Issue 29

Pottery

I started doing pottery quite recently - well the last 18 months with Louise.

I have been fortunate to make some nice items, including Shire Horses, Puma or Panther Cats, a full set of chess pieces and a small house. The process begins with giving the clay a good stir with an electric drill fitted spindle. The clay comes in deep containers so it is whipped up to a more porous material.

Next step we decided what we were going to make, pick the mould and check the rubber bands are tight and in place. We next use a jug to collect the runny clay, with a dish underneath to collect spilt surplus, filled the mould up to the brink and then placed upside down on top of drum, supported by 2 sticks. The surplus was drained off and a spell of 5 minutes given to dry out. We then wrapped up the moulds in polythene bags and they were then left for a week before being taken out of their moulds carefully and lined were touched up on the items.

The next stage was 'firing' in the Kiln and after this a colour scheme was decided. We used pastel colours and had to apply three good coats of paint. The finished product was indeed a good looking product.