Project 5: A Teapot

This time I decided to go with a more familiar form of a teapot, at least in the Western world. Again I chose to use the brown clay. Actually I worked on project 4 & 5 at the same time so it made sense to use the same clay. I had planned this one in my head already. Teapot 4 sort of evolved as I made it.

This time I got the shape I was trying for and I got the full lift out of the clay! That felt great!

I threw the spout for this teapot and then curved it a bit to fit my design and also of course pour more smoothly. I pulled the handle instead of throwing it like the side handles. I then curled it in place to fit the design and let it dry before attaching it.

Assembled teapot.

After the pot had dried some I painted a tree on both sides in black slip (which actually fires brown).

Here is one side:

The other:

And the lid:

I wasn't completely sure how I felt about the trees until they were bisque fired.

I loved the result! Next I waxed the tree leaving a rough outline so the clay would also show as a sort of outline and applied the glaze. I choose a matte white to go with the natural look of the design.

Here is where I started to worry again that it looked sloppy and not like I had imagined; however before you get use to the behavior of glazes and clay the final appearance seems so much of a mystery. As you can see here it does look sloppy. The final result totally made up for all the worry...










Here it is!

I was absolutely thrilled again!

It was exactly as I had hoped for.The way the handle curls with the design of the trees and the spout leaned  away from them.The beautiful way the clay showed around the tree and the glaze completely fit the earthy feel of the design and colors.

What I learned:

1. This spout has a much smoother pour then the teapots in projects 2 & 3. 

2. It is also a bit larger because I managed to get the most out of the clay and I improved the ball shape of the body compared to the others. 

3. I was a little sloppy when I made the holes for the filter inside. I need to remember to clean it up a bit before firing.