Victoria Thompson Ceramics

Throwing Off the Hump Over the next few weeks I’m planning to focus on improving my throwing technique, with the aim of producing more consistent and thoughtfully considered forms. Rob suggested that it would be a good idea to learn how to throw off the hump . This method is extremely efficient, particularly in terms of reducing the amount of time spent wedging and centering individual pieces of clay. Instead, a large mound of clay is centred once, and multiple smaller forms

The spontaneous jug has now been fired, and I am very pleased with the results. The surface has developed exactly the kind of layered quality I had hoped for, giving the piece a real sense of depth and history. The red did not work quite as well as expected and appears only in a few places. However, this doesn’t detract from the overall finish. If anything, the subtlety of the colour adds a little unpredictability to the surface, which suits the spontaneous nature of the piec

The Box of Secrets – Finished at Last The Box of Secrets stoneware box is finally finished. The journey to the final result, however, involved a few unexpected twists along the way. After the second transparent glaze firing, I was initially quite disappointed. The layered slips appeared very flat and seemed to detract from the texture of the twig-moulded clay rather than highlighting it. The pink slip, in particular, fired to an unattractive colour that didn’t complement the