs. =
I think this rib is a Japanese tool? You can make one by tracing=
a
regular curved (the roundest kind you can find tht is kind of tear drop
shaped it had no straight edge) on a piece ot 1 inch thick wood and cutti=
ng
it and sanding a curved smooth round edge like on a bullet nosed counter
top) I don't think this will work with the normal thin edged rib because=
when you push it into the centered clay you are pushing into the middle o=
f
the mound and on the left side of a counter clock wise spinning wheel the=
clay is coming towards your body and the sharper edge of the rib would
catch and dig into the clay unevenly. =
Once you open and have a nice curved bottom, pulling up the wall =
is
slightly different too. The inside fingers start every pull from the
center of the floor of the pot and you have to have a debate with youself=
with every pull, deciding where the floor of a curved shape ends and wher=
e
the wall begins. Because you don't want to change the beautiful curve yo=
u
have established with the rib. Don't push with the inside fingers until
you are sure you are on wall. You can compress the curve in the bottom b=
ut
you don't want to change the curve too much. =
Bring the wall up much straighter than you want to end up. You
will have trouble if you widen the form into a bowl before you thin it. =
=
The shape needs to be a little upright and stable to be thinned. Leave =
a
generous amount in the rim and don't completely thin the wall. Just get
most of the clay up into the wall of the pot. The outside hand can push=
in pretty hard when it is down on the wheel at the base of the pot. But
bowls need a little more support here and require a little more trimming
later on. Don't be afraid to leave clay in the bottom to suport the curv=
e
of the wall. You should lose a few pots figuring out how much clay to
leave.
Once the wall is 3/4 or so thinned out, you can shape it into a
bowl. I learned to use ribs for this from Woody Hughes at the 92nd Stree=
t
Y in the city. I use a thin curved rib on the inside and a straight rib=
on the outside. Let the inside curved rib lightly touch the curve on th=
e
inside before you really engage it into the wall. Shaping with ribs
requires very very little pressure. The straight rib is held on the
outside at about a 45 degree angle with the top away from your body and n=
ot
perpendicular to the pot. It is not vertical nor horizontal. The edge n=
ot
touching the pot is towards your body. a picture would be worth all thes=
e
words. Better yet, if you are ever in NJ I will show you. Bring the ribs=
up the wall opposite each other. The curved one on the inside sort of la=
ys
the clay onto the edge of the straight one on the outside and your hands
move outward to open the shape. The ribs dry the clay a lot and enable i=
t
to hold it's shape in a wider spread out form. =
For small bowls you can go back to the old way I first learned. =
Open with your thumbs, With one hand fingers on the inside thumb opposit=
e
on the outside, pull the clay outwards and upwards at the same time. Goo=
d
luck.
Francine in New Jersey where the snow is still fesh and new. I need to =
go
out and mess it up with a few snow angels. =
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