Handbuilding in the Kitchen

With only two or so weeks until Christmas, I wanted to get in one more batch of pottery for the year. Since the pottery wheel is currently covered in Speckled Brownstone clay, and all I have left to use is Little Loafers, which is a white clay, I’ve moved back to handbuilding inside. I know I could just clean the studio, but baby, it’s cold outside! After glazing 75 ornaments in the last batch, I wanted quick, less tedious work for my hands. Nothing will crowd the kiln shelves quicker than making a batch of serving trays and casserole dishes! I’ve really been enjoying working at the kitchen table on these pieces, but I have no idea how they will turn out. I don’t have a slab roller, and I tend to pull pieces off the mold before they are firm so I can better smooth out the edges. They could end up all warped. That’s okay. Warped trays can be used under a cluster of potted plants! There is always a shot they will be amazing.

I played with having the imprint on the outside and the inside and messed around with handle designs.

I used up just about every good piece of dill in the garden.

One thing I learned earlier this week is to not take the dill stems all the way to the edge for the imprint. Due to the thickness of the slab, this led to cracking of the edge. I needed to either stop short of the edge or use a thicker slab. I went ahead and broke apart the tray to see how the rest of the stems looked.