Been subscribed for a long time Florian and although I could hear the disappointment and forewarning in your voice before you showed the loss of each vase one by one, I appreciate it. It reminds me that even highly skilled individuals, when pushing themselves to grow in other areas, often make mistakes and that it’s okay.
That's life as a potter, and well, probably any craftsperson, maker or artist. I know it sounds soppy but we don't learn without failure and sometimes it's the bigger ones like these that make the biggest difference. Thanks so much for watching!
What a treat to get such an in-depth look at your processes! The slumped clay did look visually interesting - I wonder if there could be an artistic use for throwing thin walls to do that on purpose. Maybe too much chaos for the amount of effort required!
Nice long form video, good luck figuring out a more comfortable process to glazing these sized pots. Interesting info vs the "painting" of your shelves before you place pottery on them, don't think you mentioned that before. Sucks some failed, more so the melted one, but thankfully no damage to your kiln and the rest within that firing . Till the next video.
Pleased you liked it - and yes, no actual damage to the kiln save a little indent on the surface of one of the flues. Lots learnt and very excited to make another batch soon! Thanks for watching.
Not quite so meticulous. I can generally recall what I did wrong/what to improve on as I make. I do have a notebook full of sketches, dimensions, weights of clay for certain pots and things like that, but nothing quite so thorough. Thanks for watching Shelly!
One more question for now. When I watch all your other videos you measure out each clump exactly with the knowledge of what you are going to trim. Why didnt you weigh the clay this time instead of an estimation? And would a smaller version help create the larger version? Love your videos and thank you for all your lessons. I personally can not even throw a small straight vessel and pretty weak at hand building, but I bake great breads!! And in baking you measure everything!
I've bee watching your videos a while and I absolutely loved this. A story of heartbreak and triumph and all the feelings in between. This is the most realistic film on the true journey of pottery
Great video. The pale green successful vase had a noticeably different ring of glaze where the two parts had been joined/were dipped to. Was that intentional? I recall one vase seemed to have a deeper trim line there compared to the others. Also, regarding phallic shapes, the collapsed one was reminiscent of a foreskin, which was curiously apt, all things given
Thank you! We learn from the technique you will employ next time. How very generous of you to "show and tell" on yourself because there are a lot of us who think everything you make is perfect! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯❤But this is how one gets there... PS: I had to look up the word priapic ...and that didn't cross my mind at all! LOL! Cheers! jw
Hey Florian! Just gotta say I’m new here and I can not* get enough of your content…. I’ve been watching for only about 3 weeks and its amazing, and so are you! Can’t wait for a chance to own one of your works! Edit: And I did make it all the way through
Made it! Learning is the best (no matter what the subject), and I appreciate how you share what you’ve learned. It’s amazing how many variables go into making a pot! Loved seeing Ciro too!
Yes Florian I made it all the way through! I am just in awe of your patience and tenacity, more power to you my friend. You are a fabulous artist and teacher so thank you.
I really appreciate seeing this whole process from beginning to end. I have been doing pottery for a little over a year just in my spare time to learn something new. I cannot even imagine throwing something this large. This craft always keeps you humble and I appreciate that. Still I think both the vases looked stunning!
Made it all the way through :) I found your channel a few days ago and I’m loving every second of it. I’m just now getting back into pottery, having been busy with a double master’s in engineering for the past 2 years. I’ve never thrown anything taller than 10 inches or so, but I cannot wait to gain the experience! Thanks for all you do ❤
Exactly that. It lets me see the side view of the pot from my normal day position, rather than having to lean backwards awkwardly or get off the wheel. Very useful tool! Without it I feel as if I’m missing a sense.
Not this wheel, with cheaper ones you might find they slow down as you try and throw larger amounts. That's what you're paying for with more expensive wheels, a more powerful motor, that can handle heavier weights of clay.
Hi Florian, consider wearing a mask when cleaning up the glaze on your pots. I'm just a hobbyist who makes a fraction of the number of pots you create, but like you, I spend a good amount of time cleaning up drips and thick areas, and I can definitely feel some lung irritation if I don't wear a mask (or do it outdoors, on a nice day)
I think potters can learn more from their mistakes than successes. I've gotten to a stage where I throw everything on a bat, even my mugs. No matter how careful you are, handling your pieces will distort them in one way or another. If you are a precise potter like myself, wonkiness or wabi-sabi aren't in our playbook.
I used to teach pottery. Though I am not as accomplished as you, I thought I would share my method of glazing pieces such as these. First, I glazed the inside just as you do. The reason is because it is easier to clean the rim on the outside than on the inside. Then I covered a foot perhaps 1/4" to 3/8" with striping tape (like they have in auto stores for striping on cars, they are narrow) and then brushed the glaze on the outer surface. I could see the rim as I glazed and I never had to use wax resist on the foots.
Been quietly following for a while and I’ve enjoying seeing that whilst you have immense talent, not everything is perfect and even with everything you’ve learnt and mastered, somethings are out of your control and you’re okay with that and learn from it instead of letting it stop you from trying again
I enjoyed seeing the process from beginning to end, particularly the care that you take in the glazing process (because I'm pretty slapdash about it,) the creative challenge of making works that are out of your comfort zone, and how the technical issues find resolution.
Thank you for sharing this journey with us. I believe that it is incredibly encouraging for new(-ish) potters to see a very skilled and meticulous artist go through the process of learning with it accompanying disappointments. It is lovely to see you work in your gentle way.
Hello, I have used a moist bath towel laid flat on a table to rub off glaze from the base of larger pots. I use it in the way you used the large sponge but could sit the pot down and rotate it with both hands "scrubbing" the base on the towel. I was able to get a uniform glaze free foot on several pots. Doubling the towel over worked as well and cleaned a taller area. Thanks for your videos!
how do you deal with slip loss, whenever i throw something larger than 3 lbs i find a lot of the clay turns to slip when i center and cone it, how do you deal with this?
Maybe you're spending too long centring the lump of clay? Maybe you're using too much water or too much pressure? It could be that the way you hold your hands/sponge scrapes clay away instead of manoeuvring it properly. There's a whole plethora of reasons I think.
Doesn't We learn from Failures? To overcome them makes the Master. But I guess You already know that. The pale blue one looks already promising. I think next Time You will get a lot more Success with these. 🤞👍
Someone probably mentioned it Florian, but to remove the bat off the top of a double piece pot, one can brace the bat against one's chest and pull the wire towards you. It's pretty stable that way I appreciate your honest videos and detailed explanations. There are lots of details I have found very useful
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video. Even though I'm certainly not a craftsman of any sort myself, a lot of the lessons and values you highlighted in this video can be applied to any form of skillset. Shooting for something new, trying something a bit out of your comfort level or area of expertise, making mistakes and seeing the project through while learning from the flaws in the finished product so the next one you work on is better, and making the best out of the hand you're dealt. Whenever you do something you don't do frequently, you're bound to make mistakes, and the biggest lesson you can learn is from your own mistakes. Analyzing what you're doing and thinking about ways you can do it better, even if it's demoralizing. You can't improve without messing things up once in a while, there's no substitute for good old fashioned hands-on experience. They're valuable lessons, as long as you know what to look for.
I love your videos!! I always watch them fully through because they’re so well done, informative, and relaxing to say the least. Keep up the amazing work 🤝🤗
This was really brilliant, thank you for sharing your learning process. I want to try making some large two part vases tomorrow and will definitely take on a lot of your advice. & made it to the end - had to see the final pieces!
Thank you for sharing this video. As a musician, many times I encounter this feeling that I already committed to a section I am passionate about, and being torn between destroying and moving on from an idea that wasn't well-delivered on, or trying to correct it to perfection. I didn't know it wasn't just me who gets this feeling.
YES! I DID make it all-the-way to the end, like when I watch any of your videos. I have a suggestion and not being a potter, have no way of knowing if it'd even work OR if anyone has suggested it before now .. but... Florian, after watching (and sympathesizing) with your frustrations when you began the fettling work; I had an idea. A'course, I am unsure of how successful it would be and if so COULD speed up this process you're not crazy about. Instead of using your fingers, why not use a new, dry dish sponge? Still perhaps soft enough without breaking through the dried glaze depending on how much pressure you apply. On the large sections of the vessels, I mean; and not the sharp corners where the two pieces are joined. Have you tried that? It could work well. Love watching you work! Aszneth 😀👍 (Tallahassee Florida)
You should try torching the base before joining, bracing the bat against your chest when you cut the top cutting towards yourself, and then throw the rim. Definitely better to be safe than sorry with thickness!
I've been doing a lot of very very large bowls and vases lately it's become a very exciting and fun part of my adventure into pottery. Glazing is a whole new conundrum I've had to add so many pots and large Rubbermaid brand bins that I've cut and shaped into sizes to accommodate different methods of glazing and dipping. Sometimes I find myself standing in the middle of my studio for God knows how long contemplating how I'm going to glaze a extremely large bowl. I've actually taken to buying very large Ziploc bags to put around my banding Wheels where I will place large bowls that have been glazed inside allowed to dry and then place Large dry sponges to hold the ball up off the banding wheel and then I'll give the banding wheel a spin and glaze the outside keeping a finger on the rim creating a perfect cut off line for the glaze it works rather nicely. Of course your glaze has to be a perfect consistency for doing that and I'm starting to be able to eyeball that People don't realize how much work goes into glazing alone every step in the creation of a pot can destroy so much work potentially
Hi Florian, thank you again for showing ALL of the process with the ups and downs, the narration is superb! Would you consider making a video showing how you keep your porcelain clean in a studio where you use both red and white clay bodies? Thanks again!
Maybe next time you can go all the way to the weel haed when throwing the upper section so you won't need to bother removing its "base" to make the rim.
I believe Edison’s quote is “I did not fail to create 10,000 lightbulbs. I successfully learned 10,000 ways to not make a lightbulb.” Or something like that.
I really enjoyed this video and seeing the process of you testing out new forms. You mentioned your old glaze kiln was electric, did you used to fire cone 6 oxidation in it? What kinds of glazes did you use then since your current glazes wouldn't work in an oxidation environment?
Indeed, as @Ragnhild said, the electric kiln is used for bisque firing. I've never, well at least not for a very long time, done my glaze firings in an electric kiln, it's all gas.
Florian...... honestly..... think about Christmas and crooked friends for pot witch are not your standards.... instead of scrapping them... you're welcome....
The crumbled pot? It didn't stand or hold water. I give my friends and family pots, seconds even from time to time but that piece was a flop-it needed to be smashed. As a craftsperson, keeping my work to a certain standard is really important. A chef wouldn't serve burnt food would they? This is the equivalent for me.