POST HOLIDAY SALE

Poster for Etsy Mud Team Post Holiday Sale
Originally uploaded by intothefire

The etsy mud team has organized a post holiday sale and raffle! I am offering a 10% discount on everything in my shop!! Check out all of the great shops participating.

Teapot Critique 2

First, let me say thank you to everyone that gave me input on my last teapot! I took what everyone said into account and made this one. Let me know what y'all think!

New Teapot!

I just wanted to post a picture of the new teapot form that I'm working on. I just got some bamboo from my in laws and plan to make handles out of it. I would really like some input--and be honest!

Ring Jug Demo 2

This is part 2 of the Ring jug Demo:

This is a centering technique for trimming that I learned from my former professor Virginia Scotchie--I thought it was really cool, but you may already know it. All that you do is get the bat somewhat wet--not too wet, but just good and damp.

Next you take your pot and wiggle it on the bat until it makes a seal. It is really important for the piece to be leather hard--if it is too dry, it wont stick. I also do this for lids--it works so much better than using coils to hold it in place. Coils also get in the way, especially for ring jugs. It only takes a minute or two for the pot to attach--you don't have too long to get it centered before it attaches pretty well.

I have always used a needle tool to center my pots while trimming, but center however works for you. I just mark a line as it is spinning and move away from the line until the line goes all the way around telling me it is centered.

I like to use a wide trimming tool to trim ring pots--the smaller ones tend to be harder to get an even curve.
The last step in trimming is to smooth out the trimming marks. I then throw a neck and either roll or pull a handle. You may have to wait a little while for the pot to release, but then you attach the neck and handle, and voila--a ring jug!

Ring Pot Demo

I've kinda always wanted to do an online demo, and I had a few free moments this evening so I decided to demo one of my favorite pots--a ring jug. Ring jugs have a great southern history and they are just lots of fun to make. People always ask--those things are hollow?? Anyway, they are really easy to make; just a double walled pot that is closed in. It takes a bit of trimming to get it just right, but its really neat to have a perfectly round ring jug in the end.


First, center a wide flat hump, about the size you want the widest point of your jug.


Open up as wide as you want the hole in the middle of your jug--make sure to allow enough clay to pull up two walls.

Separate your hump into two parts, getting it ready to pull up the walls.

Pull up the inside wall. The less clay you leave at the bottom, the easier it will be to trim.

Pull up the outer wall and curve it in at the top. Leave your walls relatively thin at the top.

Score the outer wall. You can score the inner as well, but it's not necessary, the clay is usually wet enough not to need scoring at all.

Roll the inner wall over the outer making sure that they overlap about half an inch.
Use a rib to smooth out the seam. You can use a pretty fair amount of pressure--the trapped air inside will keep it from collapsing.

Trim off as much excess as you can now, it will make it much easier to trim later. I've tried to trim the excess in the middle with very little success.
Run a wire underneath the pot, and let set up till leather hard. Maybe I'll do a trimming and attaching demo for the neck and handle. I don't know. Anyway--that was fun. Hope you enjoyed it!!