Christopher Manning

This piece represents a few experiments for me. This was the first time I was throwing with porcelain, so I tried to make a very basic shape to make sure I get an understanding of how it reacts differently than stoneware. Secondly, it was a test palette for my idea of texturing. What you see on the bottom is actually a negative impression of the glaze after I affixed drywall tape to the piece, applied glaze, and removed it leaving a grid-like impression. The upper ring was achieved by putting two pieces of masking tape on the piece and painting glaze between it.

One of my main motivators for starting to work with porcelain was how much I loved the clean and homogeneous surface of glazes on top of porcelain. I meant this to be an example of that by combining a simple design and glaze in a very precise manner.

This is another example of using masking tape to create a dramatic contrast between the clay body and the glaze. When using this technique it is really important to let the glaze dry as much as possible before you remove the tape. This will give you a much cleaner line after you remove the tape and will prevent the glaze from cracking off as you pull off the tape.

I have noticed that I don’t use my pottery functionally. Mostly, it just looks good. When I was sifting through my pieces to see if I had anything that I could use functionally, this piece presented itself. I really love the stark contrast between the inside and outside glaze. The texture on the outside provides an easy grip and the lip is suitable for drinking. This piece also has the distinction of most intriguing glaze surface. Once glaze has been fired it is very similar to glass. This beautifully illustrates that with the sharding you see in the texture. Surprises out of the kiln like this can be the greatest gift you can get from making pottery.