P&E

Illustrated is a temmoku and medieval green vase that started out life as a somewhat thick walled cylinder and then was vigorously paddled and then expanded to its current form and the flange mouth thrown in as the last detail of the pot. I have finished forms and then paddled them afterward but have found that the finished product has two distinct looks once finished and fired. The paddled and expanded pot is or would seem to be far more controllable in terms of the finished piece and paddling the form once completely thrown tends to alter it in ways that are sometimes a bit unexpected. I like both methods and continue to use the technique of paddling before and after but in this case wanting the flange style mouth to come out quite perfectly without any irregularities was best achieved by throwing the cylinder, paddling and expanding the form to the finished ideal. In the end if I never mentioned the who, what where and when, I doubt anyone would be any the wiser, or would they?