New Booth Setup

Almost every year, I make changes to my booth. This time the change is big and it costed big too $$$. After a lot thinking, the Caravan Canopy was just not working for me. It has been very strong and stable for the shows I have done over the last few years. The thing that annoyed me most about it was the cross bars at the top. They blocked the view of platters and dancing Divas which were hung on my back wall. Very distracting. So after a lot of research, I purchased the Light Dome Canopy. I like the open high ceiling and bright light in the booth. This gave me the oppurtunity to add some color to the top as well.

They are a little time consuming to setup, but I bet it gets better with time. The most annoying this has to be putting the top on. With two people it is a breeze but with a short guy like me, it is a challenge.

Would love to hear about the canopies and setups other artists have. Feel free to tweet and leave your comments.

Extruded and Pulled Handles

As potters know, a comfortable and aesthetically balanced handle is a goal we all strive for. And for many it is a dreading part of the whole process. It is a constant learning process and now I actually enjoy pulling handles. I have kept experimenting and changing my handles to get them consistent and the shape that I want.

Since I love my extruder so much, potters at shows and online always ask me if I pull or extrude my handles. Well.. I do both. I extrude mostly for getting a consistent shape for all my handles and also it is a lot faster. But plain extrusions and result in a very lifeless handles. So then I go ahead and pull my handle.

I cut my oval shape extrusions to 5" in length. To make this a more pleasurable experience, you clean warm water for pulling. My left hand is always dry to hold the handle. Dip the handle in water and taper it with your right hand.

After tapering, I run my thumb in the center a few times to create a curve. When finished, this slight curve makes a good place for the thumb to rest.

Check the video below to see the whole process. When attaching the handle to the mug, I cut with a cookie cutter as this lets me join the mug to the curved surface of the mug without distorting it. I got that tip from Ginger Steele on one of our clay play dates.

And here is the finished result.

Below are pictures of pots from Ginger Steele and Kristen Kieffer whose handles I really admire.

Feel free to add your tips on handles in the comments.

Try Try Try.. till you succeed

So I woke up Christmas eve with this idea in my head... pillow shape bowls. I did make some wall clocks with my pillow shape extruder die and they sold well over the Christmas holidays. Now I wanted to make something else. The basic idea was make a long pillow form, cut out a hole and slump in a slab and attach the edges. Done!

I wish it was as simple as that. :) I spent all of Christmas Eve and Christmas day trying to figure out how to make these bowls. I went through 30+ pounds of clay and made 7 or 8 of these. The difficult part was making a clean piece with the bowl portion having a clean edge.

In the picture below you can see the progression of the last five from left to right. For the first piece, I cut the hole in the pillow shape and took a bigger slab of clay to slump it in. The edges of the pillow collapsed and after a lot of fussing finished it but I wasn't happy. The next one I tried a different shape cut out to make it easier to slump the clay in and that was not as clean as I wanted.
In the third I used the cut out itself, flipped it over and atached it. It attached fairly cleanly but had no volume. It would be a bowl that held nothing. Which made me think that the piece of clay being slumped needs to be a perfect match in dimension.
So that is what I did. I took precise measurement of the cut out. Increased it by 1/2 inch all around and it slumped and fit in a lot better.


Making anything new is a process, but it is a process I enjoy. Never fear to experiment and see what direction it can take you. In the picture below you can see how the edges got cleaner with every piece.

I did toss out the first three pieces too and decorated just the final two with my signature slip decoration. That just gave them the WOW factor!
Here are pictures of another one I completed. Would make a great serving bowl for nuts and candy.

Wish everyone a very Happy New Year! And with the New Year make a lot of New work!

Handbuilt Tumbler Video

Last Friday, my video on making Handbuilt Tumblers/Vases was featured on Ceramic Arts Daily and it was great to get the responses from so many potters and artists. Looking at google analytics, I got hits from all around the world, majority from the United States. I had hits from every State except from North Dakota. Wonder if there are no potters there? And you can see the most are from California.

I enjoy sharing my techniques and it is always fun to see another artist's take on the same technique. If you try this technique or do handbuilding feel free to share pictures of your work in the comments section.

I got more confidence in handbuilding with slabs after taking a workshop from Ginger Steele, a potter from Oregon. I also saw a few videos on Yixing teapots from which I picked up other techniques.

Here are the steps for the process and the video

Cut template for your tumbler or cylinder from a thin slab (1/8 inch) of compressed clay. The clay needs to be a little stiffer than fresh out of the bag.
Roll the top rim with a brayer to round it making it comfortable for drinking. Roll the side of the slab to bevel it later for joining. The brayer can be purchased at a clay supply store.
Roll patterns or use stamps to decorate. This is where you can let your creativity show through. I make some stamps and some I purchase at thrift stores.
Apply slip to the sides and roll over a rolling pin to form your tumbler. To true up the roundness, use a round object like a Styrofoam ball which won’t stick to the clay.
Score and slip to add the bottom. The bottom is finished by running a profile tool (made from a popsicle stick) along the edge.
My tumblers are embellished with buttons to capture the look of embroidered fabric wrapped around and held together with buttons.
These tumblers are further decorated with slip to give more texture.