The most basic of problems with handles:
The "easy" fixes... handle too small and thin for the mug on the left, and too big and bulky for the mug on the right.
A constant problem for anyone making mugs... the crooked handle.
This is a serious debacle for me right now. How do I want to connect the handle to the mug? Messy and different on each mug.
Some other issues in Handles:
This particular shape with the double hump proves to be the most troubling as far as handle shape goes. They are plagued by awkward shape. I think that both spring from the pot at weird angles. They look lifeless and hanging. Another issue: The fact that they seem to need more to hang on to at the bottom, as in a fatter connection. I think that a small coil could resolve this.
Some Good Stuff:
Two different shapes of pots, but I'm pleased with the handle on each. I think that top connection is solid and cleanly done on each. The shape of the handle works well with each pot, however the bottom connection seems weak and needs the interior coil.
I particularly think that the mug on the left has a very nice interior shape, and works very well with the shape of the pot. The left mug is also one of the better handles from the semester.
This mug was darted to make more room for the handle. It has a small spout on the opposite side. Always an issue with pitchers is positioning the handle directly across from the spout, if that's what you desire. I'm a fan of this middle-curve handle. I like the sleekness, that the top of the handle immediately drops downward. I think this sort of handle is hit-or-miss though, as evident in some of my not-so-good handles.
The best of the best and the future...
My 2 favorites from the semester. The left handle was beautifully connected with a nice interior curve, but the same downward drop (with an upward curve) that I desired in the darted mini pitcher. And the right mug has an exaggerated handle that I tried to reproduce many times this semester, but failed to do. (The clay kept ripping.) I feel that the exaggerated mug shape works well with the exaggerated handle. It's just one big exaggeration if I didn't already say exaggeration enough times for you to understand that it's an exaggeration. =) The shape on this mug continues to intrigue me. If done right, it's phenomenal. If done wrong, it's hideous. Now there's an aspiration.
Handles will always be a work in progress for me. I feel like I'm not as detailed oriented as I need to be to make immediate progress with them. I think I get about 1 good one out of 5 made. Hopefully I will force myself to make more mugs next semester in order to get the practice.
Love, from the Ceramics Lab.
Great post. I can't really critique much, as you've taken care of all of that for me. I'm assuming you're pulling the handles straight off the mug, so have you let the clay 'fingers' dry up a little before you attach and pull them? When they rip or ripple on me it's usually when they are too soft. Maybe you've already done it a thousand ways and that is a stupid suggestion...
ReplyDeleteMy one piece of advice is the same advice that Inchin gave me last year and had me work on....you might want to try and thin the edges on some of the handles. For a lot of your shapes the squared off edges to the handles look great, and i wouldn't change a thing, but there are some shapes that i think could call for a thinned out edge. It might cooperate aesthetically with some of the shapes.
But like i said...great post. I might steal it for my classes. :)