After completing one wheel-throwing pottery course, I was desperate to do more. So, to begin my second pottery course, I planned the pieces that I wanted to make during the next six weeks.
Though I didn’t complete all of these ideas during the course, I was able to make a few of them while trying out new techniques.
I tried replicating forms…
Experimenting with new glazes…
And dealt with miscalculating the shrinkage of my clay body once fired…
These white bowls were supposed to be large salad/soup bowls, but they shrank significantly in the firing process, so they are now smaller serving bowls.
Similarly, I made this mug specifically for brewing tea. It was the first handle I made, and I love how the mug looks, but once it came out of the kiln, it only holds about 5 ounces of liquid…
I’m not actually mad about these pieces because they are still functional, and it’s all part of the learning process, but I need to be more diligent about overestimating the sizes of pieces when I am throwing.
Another challenge with this course was finding a way to make texture effective, like on this garlic grater/herb stripper.
Overall, my second pottery class let me try new forms and taught me to embrace mistakes.
Grace Lentz 
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