I recently made two ewers that are a part of my new body of work focusing on the concept of herbal medicine and natural remedies. These ewers can be used for tea or tinctures. Chamomile has numerous health benefits and I want the user to foster intention and routine when using this ewer. It has slip transferred images of chamomile flowers on the outside that, when fired, will be white against a background of red/ brown clay.
I have been making this style of ewers for about a year now and I love making them. They are voluptuous on the bottom but become quite narrow on the top. I started out by doing a digital sketch to get an idea of the portions I wanted (image 1).
When I throw this form on the wheel it can be very tricky since the bottom is so wide and the top is so narrow. In order to make it easier on myself and make sure the form doesn't topple over, I leave the bottom pretty thick, and I just trim it away later. Next I throw spouts on the wheel that have a double curve. The double curve is achieved by first pushing it, and curving it in one direction on the bottom, then after that, pushing and curving it in the opposite direction on top. I have included a time lapse below to show how I do this.
I struggled a lot with these spouts because they would crack off when I was trying to do the second curve. After about 12 failed spouts I finally was able to make them correctly. After I throw the spouts I have to cut them at the aporopatie angle and cut them into the shape I want them to be when I attach it to my piece. I use a stencil cut out to make sure that the shape is symmetrical on both sides. Below is a time lapse of how I attach the spout.
And here is a video of me attaching the handle.
After I attach the handle I attach the slip transfer by drawing on newsprint with a slip applicator then press the newsprint onto the semi wet clay and peal off the newsprint and the slip image is left behind. Below is a time lapse of this process.
Here are some images of the finished ewers. I used a cone 10 stoneware for the body and a cone 10 white slip for the image. They are approx. 6 inches tall and 5.5 inches at the widest part
I definitely prefer the handle on the top image and will definitely not make my handles as thick and and big as the bottom ewer again.
They will be wood fired and will have a red/ orange/ brown color on the outside and the inside will have a light blue glaze. The slip transferred flowers will be white.
Comments