Pottery Week 2 and 3

Pottery Week 2 wasn't very productive. I had a lot of trouble centering and building the wall. I only made 2 pieces that week. They have been glazed and are being fired right now. I will post pictures when they are done glazing.

Week 3 was more productive. We started learning the bowl shape and I seems to take to the bowl shape better than the cyclinder shape. The difference between a bowl shape and a cyclinder shape is that the bowl shape has a curved bottom while the cyclinder shape has a hard edge at the bottom. I made 7 pieces that week. The picture on the right shows the pieces in the bisk state. I took the picture before I glazed them. Wonder how they will look after it is done. Again will post picture when they come out of the kiln.

I've also started taking notes on the pieces I make -- taking measurements of the pieces before they are fired and afterwards to keep track of shrinkage. Also keeping notes of the glazes used and the combination to find the one I like. I've been told that clay shrinks a total of about 12% between from start to finish. Right now, the measurements are showing me that from the leather-hard stage to the bisk stage, the pieces shrinks about 0.5 cm. I haven't measured how much it shrinsk from glazing to final. As for glazes, I really like the Whites, Aviva Blue and Red Iron. I saw a really interesting green color the other day but it is out right now and they are mixing another batch. Will try that when it is available.