Artist Process

I start my ceramic making process by throwing a one pound ball of clay. Depending on what I want to make is how much clay I use, it is typically one to one and a half pounds in weight. 

At the same time of the pieces drying I also determine what the piece is going to be. In this case it will be a cylinder straw cup so I manipulate the clay to have a curved lip that will later hold a straw into place.

Once I am satisfied with what I throw, I use a wire tool to cut the cylinder off the wheel and transfer to a wood board to dry for a few days before trimming. If I am not able to immediately trim the pieces I wrap damp paper towels around them to add extra moisture to the piece.

Next I determine if the pieces are dry enough to trim. I typically push on the bottom to check the consistency and softness of the clay. Once I have determined if the clay is dry enough then I trim the bottom of the cylinders on the wheel to give them a foot which will later help prevent cracking or warping of the piece and be better once it is a fully functional piece.Once done I allow the pieces to fully dry and they will go into the first firing.

Once out of the first firing I next glaze the pieces. I first start by waxing the bottom of the pieces to help keep the bottoms clean incase of any glaze runs. Next I decide which glaze to dip the pieces in. When dipping I do a two to three second hold to make sure the piece is getting fully covered. Once they are covered in glaze I wipe the bases and they will be fired to reach their full maturity. Once out of the glaze firing they are ready to be used.