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Pottery is a beautiful art form that allows us to create functional and decorative items from slabs of clay. However, like any craft, it comes with its own set of challenges.
Whether you’re just starting out with pottery courses or you’re an experienced artist on the potter’s wheel, everyone makes mistakes. The key is to learn from them and keep improving. Here, we’ll explore some common pottery mistakes and how to avoid them, with a dash of humor and real-life examples from our own Bloody Pottery journey.
Mistake: Centering the clay improperly on the potter’s wheel.
What Happens: Your pottery starts to wobble, and instead of a beautiful vase, you end up with something that looks like it belongs in a modern art museum.
How to Avoid It: Centering is crucial when using the pottery wheel. Start by placing a well-kneaded clay body on the center of the wheel. Wet your hands and apply even pressure to the clay, pushing it down and then up, while keeping your hands steady. Repeat this process several times until the clay feels stable and doesn’t wobble.
Real-Life Example: During one of our early pottery courses, we decided to make matching mugs. However, one of our team members didn’t center their clay properly. The result? A set of mugs that looked more like abstract sculptures than something you’d drink coffee from. Lesson learned!
Mistake: Not securing joints properly in hand building.
What Happens: Your hand-built creation falls apart, often at the worst possible moment, like just before firing.
How to Avoid It: When creating pottery using hand building techniques, scoring and slipping are essential. Score both surfaces you plan to join with a tool, then apply slip (a mixture of clay and water) to both scored areas before pressing them together. This creates a strong bond between the pieces.
Real-Life Example: We once tried to make a large, elaborate vase using hand building techniques. In our excitement, we skipped the scoring and slipping step for some parts. The result? The vase split in half during drying. It was a painful reminder that patience and proper technique are crucial in pottery arts.
Mistake: Not understanding firing temperatures.
What Happens: Your pieces can either underfire, leading to weak pottery, or overfire, causing the clay to melt or deform.
How to Avoid It: Always follow the recommended firing temperatures for the clay and glaze you are using. Invest in a good kiln thermometer or pyrometer. If you’re using a communal kiln, communicate with other potters to ensure consistent and appropriate firing temperatures.
Real-Life Example: In the early days of Bloody Pottery, we didn’t have our own kiln and relied on a community kiln. One day, our pottery was overfired due to a miscommunication about firing temperatures. Our beautiful mugs came out looking like Salvador Dalí’s melted clocks. Lesson? Always double-check firing schedules!
Mistake: Applying glaze unevenly or too thickly.
What Happens: The glaze runs, pools, or creates an undesirable texture on your pottery.
How to Avoid It: Apply glaze evenly and in thin layers. It’s better to do multiple light coats than one thick coat. Make sure your pottery is clean before glazing to prevent impurities from affecting the finish. Always test your glaze on a sample piece to see how it reacts during firing.
Real-Life Example: We once had a batch of plates that we glazed too thickly in our enthusiasm. The glaze ran off the edges, fusing the plates to the kiln shelf. It took hours of chipping and sanding to salvage them. Now, we always apply thin, even coats of glaze and keep a close eye on our application techniques.
Mistake: Not properly wedging your clay to remove air bubbles.
What Happens: Air bubbles can cause your pottery to explode in the kiln.
How to Avoid It: Always wedge your clay thoroughly to remove any air pockets. This involves cutting the clay into sections, slamming them together, and kneading it until smooth and consistent.
Real-Life Example: During a particularly busy week, we skipped the wedging step for a batch of mugs. The result? A mini explosion in the kiln, with shards of pottery everywhere. Now, we never skip wedging, no matter how pressed for time we are.
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Creating pottery is as much about the journey as it is about the finished product. Mistakes are an inevitable part of the process, but each mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow. Here at Bloody Pottery, we’ve had our fair share of blunders, but we’ve learned to laugh at them and move forward with more knowledge and experience.
Remember, even the most seasoned potters make mistakes. The key is to keep experimenting, keep learning, and most importantly, keep enjoying the process. Happy potting!
Bloody Pottery
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