7 POUNDS, 12 INCHES!

Inspired by Hsin-Chuen Lin on You Tube I have begun to challenge myself to work with more clay and make larger things.  His work is elegant and smooth and his working style is the same.

He works slowly and deliberately with no apparent missteps.  

Today, thanks to his "guidance"  I pulled this 12 inch cylinder from a seven pound piece of clay.  I actually did not have the strength to knead seven pounds of clay so I centered a three and a half pound piece then put another three and a half pound piece on top of that.   Then I pulled it up to 11 inches and went home for lunch.

After resting a bit and eating some lunch I went back out to the studio and managed to get yet another inch out of it.  With more courage I could have gotten at last another inch but I didn't want to lose it so I stopped. 

 

Again following Hsin-Luen's lead, I made the cylinder into a "square".  

   
Here is an insert of this pot as glazed.   I used shellac to paint the designs onto bone dry clay, then sponged off the surrounding clay to lower it.  After bisque firing I used Amaco under glazes to color the design and covered them with clear glaze and fired to cone 6. 

Now on to bigger and better things.

Also on You Tube I found a way to use shellac as a resist medium.   Here are a cup and a bowl using this technique,  and beyond them is one on which I used sodium silicate to create texture. 

 Below is a pot on which I  practiced chattering.

High speed internet is a wonderful thing!!!   You Tube is an amazing teaching tool!  

Thanks for visiting.  This'll be all for now.