ceramic arts dail y.

org

contemporary
pottery

functional and conceptual

considerations for
handmade pottery
This special report is brought to you with the support of Mud Bucket Pottery

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Contemporary Pottery
Functional and Conceptual Considerations
for Handmade Pottery
Potters have been making pots for a long time, and they have been thinking about what it means to make pots for a long
time, but in Contemporary Pottery: Functional and Conceptual Considerations for Handmade Pottery, we have
asked several makers of contemporary pottery about specific pottery forms they make and why. Pottery made by hand
requires conscious decision making about design, form, surface integration, materials, and techniques at every step in the
processand for every single potso each combination can results in completely different results.
The handmade pottery discussed by these contemporary potters ranges from sets of square dishes to double-walled
vessels for coffee or tea. From form to function, from concept to content, the potters included here discuss the qualities
necessary to make those pieces successful. Handmade pottery can mean different things to different people, and these
contemporary potters all bring something insightful to the table.
Here is what youll find in Contemporary Pottery: Functional and Conceptual Considerations for Handmade Pottery.

A Handmade Clay Coffee Thermos

by Kenyon Hansen
The idea for how to make a thermos out of clay came from this potters use of a non-clay thermos, which
made him think why not make one for himself? After all, he used it every day, and it was part of his
regular pottery routine.

Sets of Squares
by Suze Lindsay
Integration of the clay surface and form has always been key to successful handmade pottery, and
Suze Lindsays brushwork proves that she has carefully and thoroughly considered her approach to
this concept. She walks you through not only her techniques for making square dishes, but how she
approaches making sets and even selling pottery.

The Function of Pots in Storage

by Gay Smith
What does handmade pottery do when you are not using it? Gay Smith argues that it still has a
function, which is to be stored conveniently and efficiently. She explains how to think about pottery
design from the perspective of the end users and how they see handmade pottery fitting into their
livesand their cupboards.

Studio Pet, Studio Pottery

by Allen Chen
In this light-hearted anecdote, Chen actually outline a very important part of making handmade
pottery, and that is inspiration and ideas. He will make you realize that seemingly unrelated things
can come together in the form of pottery that can set you off in a completely new direction of
exploration and discovery.

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A Handmade Clay
Coffee Thermos
by Kenyon Hansen

Thermos set, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, stoneware with glaze,

wood fired.

ast year, I worked in Matt Kelleher and Shoko Teruyamas studio in the mountains of western
North Carolina. During the winter
months, I was unable to drive to the studio
because of the heavy snowfall and steep
winding driveway, so I walked. Each morning I would pack a lunch and fill a thermos
with coffee or tea for the long studio day
ahead. The long trek gave me time to think
about the pots I would make that day. After
a while, I recognized my own habit of carrying the thermos and I began thinking about
the challenges and possibilities it could hold
as an object made of clay.

I enjoyed solving the problems of making double-walled vessels. The technical

challenges made the process of invention
fun. Brainstorming several possible ways
to create a thermos, and the consequential
failures and learning curve kept me actively
involved in the process. In the end, though,
with the technical problems resolved, I am
much more interested in the aesthetic issues
and the roles such pots play in our lives.
Finely crafted, thoughtfully made pottery
can contribute to a renaissance of tradition
and habit. My hope is that the pots I make
can play a role and be a factor in a renewal
of ritual. I strive to create pottery that is

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I start off by throwing two cylinders. The first is made with a

flange at the base. After I measure it with calipers, I throw the
second cylinder about two inches taller, and make the interior
about of an inch wider than the exterior of the first. Once
they have set up a bit, I slide the larger over the smaller one
and connect them at the base.
Next, I roll a coil and connect the two walls inside at the top
of the inner wall.
The pot then goes back to the wheel where I collar in the neck
above the double wall and finish the forming at the top.
I throw a ridge in the shoulder to fit the lip of a mug, and I
measure that before I throw the mug to fit the ridge.
Once everything fits, I add texture, line, and handles to both
the mug and thermos.

both considered and balanced, containing a

healthy dose of spirit and care.
Many of the forms Im interested in are built
around the act of consuming and sharing liquids. I make coffee pots, lidded pitchers, teapots,
and thermos sets. Part of my interest in these
forms revolves around how much I enjoy drinking coffee and tea. I am very curious to explore
how these forms function. I find it challenging to
build such complex pots, with so many different elements needing to harmonize, allowing it
to function both visually and physically. Clay
allows me to play with the physical language of
these forms. When I throw or handbuild, Im
engaged in the conversation. Curiosity often

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Three lidded pitchers, to 15 in. (38 cm) in height, stoneware, anagama fired for 6 days to cone
11, 12-hour reduction cooling.

pushes the dialog, while the desire to find something

new guides me forward.
Marketing my work is still very new to me. Ive been
making pots for about seven years and continue to be
my own worst critic. Perhaps my own insecurity, or the
belief that the next firing will be better, has prevented me
from applying to more shows and other opportunities.
Ive participated in a few small art fairs, and have sold
work out of a couple of art centers. I approached my
first two galleries very recently, so thats still new to me.
This years Strictly Functional Pottery National was
the second professional opportunity to which Id ever
applieda residency at Archie Bray Foundation for the
Ceramic Arts being the first. I was accepted into both. So
maybe Ive simply been waiting for my work to evolve
into something more personal, in its own slow time.
Kenyon Hansen is a resident at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana. His work
was included in Strictly Functional Pottery National 2010
(www.strictlyfunctionalpottery.net) and also can be seen at the Signature Shop (www.thesignatureshop.com) in Atlanta, Georgia, and at
Crimson Laurel Gallery (www.crimsonlaurelgallery.com) in Bakersville, North Carolina.

Thermos set, approximately 9 in.

(23 cm) in height when stacked, stoneware with
glaze, wood fired.

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Sets of Squares
by Suze Lindsay

Square place setting, dinner plate 10 in. (25 cm) square, stoneware, slips and glazes, salt fired to cone 10, 2010.

n integral part of my work is using surface decoration to enhance form. After throwing and
altering or forming from a slab, my problemsolving concerns the patterning and the painting
of slips and glazes that emphasize specific areas of the pots.
I have studied various cultures and inspiring historic ceramics that influence the way I organize spacing and place
motifs.

Function First

First there is the functionality. The plates need to be thick

enough that they dont warp in the firing, yet light enough
to be able to stack for storage. When working with slabs,
it is always important to consider all the edges and how
they are treated, so those edges are defined and refined
in some manner, both to finish them and to compress
them and provide strength. Another consideration is the
decision and application of the foot. If a thrown foot ring

is added, does it stay round or is it altered to reflect the

form? I am continually asking questions like this.

Building a Set

My interest resides in creating a family of pots when

working in sets like this. A place setting would include a
cup, salad plate, dinner plate, and bowl. Beyond that, it
is up to me to decide how I create a dialog between these
pots. Working with the square, I can approach the unifying set by the form alone, or use the same palette of slips
and glazes to decorate each piece so they are recognizable
as a set.

A Square Meal

When I first started making square plates, they were

thrown on the wheel, with a diameter large enough that
the plate would still be 9 inches to an edge when the rims
were cut square. The construction of this kind of plate led

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Right: A thick slab is

roughly cut and placed in
a bisque-fired mold and
is then pressed down into
the mold using a bag filled
with sand, grog, or rice.
The slab is stretched into
the mold until it nearly
reaches the bottom. A tall
foot ring is then added.
Below: A slab is cut using
a cardboard template
and is draped over a dry,
plaster hump mold to
create a curve. The edges
are smoothed in order to
compress and strengthen
them, and a squared-off
foot ring is added after it
has set up, which does not
take long on the porous
plaster mold.

to a soft square, and when I looked at it critically,

I realized I wanted the square to be more articulated, so I went to the handbuilt slab form with a
thrown foot ring. Technically, one needs to be sure
the added foot is properly centered from the rim,
and that edges remain thick enough so that they do
not slump in the firing.

Selling Sets

I think about people who like the tradition of a

china pattern for their new home, and then how
I might guide their interest from a traditional set
of bone china to handmade pottery for their table.
Accepting a larger order of place settings requires
time for the potter, and patience on the customers
end. Clear communication between the two parties is essential.
In our gallery, we try to create areas that suggest
how we live with pots. From mantles, to cupboards
and particularly a kitchen table for place settings,
these areas help the customer imagine how pots may
feel in their own home.
Suze Lindsay makes pots with her husband Kent McLaughlin
at Fork Mountain Pottery (www.forkmountainpottery.net) in
Bakersville, North Carolina. Works by Lindsay were included in
the Table Manners exhibition, on view at Lark & Key gallery
(www.larkandkey.com) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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The Function of Pots

in Storage
by Gay Smith

Print bowls, 4 in. (11 cm) in width, thrown porcelain with stamped
decoration, darted, raw glazed, fired to cone 10 in a soda kiln.

m always trying to pull my pots back toward

function. My infatuation with tactile appeal,
edges, drawing the thrown line between foot
and rim, and altering usually tends to trump
functional concerns. What interests me functionally, particularly with these bowls, is their ability to
stack. Their size must be appealing for morning cereals or special desserts, like homemade ice cream,
and its important that they be sturdy enough to
withstand daily handling: going in and out of the
sink and dish rack or dishwasher, stacking easily
without chipping feet or rims.

The Function of Storage

The desire to create pots that could stack was

inspired by my need as an avid pottery collector
to find space for new pots. They stack up tall and
compactly, requiring minimal horizontal space in
your cabinet. The bowls are squared for structure
because this gives the stack greater stability.

The main functional concern with making pots

to stack is that the diameter of the foot will slip
easily into the diameter of the rim of the piece below it, and that the foot will not rest on the interior floor of the piece below it. Rims are measured
with calipers as I throw them so that when theyre
squared, I know that hip will meet lip. This way,
when making a stack, each pot will rest upon the
one beneath it without rocking or keeling over.
How and where each pot touches the one above
and below it is both an important structural
consideration in how they stack, as well as an
important visual decision. The stack is a series of
individual pots piled one on top of the other, but
just as importantly, the stack is a unit, one piece, a
kind of interactive sculpture.
Through use, bowls will layer differently every
time they are put away in a stack. Depending
upon the configuration, color and pattern can be
either intentionally or randomly reordered. The

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Wooden textile-printing blocks are wetted to prevent them from sticking to

the clay. They are pressed into the surface while the form, thrown slightly
thicker than normal so it can stand up to the stamping, is supported from
the inside.

After the bowl form has dried to soft

leather hard, the rim is marked in
equal sections and darts are cut at
those points.

The darts are brought together in

order to change the shape of the form
from round to square (which tends to
be the most efficient shape in terms of
cupboard space).

After the darted joints are reinforced with a coil of clay on the inside, the pots
are covered and allowed to dry slowly until they are stiff leather hard. They are
then dipped in slip and/or glaze and dried completely before being fired in a
soda kiln.

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Teapot, 6 in. (15 cm) in height, thrown porcelain with stamped decoration,
raw glazed, fired to cone 10 in a soda kiln.

squared hip or belly of the bowl has more

visual impact for presenting a flat face in
the sense that the stack might be read as a two
dimensional image. Thus the stack is less able
to be directly interpreted as round. I imagine
the face of the stack as a constantly changing
painting made by the user. Each bowl is intentionally different from its neighbor. The user
will perhaps develop favorites, or choose to
use one over the other depending upon mood.
I imagine bringing a sense of fun and celebration into the use of these bowls.

The exterior surface of the bowl is lightly

ribbed to provide a smooth canvas for the
marks, and the blocks are dipped in water
prior to each impression, which actually
prevents their sticking to the pot wall. The
pot wall must not be too thin for impressing,
an advantage when stacking as it means rims
will not chip. I am looking to create an interesting tactile surface with a repeating visual
and tactile pattern around the exterior hip or
belly of the bowl. The texture finds its way
to the interior of the bowl with soft finger
marks from resisting the exterior pressure of
the pattern-making.
I texture the surfaces by rhythmically impressThe textured surface means the pieces are
ing carved wooden blocks into the clay as I
easier to handle when hot or cold, keepthrow each bowl. The blocks were acquired
ing fingers dancing about with something
from a fellow Penland teacher in 2005. I was to grip. But Im actually more interested in
told they were from India and were used to
the textured patterning to provide engagprint fabric by hand. Their carving is exing, tactile pleasure or experience. And the
tremely intricate. So, the surface texture is a
indentations provide me with places to inlay
collaboration with unknown, highly skilled
glazes or slips. After darting and trimming, I
craftsmen. The beauty of the patterns they
raw glaze the pieces by dipping the textured
create is a gift from these unsung artisans. I
portion of each bowl in a glaze or slip. The
am grateful to them.
liquid settles in the indentations and I use a

Surface Texture

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Tumblers, each 5 in. (13 cm) in height, thrown porcelain with stamped
decoration, raw glazed, fired to cone 10 in a soda kiln.

soft rubber rib to wipe away excess while

it is still wet. Then another glaze (or not)
is layered over this when the pot has set
up enough to take the next dip. This layering gives the rich colors to the surfaces
that I am seeking, and emphasizes the
shapes and patterns in the textures. They
are abstracted and impressionistic.

Form
When the rim of the bowl is still flexible
but the overall consistency is a soft leather
hard, I mark the rim into four even sections. Then, I take four triangular darts
out to alter the rim of the bowl from a
circle into a soft square. After reinforcing each seam with a coil, the bowls dry
slowly under plastic until they are ready
for trimming. A round pedestal foot is
trimmed under each pot. I make sure
that the foot is not too high so that the
foot does not touch the floor of the bowl
under it when stacked.

Marketing

I hope the ability of these bowls to be

stacked increases their marketability; perhaps the minimal space requirement gives a
collector a means to justify a purchase. Often, because they are squared, folks who are
not familiar with altered or handmade pots
will ask what they are for, or theyll ask if
they are vases. I always answer yes! to the
latter question. Any vessel can be used as a
vase, and a positive response to any inquiry
is much more likely to spark a good conversation. I can then suggest that they might
also be used for dessert and that they can
go into the dishwasher and microwave too.
One of my jobs is to educate as many people
as possible about using pots every day.
Gay Smith makes pots in Bakersville,
North Carolina. See more of Gays work at
www.gertrudegrahamsmith.com. Her printed
bowls were included in Table Manners at Lark
& Key gallery, (www.larkandkey.com) in Charlotte,
North Carolina.

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Studio Pet,
Studio Pottery
by Allen Chen

Double Squirrel Parody, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, stoneware,

anagama fired to cone 13.

uring graduate school at the University

of Notre Dame, I had a frequent studio
visitora chipmunk. The chipmunk had
a seemingly insatiable appetite for the
various cereals and oatmeal that I had stored in my
studio, as well as an unfortunate habit of leaving his
droppings all over my clothes, my slop bucket, and
my work. I called the pest control center and they told
me that I had to use a live trap because its illegal to
kill chipmunks. But its just a squirrel, I emphatically protested. No, its a chipmunk, the exterminator corrected me sternly, as if to say that I had no

Squirrel Quad Pitcher, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, stoneware,

anagama fired to cone 13.

idea there was a difference between the twowhich

I dont. I tried everything but I couldnt catch it; it
was too smart. I had hoped that it would hibernate
during the harsh winters of northern Indiana, but according to my extensive research on Wikipedia, they
only partially hibernate, and apparently this particular chipmunks hibernating schedule did nothing to
slow down its bowel movements. Was he trying to tell
me something? I was thinking about this chipmunk
so much that I became obsessed. The image of him
raising his tail while dropping hard little black pellets on my teapots and cups haunted my dreams. Why

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was this chipmunk defecating on my pots? Was this

a critique of my work? Why didnt the droppings
stink like the critiques that I was getting from some
of my professors? And why is it that I take everything so personally?
One day I was having coffee in the design studio
when I suddenly noticed a elegant stainless steel coffee pot with a graceful, swooping handle that came
up from the base and over its top. I had found my
answer. I needed to make a pitcher that celebrated
the critiques that the chipmunk had been leaving
in my shoes and my glaze buckets. A statue of the
chipmunk in its finest moment with its tail winging
high above and forming the handle of a pitcher. And
I called it, Squirrel Quad Pitcher. This will always
be a reminder to the chipmunk that even though it is
smart and mean and has great taste, in the end it is
just a squirrel, and it will never make it to the pages
of Ceramics Monthly.
The main challenges in making this pitcher stand
proudthe contents must pour well and the handle
must be ergonomically smartwas a series of trial

and (painful) errors. I find that hollowing out the

handle does wonders in decreasing the weight while
also adding the strength it needs to last through a
week-long anagama kiln firing.
I have noticed a particular demographic purchasing this work from meparticular in that there are
so few of them. I have traded or given away most
of my favorite pieces to friends and family who
are kind enough to show appreciation for them. I
personally feel that because we pour an enormous
amount of our minds, body, and soul into our
work, the story behind it really becomes the meat of
the work. And the people who are sensitive to the
story, the ones who care enough for it, are the true
consumer demographics.
Allen Chen makes pots in Red Lodge, Montana. For further information and to see more images of his work, go
to www.allenchenart.com, www.Redlodgeclaycenter.com,
or www.facebook.com/aaachen. His Squirrel Quad Pitcher was included in Strictly Functional Pottery National
2010. For further information on the exhibition, visit
www.strictlyfunctionalpotterynational.net.

After pulling a coil, Chen forms the

handles shape using his palm on a
plaster bat.

The primary shape is further defined

by trimming the sides of excess bulk.

The handle is cleaned and smoothed

with a damp sponge to further refine
the form.

Clay is carved from the handle to reduce the weight and avoid slumping
in the kiln.

The finished, hollowed handle is set

aside to stiffen until it is leather hard.

The handle is attached to the chipmunk-inspired pitcher at the base of

the form.

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