Necks, Shoulders, Bellies and Feet, Pots are Almost Human!

 

After running into technical difficulties with the last two crystalline glaze firings I decided to make more pots that I can use to help test the problem glazes, and hopefully also get some successes along the way!

I decided to make some pots with narrow openings that I can leave unglazed on the inside, and some test pieces that I can glaze inside and outside with a variety of glaze combinations.

 

I enjoyed making the new narrow necked pots, they are rather fun really and a bit magical, with the final opening being too small for the hand or even a finger they are a bit of a conjuring trick! I made them without a plan as such, but let my mind and hands work fairly intuitively, I guess it was a form of stream of consciousness potting! It was nice to play with necks and shoulders, and the fullness of the pot, and to see which ones I liked best, or left me feeling like there was something about the pot that still needed to be resolved.

 It was also interesting to view the pots as a group and to see the very human character that many had. It is no co-incidence that pots that are made by humans, often look a little like humans!

A sense of proportion and balance is a very personal thing. I realise that there have been attempts to codify aesthetics and come up with rather formal ways of doing things, such as the "rule of thirds" or the "golden mean", but I prefer to try to discover what really feels right or wrong for me. I do think that it is also good to occasionally make something that quite deliberately feels all wrong! This can be a really refreshing exercise, and can clear out a few mental cobwebs and open up all sorts of unexpected possibilities!