1. Prepairing the clay
Even though most clay is now professionally prepared, it must still be kneaded (like bread dough) to make it even and workable on the wheel. Once that is done, the clay is cut into smaller pieces and made into balls.
2. Afixing it to the wheel head
There are several methods of affixing clay to the wheel head. Some potters simply put the clay directly on the wheel head while others use "bats"(usually round, flat pieces of plywood, plastic or plaster) to make removal of the soft clay vessel easier and less distorting to the shape of the piece. No matter how the potter affixes the clay to the wheel, it is beneficial to slam the clay down, compressing the bottom, or "foot" of the vessel, making it stronger and less likely to crack or warp.
3. Centering
Centering is perhaps the most vital part of the entire process of throwing. If the clay is not perfectly centered on the spinning wheel head, the walls of the vessel will most likely be uneaven. To center the clay, the potter applies pressure, first down to "slick-down" the joint between the clay and the wheel, then in and up to bring the uneavenness to the top of the lump, this is referred to as "coning" the clay, making it into a cone-like shape. Then the clay is guided with one hand on the side with constant pressure, while the other hand presses down on the top of the lump. This process is repeated several times, until the lump is rotating evenly in the center of the wheel head without any wobbles, allowing the potter to feel that the clay is "at rest" in the center.
4. Forming a foot
Also called "opening up", this process involves the potter forcing several fingers down into the middle of the lump, usually to within 3/16ths of an inch from the bottom of the lump. The foot is formed by opening up the lump into a cylinder, leaving a relatively flat layer of clay near the bottom to form the base of the pot. If the pot is going to be large, the foot should be a little thicker, if the pot is going to be small, the thickness should be in proportion to it. The foot should end up being just slightly thicker than the walls of the pot, formed in the next step.
5. Pulling a cylinder
Pulling a cylinder is the most dramatic and entertaining step in the process. This is where the most rapid growth of the vessel takes place. It is accomplished by the potter using the tips of thier fingers inside the pot and either fingers or knuckles on the outside of the pot to squeeze the clay, at the same time as drawing it up into a thinner wall. Because of the use of knuckles, this step is sometimes called "knuckling up". While knuckling up, a bulge of clay is formed above the potters squeezing fingers, leaving the wall below thinner and making the vessel taller. A lump of clay may go from several inches tall to being a cylinder many times taller - the more skilled the potter, the taller and thinner the cylinder may be pulled.
6. Shaping
Shaping the clay is a delicate step requiring skill and finnesse. It's also called "bellying-out". The potter uses either thier hands, or a tool called a "rib" in the inside of the pot to give it whatever shape they want. The more skilled the potter, the more taught, flowing and/or coplex the shape may be. Because the entire vessel may collapse, rip or crumple at any time, this step also requires great skill, patience and practice.
7. Trimming the foot
Usually, there will be extra clay near the bottom of the pot that is trimmed using a rib or other tool to pare, scrape or cut it away. The goal should be first to give continuity to the entire shape of the vessel, second to make the wall thickness even, third to lighten the vessel and lastly to bring the pot as close to it's finished shape as possible, saving work in latter steps.
8. Cleaning up
Cleaning up the surface of the pot is usually the last step in throwing. It is done by sponging-off the surface and especially the inside foot of the pot to remove excess water, slip and clay.
9. Removing from the wheel
If thrown directly on the wheel head, without the aid of a bat, the pot is first cut from the wheel with a string or wire, usually with handles on each end. Then the wheel head may be wetted with water to make the pot slide off the wheel, or it may simply be lifted using the fingers to ever so delicately lift the pot by grasping it around the base. Great care must be taken in this step not to distort the shape of the pot, as clay has a "memory" while being fired in the kiln. If distorted too much, the pot may remember the distortion and actually bend back. If thrown on a non-absorbant bat, the pot is cut from the bat and the bat is lifted from the wheel head and placed aside to dry. If thrown on an absorbant bat, such as a plaster bat, the pot does not need to be cut from the bat. The bat and pot are set aside to dry.
10. Drying to leather hard
When the pot is dry enough to be handled without distortion, but still wet enough to be trimmed with a trimming tool, it is leather hard, or similar to a firm cheese. Pieces of clay, such as handles, sprigs and slip, may be added at this time. During this stage, teapots have thier spouts and handles attatched.
11. Trimming
Trimming takes place when the clay is leather hard. The pot is usually placed upside-down on the potter's wheel, attatched with coils or lumps of clay, and long "noodle-like" pieces of clay are cut from the spinning pot, forming the concave bottom of the foot. Many potters have distinctive ways of trimming thier foot in this lathe like process.
12. Marking
After trimming the foot of the pot, a very special thing happens. The potter places thier "potter's mark" on the base of the pot. This identifying mark may be a set of initials, a stylized monogram, a symbol, a signature or some other distinctive mark. It may be accompanied by a date, a code or whatever the potter feels like adding. These marks are used to identify the maker of the pot, when and where it was made and even how much the pot is worth, such as in the case of antique or collectible pots. The potter's mark is such a significant part of the pot that it may be used in many ways by dealers or archeaologists decades, centuries or even millenia later. Sometimes, pottery is the only identifyable artifact left behind by ancient civilizations. A well marked pot is usually worth more in the long run.
13. Drying to bone dry
After the potter is finished forming the pot, it is set aside to dry. When the pot has air dried as much as possible, it is put in the kiln to dry further before being bisque fired, glazed and glaze fired.
14. Bique Firing
Bisque firing makes the pot more durable, yet still absorbent enough to accept a liquid glaze. It removes many of the volitiles, such as sulfer and organic matter that may damage a glaze, or cause bubbles if trapped by a glaze. The thickness of the glaze is greatly affected by the amount of firing at this stage.
15. Cleaning
After a pot has been bisque fired, there is usually some dust that forms or collects on the surface of the pot that must be sponged or wiped off before the glaze may be applied.
16. Waxing Waxing involves dipping the foot of a bisque fired pot into a bath of hot wax. The wax prevents glaze from adhering to the base of the pot, and provides a clean line where the glaze ends. It adds a special touch of professionalism to the finished peice.
17. Mixing a batch of glaze
To do this, a gram scale is usually used to weigh the ingredients. Except, instead of measuring flour and sugar, the potter is using glass-forming materials. These materials are things like Silica, Feldspars, Borates, Frits, and Metal Oxides. The ingredients are usually taken from a recipe that has been developed by potters who have a special love of how glaze works. The ingredients are mixed together with water to form a "slop" which may be poured onto, dipped into or sprayed on the pot. It is important, not only to understand how the materials work, but also how the resulting glass will interact with the clay.
18. Glazing
The bisqued and waxed pot is glazed by dipping, pouring, spraying or brushing the glaze slop onto the pot. The glaze adheres to the pot because the pot is still pourous and will soak up some of the water. The glaze quickly dries and forms a crust, wich will melt and fuse with the clay when fired to the right temperature.
What is a glaze?
Glaze is a glass finish which helps seal the pot, making it more durable, sanitary and colorful. A glaze is a carfully formulated mixture of glass-forming, powdered materials mixed together to impart specific qualities to the final glass. The powders are measured using a gram scale, then mixed together in water to form a liquid glaze "slop".
Glaze fit
The glass must be of a similar expansion and contraction coefficient as the clay it is applied to, requiring a potter who mixes thier own glazes to have some working knowledge of chemistry as well as the materials being used. If the glaze is not the right expansion coefficient, it will end up either cracking ( "crazing") which leaves a spider web-like network of cracks, or popping ("spalling") off of the pot in razor sharp shards. There are many more technical aspects of glaze chemistry, but glaze fit is perhaps the most important to the quality of the finished pot. All glazes should be thoroughly tested before being put into use. Different clay will act differently with different glazes, and so each time some new combination is used, it should be tested. Testing involves making a test batch of the glaze, applying it to a pot, firing it, and then heating and cooling it rapidly to see if it crazes. It is best to do a line blend and several test batches, apply them to several test tiles, thermal shock them and determine which batch fits the clay the best. Thermal shocking the glaze is accomplished by freezing the peice to be tested, then putting it into a containter and pouring boiling water over it. Several cycles should be sufficient to reveal any problems with respect to crazing.
Glaze coloration
Glazes are given colors by adding certain materials commonly referred to as "coloring oxides". This term is used to include oxides, carbonates and opacifiers, as well as some other more exotic materials. Some common colorants are Cobalt Oxide (usually cobalt blue), Copper Carbonate (various greens), Iron Oxide (brown), and Rutile, or Titanium dioxide (creams, yellows). These materials are basic elements with either oxygen or carbon attatched. When the glaze is fired in the kiln chemical reactions occur that cause the oxide to reflect certain wave lengths of light, resulting in a color. The other materials used in a glaze can greatly affect this color result, as well as the way the glaze is fired. Oxides are also used to make commerically prepared "stains", or colorants for glaze. A more recent advance in glaze technology is the use of micro-crystalline encapsulation, allowing certain volitile colors to remain stable at higher temperatures. A good example of this are the vibrant red colors now available. There are also other techniques of firing to obtain color, which I won't go into here such as reduction firing and raku firing, as well as salt glazing, wood firing and pit firing.
19. Glaze Firing
A glaze fire is a second firing that is used to vitrify, or melt both the clay and glaze. Glazed surfaces are not allowed to touch anything, as they will stick and fuse to whatever they touch. Glazes become a molten liquid and can flow and drip during this stage. The glaze melts into a glass shell which bonds with the clay. It becomes hard as it cools from it's molten state.
20. Sanding
Because clay can be very abrassive and because most hand thrown pottery is "dry footed", or unglazed, it is very necessary to sand the bottom of each piece. If done properly, sanding a pot with ordinary sand paper should prevent scratches to the future owner's furniture. If you own pottery that seems rough or abrasive on the bottom, by all means, sand it!
21. Pricing
This part is never very easy since there are several opposing factors to consider. First, since we're on step #21, it's obvious that hand thrown pottery takes a whole lot of work to produce and that work is very time consuming. So a potter must consider what thier time is worth.
However, since the introduction of mass-produced pottery that is manufactured in a factory using production methods such as slip casting, automated press molding, and other assymbly line processes, it is possible for millions of people to get cheap pottery. This one factor alone has nearly eliminated the demand for hand thrown pottery. Instead of inhabiting a busy part of nearly every town and enjoying the hustle-bussel of a thriving business with hundreds or even thousands of customers, those who choose to be a professional potter today must often travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to sell thier pottery, many times a year. It is a common sight to see a potter at Art Festivals, hudreds of miles from where they live. Mass produced pottery turned the once viable carreer choice of "being a potter" into an "alternative life-style" choice.
Then there's the issue of hand thrown pottery being "hand made". Every piece of hand thrown pottery is unique! Each piece has it's own set of characteristics that give it personality. It's markings, shape, size and finish all give it individuality. The one-of-a-kind market place is one that demands premium prices.
Then there's the issue of supply and demand. Since there is so little hand made pottery available, that factor would seem to drive the prices up. However, since there is hardly any demand for hand thrown pottery, this factor drives the prices down. But because of the time required to make pottery, potters have to charge a certain price, or choose to go get a differnt job to pay thier bills. But charging what was once a reasonable price becomes viewed as unreasonable to many, when customers can go to Wal-Mart and buy a coffee mug for less than a dollar that "works just as well" as a hand made mug, So instead of being needed by 99% of the population, hand thrown pottery is relegated to a much smaller portion of the market. How many people do you know that only use hand made pottery? A hand thrown, four-piece dinner place setting for one could cost from $60 to $90, while a whole set of dishes for eight place settings might run under a hundred dollars at several stores in town.
So what is a potter to charge? Luckily, there is a "ball-park" figure that can be derrived from other potter's work and the prices they are getting for it. A hand thrown coffee mug usually fetches around $14 (retial). That is pretty much the industry standard. Other items that are about the same can sell for a similar price. Something like a cereal or soup bowl takes a little less time, since it doesn't usually have a handle, and sells for a little less. A larger bowl, like a serving bowl or fruit bowl, may take four times the amount of clay and glaze materials and be sold for two to four times the price of a mug, depending on size, detail, and many other factors.
It all comes down to one factor. "Whatever the market will bear". In some areas, the market will bear a reasonable price and a potter can make a living. The people there like thier work and can pay what it's worth. Unfortuneatly, in many areas, even though the people like the work, they cannot afford to pay what it's worth, forcing the potter to either sell thier work elsewhere, or sell for less than thier work is worth, depriving them of necessary income and moving them one step closer to changing careers.
Then of course, a price tag must be made and attatched to the pot.
22. Packing
Packing pottery is vital. Well packed pottery will be protected from dings, chips and cracks, arriving at it's destination intact, useable and in perfect condition. Often "roll-ends", or leftover newsprint can be purchased from news papers and used to wrap the pots. Another method is to use shrink wrap to secure the piece to some cardboard which is fixed in the middle of a cardboard box for shipping. Or there's always those styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap.
23. Selling
Believe it or not, selling the pottery is sometimes more work than making it! Selling pottery can take place in several venues.
Retail Sales: This type of selling takes place at Art Festivals, Craft Shows and other events, as well as some Pottery Shows (which are usually held once annually) and Studio Sales (which take place at the potter's studio). The process could involve packing the pottery, along with tables, table coverings, shelves, displays, lights, and other necessary equipment into a vehicle and driving a few miles to a few hundred miles to a show. Then the potter spends one to five days selling the pottery. After long hours of selling the potter packs up and hauls most of it back home to await the next show and make more pottery. This type of selling is perhaps the most financially rewarding, becuase, the artist gets all of the net profits. It also provides immediate cash flow. Compared to the following types of selling, retailing can be the best for many potters. Of course, many potters dream of having their own shop, and that is a great goal. However, it usually requires the potter to take on many other tasks, such as teaching pottery classes, doing the books and a variety of other chores that take away from their time to create pottery.
Gallery Consignment: This type of selling requires the artist to take on a large amount of overhead, because the gallery does not pay for the pottery that sits on their shelves. The potter has to take a lot of the risk involved in selling, with smaller financial rewards. Usually, to get in a gallery, an artist must either set up an appointment with the manager or owner, or send a portfolio. The best way that I have foiund is to walk in and either talk to the manager/owner or leave a sample with a business card.
Wholesale: wholesaling can be a good thing, in that it provides more immediate cash flow, and perhaps repeat sales in larger volume. But since the retail end wants to double the wholesale price of each item, it cuts deeply into what a potter can earn for their work. The delima is such that if a mug usually sells for $14, the artist gets $7, minus the expense of buying the materials, investing the time to make it, fire it, glaze it, and all the time and expense to market and sell it to the wholesaler. The more direct the method of marketing the work to the wholesaler, the less the cost. For example, I spent $1500 to sell my work at the Seattle Center Gift Show, and for all my time and effort, I sold less than $500 in pottery, minus my four weeks effort to make the stock, and the cost of the materials, glaze and firing. On the other hand, I used to sell my incense burners by driving and travelling to the retailers. I always made money. I would stop at a gas station, ask, "where can I find some insence in this town?" and then I would drive to the shop, walk in and say, "I hear you guys sell incense, I make insence burners, would you like to see them?" I averaged about $24 per shop, about 80% of them bought from me and I built up 70 stores that carried them. In actuallity, I didnt' make very much, but at least I made more than at a gift show full of imports!
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