I was back at Eastnor Pottery again at the weekend, finishing off the shallow bowls that I threw a few months ago. Jon the Potter had wrapped them up in plastic, so although they were a bit mouldy (which soon scrapes or sponges off) they were still in a leather-hard state and good for turning. It’s quite funny, but the plastic bags he uses to wrap up unfinished pots are ones I gave him about 5 or 6 years ago, which were soft film wrappers that my local laundry / dry cleaners / ironing-service used. He could do with a re-supply, but I don’t use that company any more, so don’t have a ready source to recycle in his direction.
I had nine bowls, all variations on a theme, most of them about the size of a soup bowl. I turned them all, then picked the best four to decorate. I cut the rejects in half with a cheese-wire to get a good look at the profile. I still suffer from “heavy bottom syndrome”, and despite turning a deep footring into the pots, they could still be thinner and lighter. Trouble is, if you go too far then you end up with a hole in the bottom and a useless pot! Jon will fire, glaze and refine the four completed pots, and I’ll pick them up in a month or two.
