Today I was throwing a number of vases, a very direct way to discover living ceramic shapes. I can make sketches, view contours on internet or in a museum. But when I feel the clay going through my hands, the shapes takes hold of my mind and body as a whole.
Vases are great, they have a function, but they are mainly about form. Why is this vase “in balance” and this one not so much? What is a beautiful shape and why (not)? Visually, a (thrown) vase should have proper proportions, be in balance. Details should serve the shape as a whole. Finish should fit the design, (visual) weight the content. The intention has to match the result.
There are many more design principles that need to be reckoned with or taken into account. But pure shape I see best without glaze, without color, right after turning….
Head shoulders knees and toes
In kindergarten we always made a dance and we sang a song of which I still know the words:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
When I throw a vase I think of the same. Well almost to the same. The anatomy of a pot has many similarities with a human being. At the top is the head or more specifically lip and neck. Then follow shoulders, belly and foot.
Neck, shoulders, belly and foot
So for a potter, the song becomes:
Neck, shoulders, belly and foot, belly and foot
Neck, shoulders, belly and foot, belly and foot
And lip and ears on clay being put
Neck, shoulders, belly and foot, belly and foot,
I don’t know how easy it is to do the dance while throwing on the wheel, but it’s worth considering. I think ceramics made while performing a special dance will have even more life thrown into it.
Glamorous ceramic shapes
The design of a vase is more than the sum of its parts, in order to make a living ceramic shape you have to pay attention to all parts (and details). Same as in life (is there something more than ceramics?).
That means for me after throwing and turning, I can do the most important thing; clean up the clay curls. What can I say, throwing ceramics is a succession of glamorous activities. …
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