Christopher Manning

My technique of altering cylinder shapes into a sea sponge inspired shape has become a favorite of mine. The glaze is cohen red that became blue in the reduction firing.

This was the first vase I made of that size and with the body shape I wanted. The lip is a result of my tendency to throw really thin walls. At first it started as an accident, but I really loved the way the lip was transforming. So, I pulled the lip tighter and with a quick start and stop of the wheel, the shape was done.

Putting the glaze Josh Green over the glaze Josh Blue causes a lot of streaking. I wanted that effect to highlight the imperfections in the lip. It came out better than I could have expected. The Josh family of glazes are always so unique after they are fired. You have to cross your fingers and hope it comes out the kiln like what you had in mind.

Previously, my pottery was never made with function in mind. Mainly, my pieces have been purely artistic or fall into the generic “candle holder” category. Here, I wanted to make pieces that I could use for my ubiquitous drink, water. This is the first set of mugs for that. I wanted to give the mugs over-sized handles so they would feel sturdy in my hand. It is important to note that to achieve this effect, you must make your handles about twice as big as you want them to be since the clay shrinks considerably during the firing. Therefore, the handles are comically large during assembly. I also experimented with foot designs. The gray and orange mugs have three feet. I will continue to make mugs, though, for my water consumption, I have moved to a much large one since I drink so much water.

I made this piece for a friend and it was one of the first pieces I have made with a specific intent. Most of my pieces start with a basic form and are imagined as I create them. Part of the joy of pottery is watching a piece evolve from one basic idea to another more complex shape; the Striated Vessel is a good example of this. It is a good test of throwing skill to make a functional and structurally sound piece from a sketch. The glaze is shaner white with blue mason stain splattered on it. From this, I will incorporate more splatter effects on future pieces since the technique is simple, but gives a unique result.