I just emerged from my basement studio... it's a glorious day, the birds are chirping, the windows are open and the dinner plates have been thrown! It all begins with a lump of wedged clay-- or 12 to be exact. Each lump is weighed to ensure the plates are as uniform as possible. There is a 12% shrinkage factor to consider with the clay, so I have to make everything larger than what I want the end result to be. I measure as I'm going along to see that the bases are a certain distance, the height and openings are the same, etc. Then they will all shrink uniformly as they dry. I take the bats off the wheelhead with the thrown piece and put them on a shelf in my drying room so that they don't dry too quickly and crack. I always like to throw extras cuz you just never know... but I've used all my large bats so I'll have to wait 'til some plates are dry enough to lift off without distorting before I can throw any more. So now we have to be patient and let them dry. Good timing though... it's Good Friday and I've got plans all weekend to enjoy being outside and eating good chocolate for Easter.
No comments:
Post a Comment