Pottery Projects: Week Three

Week Three

This week marks the beginning of my adventures with making yunomis or tumblers. I have discovered that even though I weigh out the same amount of clay, and I have calipers measured for the base, the lip and the height required, it is extremely hard to make these cups identical! And this week, since I am still learning the wheel, I had only a 50% success rate. Half my work ended up in the recycling tub!

Paul asked me to make a set of identical tumblers he calls yunomis. They are handle-less cups. As I said it is very hard to get them to be identical when you are a beginner! The main problem is still the drawing up of the clay into a cylinder form. There is definitely an art to it. He makes me quite nervous sometimes, as he is impatient and unpredictable. However, he is pleased with my progress and says that I am a 'natural'. Thank goodness, as I would hate to be under fire from him for ineptitude. The cleaning of the workshop areas is hard and dirty work but I try to be thorough.

Norris, W. (2011, August 17). Turning a Yunomi on the Wheel [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQUXOo9L18A

Steve Booton Ceramics (2010, January 24). Turning a Yunomi Cup [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQUXOo9L18A

Steve Booton Ceramics (2012, January 28). Throwing and Trimming Yunomi [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQUXOo9L18A

Schmidt, P. (2015, June 23). Trimming a Cup [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MTnlWiYlzo

This week I helped the boss load the electric kiln for a bisque firing. This entailed firstly carrying delicate greenware from the drying shed to the kiln, in large trays. Then carefully loading into the kiln depending on height. Space is valuable so the pieces are all fitted together carefully.