New class, new tips

New pottery class met last night, and it was great--a large group and a really excellent teacher. Turns out a number of us are interested in sgraffito (though sadly all the others are 'modernists'), AND the teacher does sgraffito pretty regularly. She did a plate throwing demo, and before cutting it off the wheel she poured rather thick slip (almost batter consistency) onto the center of the plate and spread it around with a brush and then a thin metal rib. The wheel was still spinning the whole time. This technique is MUCH faster than brushing on many layers (which is what I've been doing) and gives a significantly smoother looking result. Another nice part was she brought the slip to the inside border of the rim, but left the rim itself uncovered--what a shortcut for when I want to do a piece with a thick band of original color clay at the outside! The only piece I made last night was a deep footed bowl, and getting the slip to distribute itself evenly was a bit of a challenge. I'll definitely be doing more with that technique. Laura (the teacher) did warn me, though, that pouring slip onto the piece while it's on the wheel doesn't work so well with shallow bowls--which are unfortunately common in Byzantine pottery--because the weight and the wetness can too easily overwhelm the body of the bowl and cause it to collapse. Laura has also promised to teach me how to carve more cleanly (thank goodness). And as at least one of my classmates wants to work on teapots I may have a chance to try a spouted pitcher--there's a lovely/slightly scary looking one I've seen in a photo from either Athens or Thessoloniki that really makes me think of an octopus. I'd love to make one like that some day!