Lili Krakowski on thu 2 jun 05
As the tone has been set for rather vulgar subject lines, I feel obligated
to appear "with it".
HANDLES and their success depends on practice. Frans Wildenhain taught us
this:
Take a fair amount of clay, as much as you can hold up comfortably at eye
level.
Slam and bang that piece of clay into a sort of lizard or alligator tail
shape...wider at top narrower at bottom. Lift the "tail" to about eye level.
With a damp, not dripping,wet hand pull an appropriately sized piece of the
bottom/narrower part of the tail. It should be between 1/2 and 2/3 of the
desired length. Snip off the piece by clipping it between index and middle
finger. Lay it down on a piece of damp canvas, or a wet board. Do all your
handles. If you cannot finish the project, or it is very hot, cover the
handles with plastic.
Till you are good at this, score the part of the pot you want to attach the
handle to. Put a little slurry--emphasis on little--on the mark.
With a knife or wire cut the top end of the handle into a clean cut. i.e.
flat and neat. Keep that end DRY. With a wet hand pick up the handle in
your dominant hand--(right if you are right handed, left if you are left
handed.) Now squiggle the handle top against the marked spot. Squiggling
(from the Ancient Iceland "skiglinkg" meaning squiggling, through the Early
Flemish "skoijlinxx" meaning "squiggling" ) is a movement much like the
one one uses when testing whether the lock on a door with a round knob is/is
not locked. Unlike door testing this is accompanied by a mild push akin to
that used when trying to squiggle a champagne cork back into the bottle.
When the squiggling has affixed the handle firmly, the ideal is to pick up
the pot and hold it perpendicular to the ground. The handle then will hang
straight down.
Pull the handle to desired length, flip the pot straight. The handle will
flop against the side of the pot or nearly. Tip the pot towards the
perpendicular and attach the handle where it hits the pot. For big pots,
attach the handle as above and pull straight and horizontal supporting the
handle with the non-dominant hand.
The non-secret secret is practice.
As to Ramshead wedging which IS shown in some books.
Taking an agreeable volume of clay shape it into a loaf. Set the loaf on
the table perpendicular (I seem to love that word) to your body, and not
too close to it. Extend your arms and rest your palms on the loaf with your
finger tips touching the table. Pull your arms and hands BACK toward you,
quickly and firmly, using your finger tips to flip the clay loaf towards
you. It generally is a small turn...about 1/3 of the whole diameter.
Repeat this process. When you have mastered it, it is very quick. The loaf
will get thinner and longer with each flip. When it has grown by about 1/2
I prefer to cut and slam a few times. Repeat the process till the clay is
done.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Joe and Lisa Troncale on fri 3 jun 05
Thanks to Lili for the lesson.
Joe Troncale
New Holland, PA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lili Krakowski"
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 9:03 PM
Subject: Puking and scratching/ should be handles and Ramshead
> As the tone has been set for rather vulgar subject lines, I feel
> obligated
> to appear "with it".
>
> HANDLES and their success depends on practice. Frans Wildenhain taught us
> this:
>
> Take a fair amount of clay, as much as you can hold up comfortably at eye
> level.
> Slam and bang that piece of clay into a sort of lizard or alligator tail
> shape...wider at top narrower at bottom. Lift the "tail" to about eye
> level.
>
> With a damp, not dripping,wet hand pull an appropriately sized piece of
> the
> bottom/narrower part of the tail. It should be between 1/2 and 2/3 of the
> desired length. Snip off the piece by clipping it between index and
> middle
> finger. Lay it down on a piece of damp canvas, or a wet board. Do all
> your
> handles. If you cannot finish the project, or it is very hot, cover the
> handles with plastic.
>
> Till you are good at this, score the part of the pot you want to attach
> the
> handle to. Put a little slurry--emphasis on little--on the mark.
>
> With a knife or wire cut the top end of the handle into a clean cut.
> i.e.
> flat and neat. Keep that end DRY. With a wet hand pick up the handle in
> your dominant hand--(right if you are right handed, left if you are left
> handed.) Now squiggle the handle top against the marked spot. Squiggling
> (from the Ancient Iceland "skiglinkg" meaning squiggling, through the
> Early
> Flemish "skoijlinxx" meaning "squiggling" ) is a movement much like the
> one one uses when testing whether the lock on a door with a round knob
> is/is
> not locked. Unlike door testing this is accompanied by a mild push akin
> to
> that used when trying to squiggle a champagne cork back into the bottle.
>
> When the squiggling has affixed the handle firmly, the ideal is to pick up
> the pot and hold it perpendicular to the ground. The handle then will
> hang
> straight down.
> Pull the handle to desired length, flip the pot straight. The handle
> will
> flop against the side of the pot or nearly. Tip the pot towards the
> perpendicular and attach the handle where it hits the pot. For big pots,
> attach the handle as above and pull straight and horizontal supporting the
> handle with the non-dominant hand.
>
> The non-secret secret is practice.
>
> As to Ramshead wedging which IS shown in some books.
>
> Taking an agreeable volume of clay shape it into a loaf. Set the loaf on
> the table perpendicular (I seem to love that word) to your body, and not
> too close to it. Extend your arms and rest your palms on the loaf with
> your
> finger tips touching the table. Pull your arms and hands BACK toward you,
> quickly and firmly, using your finger tips to flip the clay loaf towards
> you. It generally is a small turn...about 1/3 of the whole diameter.
>
> Repeat this process. When you have mastered it, it is very quick. The
> loaf
> will get thinner and longer with each flip. When it has grown by about
> 1/2
> I prefer to cut and slam a few times. Repeat the process till the clay is
> done.
>
>
>
> Lili Krakowski
>
> Be of good courage
>
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