The Mug, Trimming & Attaching Handles, Episode 2

Hello! I'm back in my studio and it's a lovely Saturday morning. Today we're going to trim the base of these pots and attach handles. Last episode in the mug series, I made a few pots with a slight lean-in. To be honest, I recycled those pots and made a fresh batch for this series, just slightly bigger in size. Before we get to it, I must tell you that once the pots are made, I let them dry out for a bit and flip them upside down once the lip is steady and the shape is not distorting. Then the pots dry out a little bit more after which I cover them with a plastic so we can get the right stage of soft yet sturdy. This stage is known as the leather hard stage. I get my tools and pots to my wheel and of course a cup of coffee to give me company. I pull out one pot while keeping the rest covered, dampen the wheel head and the lip of the pot, place it on the wheel upside down, gently yet sternly bringing it to the centre. Once it's in the centre, I stop my wheel and tap it down. All set to be trimmed. I use the mud tool to trim my pots, first getting to the sides and then a clean up on the top. Now I'll mark the foot on the base with the side of my tool and trim clay from the centre to the marked boundary giving me a foot known as the footless. Now giving the whole foot a bit more clarity by refining the edges and clearing out any excess clay. Now let's repeat this process for all of them. In real time, I take 5 minutes per pot, when I'm not in a hurry, taking 25 minutes for this small batch. Putting the pots back inside the plastic so they don't lose the precious moisture we need for our handles. To start with, for handles, I need a ball of clay and a bowl of water. I tap and rotate my clay ball making a roll, then create a groove to be able to hold it. From here, I pull the clay down while keeping my hands like so. The right or my active hand is pulling the clay down in gentle yet swift movements, making sure at any point the pressure does not break my clay. Being slow can actually ruin this step. Now that I have some clay down, I cut out these little pots and stick them onto my table. Let's take my pot out, along with a few tools on the side, for attaching these pots which will become a handle very soon. I score and apply slip, which is refined liquid clay, onto the joints of the handle. Taking one pot, attaching it with my index finger and thumb and giving it a good fix. From here, I pull my clay further down until I have the right thinness. Very quickly cleaning my hand, taking the end of the handle and attaching it onto the scored spot. Keeping it upside down and repeating the same for the rest. Once the first handle is kind of steady, I like giving a little lift like so with my index finger. Gives a whole new personality. That's it! I spray some water onto the pots and put them back inside the plastic so they slowly dry out. See you soon!