The bowl above has a much wider body and a smaller foot. The bowl below is smaller in body but a much more substantial foot. The foot is not the easiest thing for me. The trimming of a pot is as much of a distinct skill as throwing is. The bowl below I burnished the outside, I am uncertain how much of this will be noted after the final fire. It is a low fire technique... I may glaze only the inside and keep the outside "raw" just to preserve the texture.
I hope these bowls have a "feel" to them. I don't talk too much about it, almost because I am uncertain how to create the right words. But a good pot, especially functional ware, has a sense of balance that is quite literal one of balanced weight that can be felt with the hands.
But balance goes, of course, beyond this. There is a sense that the pot is simply "right". The weight, the texture and even the way the food or liquid moves in the pot.
So the foot and rim hold a lot of importance, disproportionate to the body. The top and bottom draw the eye and create the balance of weight. Rolling the pot in your hand for use, such has holding the bowl or cup, the extremities literally offer or violate a felt sense of balance.
Ok but beyond this, I want the pot to feel like it has, movement. Energy. It seems silly to say this but this is the idea and the pots I make that I really like, have this. The saturday I created these bowls as well as the container from the last post, a buddy said he liked my bowls because they had movement and energy...
It was nice to have someone who I never articulated this to, saw what I was attempting to convey. The body, and all pots echo the human body at times in an almost blatant sexual manner, contains movement and life... At least in the good pots.
So not all the pots are good pots, some are dead and deformed and mutant in unfun and uninspired ways. But some, even or especially with random flaws, have life.
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