Wednesday, October 11, 2023

HALF TWO

I had about an hour recently before I had to be somewhere close to 3pm and decided to make something a bit odd from start to finish and to use a movie quote; "I have a need for speed". I will preface this by saying that these timed pieces are more about thought process and ideas than they are about the finished object and also challenge a speedy thought process to get things done. In this case I decided I would would throw a raised jar form, square it up, throw and cut a lid to fit and then use a thick slip surface to finish off the pot. Throwing the less than three pound jar form went smoothly and then I started getting it set up and squared, which also went quite well. Since the surface was to be covered in slip, the corners didn't end up needing to be really crisp which saved time and now was time to try to fit the lid which I threw just under 20% larger than the original diameter of the jar's depressed gallery. This accounts for the squared corners which are now a bit wider than when originally thrown and also allows some wiggle room. I placed the lid over the form, traced the outside dimensions to the lid and started whittling away at the lid until it was a reasonable fit and then fit with a paddled coil handle reminescent of something I saw in the African cultures arena of the BMFA. The last step was to apply the thick slip with a palette knife impasto style diagonally to create a nice sense of movement which will likely get fitted for an amber suit down the road. Admittedly this was done in just under 32 minutes and the lid fit could have been a bit better if I had taken more time but I am reminded; "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." (Bertrand Russell)