Planters with fancy ruffles!
Last week I made earthenware planters whilst waiting for the white stoneware bottles and vases to dry that I had made the week before. It was a nice change making the planters as they are on a fairly large scale, with about 6 kg of clay being used for each one. This is quite a step up from the 400 - 800 gm weights that I often work with when making domestic ware. I found it most efficient to weigh out 2.5 kg of clay to form the approximately 11 inch diameter base of these planters. Weighing the base material and forming it first ensured that I got the thickness consistent each time. I centred the 2.5 kg ball of clay on the wheel and then levelled it so it was nice and even and well compressed. Then I added a coil of clay around the base and use this to form the lower part of the planter wall. Once I had pulled this up on the potter's wheel I added another coil and pulled that up to about 1.5 inches short of the final height, and then used one more coil to finish off, ensuring tha
