Glazing, the elephant in the room
Once a session I give a long glaze lecture to my class at Choplet. I say a lecture, because that’s really what I do. I don’t just show how to stir glaze and dip pieces I really try to breakdown how to be successful with glazing. That’s what I want to go over with you … Continue reading
Trimming your f$%king bowl
Now that I’ve discussed how to throw a bowl, its time to talk trimming. In this post I’ll be discussing my method of trimming. Next week, I’ll go into trouble shooting any problems you might have when trimming a bowl. Since trouble shooting is next week, I’ll wait to give you an example on what … Continue reading
Different kinds of bowls and how to f$%king make them
Obviously we don’t live in a one size fits all bowls kind of world. So today I’m going to give you guidelines on how much clay to use to make a bowl within given dimensions. I am also going to go over how to throw a V shaped serving bowl. If you have just begun … Continue reading
How to make a bowl, without F%&king up
Hi there, last week I went over typical problems you might have while making your bowls and ways to unfuck them. Today I am going to walk you through how to make a bowl step by step. Once I am done, you should be able to make bowls with ease, or at least understand how … Continue reading
How to unF%&k your bowls
As promised in last weeks post, this week I will begin moving on to product specific lessons. This week will be bowls. I am going to start not with specific instructions on how to make a bowl, but rather with solutions to problems you may already be having. Bowls are one of the more intuitive shapes … Continue reading
Finishing steps that won’t f%&k up your pot
This will be the last post on what I would consider the essential techniques you need as a wheel thrower. Today I will be discussing how to finish a pot and take it off the wheel at the most basic level. After this, posts will be focused on making specific shapes or solving specific problems. … Continue reading
How to pull a wall, without f%&king up
So this week I’ll be discussing the part of throwing guaranteed to both seduce, tease and frustrate you, pulling a wall. The thing to remember about pulling a wall is that its a different entity than centering and opening. This is often the part where students look at my funny when I am giving a … Continue reading
How to UnF$%k your opening
This weeks blog post will be dedicated to the point in wheel throwing that you’re most likely to fuck up the entire process: opening. Now before we get into it, I recommend you go back and read my other posts, if you aren’t already following this blog. The reason being, is that I discuss fundamental … Continue reading
Unf@%king your centering
So we can say this will be the first blog post complimenting an upcoming video series titled, “How to unf@%k your pot.” The series will be dedicated to showing you pragmatic solutions for common wheel throwing/pottery problems. Today I’ll be discussing centering. Centering is the most challenging part of throwing initially and I’ve seen more … Continue reading
Know what you want to make
Continuing the preface section of the blog that will deal with the “mental game” of pottery. w Often while I am teaching novice students (ones that have been throwing long enough to know the basics of how to make shapes) I’ll hear the frustration in their voice about how they make the same shape over … Continue reading
Sparano Arts 