[Deidre Haignere]

Are you sometimes torn between throwing and handbuilding?


How do you solve this issue? I love them both and move
between them, alternating--a month or so doing one, and then
I switch to the other. Sometimes they mesh!


Diana Pancioli
Potters Council Board Member
dianamp@comcast.net
dianapancioli.com

[Marcia Selsor]

hi Diana,
I wouldn't call it torn between. it is a matter of...what is needed down the road...are there shows or orders required? I hand build and throw. my recent work has been porcelain carving.
I am planning a new series of slab pieces when I get back from the Potters Council tour of Tuscany. I am really being inspired by all we are seeing. So I guess my answer is more how do I respond to inspirational experiences and what way is best to express it.
marcia

[neilestrick]

Never. I avoid handbuilding as much as possible.

[Frederik-W]

Hand building is my thing. I don't find spinning a pot or bowl on a wheel interesting at all.

In Africa the locals hand-build amazing round, very symmetrical pots without a wheel. Who needs a wheel?

[clay lover]

I do both and which ever I am doing is my favorite! As the spirit moves me and as shows demand. Usually a month or more at one, them something will inspire me and I switch. But not at the same time or switching day to day. So far.....

[bciskepottery]

I've never seen it as an "either/or" situation. I do both, but tend to do more hand-building because of the forms/items I make. Couldn't imagine being restricted to one or the other.

[Edith Marie]

Hello Deidre.

I see that you have a problem, doing both is part of your creativity. I like to do both in fact sometimes I incorporate hand building with a thrown piece and I am trying something new for me, throwing a foot and adding it to a fairly large & flat handbuilt bowl.....sometimes I do both at the same time, throw some pieces and then handbuild using forms or pinch pots. What I am learning is to find what works for me, what I feel like creating, putting my own spin on my pots. I can be a slow learner because it is easier not to step out of my comfort zone, but then I meet up with a friend and throw something large using more than five pounds of clay....a very large bowl, plate, vase.....with my friend who makes these items. Happy Potting.

[Denice]

I consider myself a handbuilder but I do get this urge to throw. so when someone request a thrown piece I am happy to oblige, it helps me keep my throwing skills intact. Denice

[teardrop]

Nope. I'm stuck on handbuilding for the present. Not sure I want the mess of a wheel...and when I look at the "pitchers" that are out there on Google/Etsy/etc....all I see are altered thrown vessels with a handle slapped on them. As fast as some folks can toss a vessel...pull a spout and slap on a handle...they seem very common, similar, and uninspired to my (untrained, LOL) eye for the most part. Yes...there are exceptions... like >>your work<<..... LOL....

90% of the comments I've recieved have been in the realm of "I haven't seen anything like this".....which is either gonna be real GOOD...or..um...real BAD when we go to market.

Either way....it's for the head, not the wallet....and if I sell anything and make someone happy I will be happy as well.

teardrop