And the Next Step...

Ideas develop for me, in steps.

I've been making  these heart-shaped bowls.

They started as a form, a modification of round bowls. Very quickly, though, I thought one could be an anniversary present. For that, the bowl needs some surface to write on and to read easily, perhaps a flattened rim. And a color contrast for text and background. Realizing any idea brings up its new requirements. And there are always many possible solutions (carve the text? paint it? What tools make text legible and attractive?). So far it's this:

And what next? Do I want to make them for other people? As wedding gifts? Anniversary gifts? Birth gifts? Celebration of any other love?

And what other requirements will that set up? A deadline, since these celebrate a date. Extra bowls with no use, as I usually make more than one of any special order piece (because "things" go wrong).

It's an exploration, always.

From the Circle to ?

Wheel-thrown pottery starts round.

At least that is the intention. Not always successful.

Ouch, the flange on the lid of this mug or the mug rim warped so they do not fit together.


 After a while, many potters find roundness a bit boring or over-predictable, and look for ways to modify that form. I am still looking for smooth and simple shapes, and so mostly modify the rim of my pots. The latest are heart shapes, at least as seen from the top.

From other angles, they produce all sorts of odd forms. Even better.

I've tried other distortions of the round in the past.

Just a spout on a mixing bowl for pouring.

A carved rim.

A squared circle.

Or a squashed circle and added parts to make something else.

All are fun and some please me a lot, but the hearts have something special about them. Maybe it's the other shapes that the modified rim produces in the rest of the bowl. Maybe the added potential is in the symbolic meanings of the form.