Three New Teapots

These three teapots came out of the small soda last week. I love that little kiln. It's easy to fire and I know where all the sweet spots are. Since I make three different types of work; pottery, tile and sculpture, my studio time can get a little frustrating because I can't focus on one thing.

Lately I've been paying attention to how making sculpture can influence the aesthetics of my pottery. It used to be that when I laid down clay, I'd grab small bits and add some and then add a little more. I'm getting to the point now where I put the clay down with abandon. If a little clay makes the dog look fatter and the strap tighter then more clay is better. This new sense of artistic freedom has helped with these teapots. The earlier ones had handles that were just an even strap from one end to the other. When I put these handles on I thought, "if more is better on the dog sculpture, then more will be better on the teapot handle". That's why the handle is fatter at the base and the top. I think it looks more interesting and it's much more comfortable to hold. When I'm making one body of work it's directly contributing to the other.

One of these teapots will be going to "Teapots that Pour" an invitational show in St Louis at the Xen Gallery. I'm not sure which one will go, I'm leaning towards the one on the right, but the one on the left went into the kiln as the favorite. We'll see, I'm still debating.