Yesterday I made some bowls from a stoneware clay. As I was doing this as apposed to throwing it out, I decided to experiment. I decided to make some mixing bowls; and to make them with the least amount of work; and the least amount of water.
I have a direct drive wheel that has a keypad that allows me to dial in the speed. So from stopped through just going and all the way to propelling the clay off the wheel. I've found that at a rather slow speed I don't need to keep dowsing the clay with water. In fact, I only need water for centering, coning up/down and first pull. Then it's just a matter of making sure the dampness of the clay is consistent/even. The only other steps I need water for are leathering the rim and sliding the bowl of the wheel head at the end. Also with a slow consistent speed it's like using a kick wheel, and so gives you the ability to really pull the clay around and even throw it off centre like a wabi sabi or tea ceremony vessel.
To minimise the work, I've basically eliminated trimming, by shaping the foot with a curved stick end as the last step of throwing.
I've trimmed the inside of the foot so that it sits properly. I used the scoop part of a bamboo wooden spoon.
When leather hard I just thumbed the foot to close the open clay.
Added: 26/02/2012
Distorting the bowl and photo. Somewhat interesting result.
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