: Diane Puckett - Viewing Profile

This video might be helpful even though she threw the form on the wheel. Cutting Open a Closed Form

SmartsyArtsy, on 25 May 2013 - 12:22 AM, said:

I have found that the best way to find a missing item is to purchase a replacement.

I have no experience making these teapots, but I do with handbuilding. If I were making a lid for that teapot and wanted it to be rounded, I would make a slab and then either press it into a slump mold or lay it over a hump mold. Same basic process, and either would probably work. If you did it over a hump laid on a flat surface, you could also creat a rim at the same time, though you could also do that with a slump. It would be important to get it off the hump before the clay dried enough to crack. A slump would allow you to leave the clay in the mold much longer and would also hold the lid while you add a coil for the underside of the lid to hold it in place in the teapot. You can shape the flange to be whatever shape you want, but a coil is a good start. That high density styrofoam used to insulate houses can be used to make molds, but it comes in 4x8 foot sheets, so maybe you could find something suitable at a craft store. Plaster is fabulous for molds.

There is a way of throwing a round, closed form like your egg, letting it firm up to leather hard, and then cutting the lid out of the top while it is turning on the wheel. I will see if I can find a video online. You can also lay a slab over the hole you have cut in the pot, and then gently tamp the slab down into the hole, forming the lid upside down.

I really like your handle shape. I assume you are starting with a coil. Letting it set up before attaching it is a good idea. If you want to smooth it, try using a damp sponge to moisten your fingers before touching it. Dry fingers stick, and wet ones make a mess. The damp sponge seems to work best. I love my rubber ribs, but IMO, there is nothing better than wood tools for handbuilding. Maybe you can find or even make something that would have just the curved shape you need for your handles.

The flat part of your original egg shape and your handle look wet to me. It can be difficult to keep your clay dry enough to work with but not so dry that it cracks. I have a variety of surfaces to work on. A flannel covered waterproof pad made for babies is great for rolling out slabs. the clay does not stick, and the fabric will dry the clay out a bit. A board covered with a sheet of plastic and then thin cotton fabric is a good work surface for putting together the final piece, as the clay won't stick to the fabric and won't dry out much. I like to roll coils on Formica, as it does not dry out the coils.

All in all, you are doing a terrific job with your project. I admire your perseverence.

I love your design, enough to copy it for inspiration for my own garden. I agree with what has been said about the base. The one you made, especially with the cut outs, gives the base a lot of lift.

Robin Hopper's book on functional pottery has at least one chapter on form and proportion. I took some drawing and design classes hoping to get more information on this topic but did not find the classes helpful. If anyone knows of a good book about this just for potters, I would love to know about it.

When you say stock pieces, I assume you have a number of each of those pieces at a show. Don't put them all out at one time. A display of fifty nearly identical mugs may look nice, but none of those mugs looks special enough for people to feel like they have to have one. They need to worry that if they walk away, what they want may be gone before they get back.