New Clay, New Handles

Brown clay all up in here, and I'm sooooo excited. The clay is so easy to work with. These 4 giant, mug-bowls came out really easily, and they're so much less fragile than the white clay. It's grittier though, so that's a little tough with all the sand, but I don't know–this might the way to go.

So, I've purposefully avoided handles because (1) I feel that they ruin the aesthetic and (2) I'm just not very good at them (hence the ruining). But, it's a new year, and I'm feeling brave, so I'm trying the new clay. That was so encouraging, that I decided to try a new method for handles. Instead of pulling them, I'm going to cut them out of a slab... and a patterned slab, at that, using the new seigaiha roller. The results were very pleasing. (For my own reference, slab was 3/8" thick, 1.5" width, and 5" length.) Fairly tricky to apply uniform pressure throughout the rolling, and also doing it in one seamless motion, so that's something to note for next time.

Finally, was able to carve some texture into this piece at the end of the night, while the handles and the newly thrown pieces dry. I think this pattern might be a keeper. 

Now, the really difficult part is coming: how am I going to attach these handles without making the entire thing look like crap? Eager to go back tomorrow and see.