Clay Trays!!!

Inspired by some wonderful Japanese ceramic trays I had seen years ago, I decided to make these sweet serving trays as a class demonstration last week. I began by rolling out slabs and extruding a variety of coils. I textured the slabs with some stamps I had made and then cut out the various shapes I wanted the trays to be. I added the extruded coils to the perimeter of the slabs to create the edges of each tray. One trick I showed my students was how to cut a round coil in half by placing two strips of wood half the thickness of the coil on either side of the coil and then resting a wire cutter on the wood and cutting through the coil lengthwise (see picture). This will give you a half-round coil which can be used for an interesting edge. On one of the trays I curled a flat extrusion to create handles, scoring them onto each side of the tray. By weeks end, I completed a variety of trays and now I'm thinking of making sets that fit in one another...you may see those pear shaped trays in sets of 2 or 3!!

Again thanks to Norma for taking great pics of each step!

Juicer Demo

The first week back to class for the summer session and I began with a demonstration on how to make a juicer. What I really like about this design is that it has a catch bowl to collect the juice, a built in strainer, and a spout for pouring. I've seen them before, but I've never attempted one like this so I just had to do it!
First, I threw the juicer part which is hollow and made sure I made a little reservoir for the juice and seeds to collect. I measured carefully with my calipers the diameter of the lip of the juicer top. I then threw the bowl shape with a 'gallery' to hold the juicer making sure the measurement was accurate for a tight fit. I finished it off by trimming the underside of the juicer part when it was leather hard, carving the grooves in the dome shape, and drilling holes in the bottom curve to enable the juice to drain out and hopefully leave the seeds behind! I added a handle and spout to the bowl. Both the spout and handle were made from slabs and scored and attached in place. A section from the side of the bowl was cut out to enable the juice to pour from the bowl. Here are the step by step pictures. Will be using this in a few months when there are lemons galore!! A huge thank you to Norma for taking some great pictures!