Stamping clay is one of the easiest things to do, and rubber stamps also work well. Here’s one of the first ones I did, a fish inside a lidded container that catches teapot drips. The glaze is a blue celadon.
This is the lid for the tea drip catcher. I got some tiny cookie cutters and punched the holes out one at a time before notching the rim.
The process for punching holes in the colander-type bowls isn’t so different, but the tools I had available were longer cylinders with a tapered cutting edge and handles. Those were certainly easier to hold and push through, but with only one open end, they were a bit harder to get the clay out of, especially in the smaller tubes. This one is a small lemon bowl. I haven’t had any lemons burst into mold since. It’s amazing what a little extra air circulation can do for your kitchen.
My mom really liked the little lemon bowl but wanted a larger one for her fruit so I made this one.
It’s the biggest bowl I’ve made thus far, but curling the feet in wasn’t the best idea. I ended up removing them and I’ll probably glaze something else on for greater stability. And last but not least, remember those carving tips I made to go in my X-ACTO handles? I carved an artichoke bowl. I’m looking forward to seeing how the glaze turns out on this one. The outside should be green and the inside should be white with red or purple streaks.
I was also asked to carve some goldfish, but didn’t throw these two forms myself. These will likely be glazed with a somewhat clear glaze like celadon. It would be nice to get some orange on the fish, but red and orange are difficult to do so we’ll see. Maybe underglaze?
