Handbuilding On A Saturday

 I get in the mood to coil and handbuild every so often.  One of the first projects in any pottery class is to roll coils and make something fun.

This is my something fun.

I've gathered a couple of odd shaped bowls from the Asian store. I think they are actually used to smash herbs and spices, but I think they make great molds for small cups and bowls.

Also on my favorite things to use for a mold is this oval platter/bowl that came with a Chipotle Bowl ... wash it out, let it dry ... and it can be used multiple times as a mold.

Here are some above shots of the coils placed into the molds.  It takes some doing to smooth out the coils and compress them in the hopes that they will not crack while drying.

I typically place them into disposable plastic bags which the groceries come home in.  The city where I live have not banned them and I find they have lots of uses in my pottery studio.

If you've been following my blog, you have seen this picture on the left before.  It is what this particular cup/bowl  looks like after it comes out of the mold and I love putting those small tri-feet on the bottom.

Last time I made these, I made five of them. I wanted four and usually when I'm after a certain number, one never turns out, or it breaks, or it ...well, something usually happens and I end up with one less than I hoped.  But this time I made five and ended up with five. Maybe I am getting better?