Glazes look more interesting on textured surfaces so I've been doing some experimentation. I haven't done a lot with textures in recent years. I wrote a blog post last fall about another day of trying new ideas with this kind of thing.
I'll show you how I got the textured rims on these bowls and plates.
First I threw the bowl...
(remember "throwing" is the British term we potters use that means turning on a wheel)
(remember "throwing" is the British term we potters use that means turning on a wheel)
This is a bath mat I bought in a store. I loved the deep woven texture it had. I did not love the rubber suction cups that interrupted the pattern of the weave.
I've cut the mat into pieces around those darn suction cups. I used this little piece for the bowl rim.
I turned it over (this is the flatter back) and carefully pressed it into the edge of the clay.
I continued all around the bowl, trying not to distort the shape of the bowl too much.
The small piece of mat gave the rim a natural wavy, fluted look that I just went with.
In a future post I'll show you what glazes will do on this kind of texture to make the piece more interesting.
Tell me what you think of this direction.