Drawing in Space: How to Handbuild an Expressive Teapot Set Using Soft Slabs
Handbuilding can be thought of as a very basic ceramic technique, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used to create very sophisticated forms. Many artists are using handbuilding techniques to create elegant, polished work. Margaret Bohls is one of those artists. She takes handbuilding beyond the basics to make her pillowy functional pots. The emphasis is on interior volume and Margaret finds the best way to achieve the look she wants is by using soft slabs. And lucky for us, she is happy to share her techniques!
10 Reasons Why You Should Register and Attend Inspired Ceramic Surfaces Conference
10 Reasons Why You Should Register and Attend Inspired Ceramic Surfaces ConferenceLast week Potters Council featured why you should register and attend the upcoming Potters Council Conference in Temple, Texas in May. For those not on facebook, we thought you might like to see them as well. Read more about the conference… Reason #1… Read More »
The Look of Lattice: Using Textured Plaster Slabs to Make Lattice Inspired Handbuilt Forms
Today I am sharing a homemade texture tool idea. This one is a great tool for laying down a pattern quickly and easily over an entire slab. In this post, Margaret Bohls explains how she carves texture, in this case a grid-like pattern, into large plaster slabs and then rolls her slabs on the textured plaster. She then puffs out each square in the grid with her fingers and creates a sense of volume.
Stretching the Limits: Slab Building to Create Pots That Look Like Pillows
Today, we bring you the work of Margaret Bohls who stretches the limits of porcelain to explore the ideas of expansion and restraint. Margaret’s vessels have the appearance of soft, cushy upholstery. They seem like they are being inflated from within. She achieves this effect by painstakingly creating each bulge in her slab building process, which author Glen R. Brown elaborates on below.
