I have been out of the studio for a little while for various reason but I am now back in the cold garage getting into the swing of things. I have started out making a couple of prototype plates. I know the general design I want for the plates but I have been playing with some small details trying to find the right balance. I changed several parts of the process for making these most recent plates. One of the major changes was that I threw these on bats as opposed to off the hump. I wanted to get a more consisted thickness to the plates and also to be able to leave less clay in the bottom. This allows me to do less trimming which means less reclaim and more spontaneous marks.
Plates are an interesting form to me because although they are not technically difficult to make there are numerous small details that can make or break the pot. I like the sort of routine quality that can come out of such simple pots. When a pot is made up of virtually one plane it brings attention to the smaller details and marks on the surface that you may overlook on other more complicated forms. The quality that I am after with these plates is a sort of fresh spontaneous imperfect look and feel. For me that freshness comes out when things are done quickly but with precision and a knowledge of the marks and amounts of clay you want to leave throughout the pot.
