The Body Experiment

 

It all started with these two mugs. I made the smaller white one first. It is hand-built from a brown sculptural clay that has lots of bits in it. I think the speckles are iron, but don't hold me to it. Anyway, I like it for hand-building because it holds its shape well. And you'll notice that this simple design is a far cry from my usual thrown and embellished with botanicals MO. I really liked the feel of that first mug, but wanted it to hold a little more volume, so I made the slightly taller green mug, glazed with Coyote Matt Green. . . a new favorite. Nice. It's my mug-du-jour for now.

But it occurred to me that I don't really have a good handle on how different clay bodies react to the same treatment. So. A slightly controlled experiment. "Slightly" because there's no accounting for human error, especially mine. All three of these mugs were made from the same pattern. From left to right, Grollig porcelain, Liz's White Stoneware, and the brown sculptural clay used for the first two mugs. 

Honestly, I was a little surprised at how little difference the clay body made, expecially between the porcelain and the stoneware. The porcelain shrinks a little more, and both shrink more that the brown, but still. Not a huge difference in form. The porcelain also doesn't hold the round shape quite as well. From this bottom view, that's not so clear, but it is from the rim. 

You'll also be shouting that the glaze (Klaus Hard White) is really different on the brown clay, but surprising similar on the porcelain and the white stoneware. Well observed.

So along with this experiment, I hand-built two vases for the daughters for Easter. Don't worry. They never read this, so the surprise won't be spoiled. Mom never writes anything important. Smile.

The building went extremely well, and I'm proud of both of the forms. The Trillium (left) is porcelain and the Lily is Liz' white stoneware, and you really can't see much difference. . .even on the unglazed clay on the bottom.

I used a blue to green glaze, and I'm sorry for that. Maybe I just have white on the brain, but I think they would have been more stunning in the Klaus Hard White. . .a white satin finish would have let the applique forms stand out. Note that what appears to be gray areas. . .splotches, unfortunately. . .are not real. They're a result of the reflection of the shiny glaze. 

But. They re fine and useful gifts. If they aren't loved, they can go to the thrift store! If they are, YAY! I love nothing more than making an object for a person. Whoever it is, they are in my mind for the whole process, and feeling that connection is truly wonderful.