The Puffy Handle - Sandi Pierantozzi Demonstrates a Great Alternative to a Pulled Handle Add volume to your forms with a puffy handle! Sandi Pierantozzi

Pulled handles are lovely, but they are not the only option for creating great handles on your pottery. With a little imagination and skill, you can make successful handles in a multitude of ways. 

Our good friend Sandi Pierantozzi, who is not lacking in the imagination or the skills department, returns today with a great idea for an alternative to the pulled handle. In this clip, an excerpt from her video, What if? Explorations with Texture and Soft Slabs, Sandi shares the technique for making her "puffy" handles. Enjoy! - Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

This clip was excerpted from What if? Explorations with Texture and Soft Slabs, which is available in the Ceramic Arts Network Shop.

A Handle Should Be No Longer/Larger Than It Needs To Be

A good side handle on a cup, mug, pitcher, or teapot should not stick out from the form any further than it has to in order to fit one, two, three, or four fingers (your choice) without your knuckles touching the surface of the vessel. Or to put it in more practical terms, a side handle should never move the hand further from the center of gravity than is necessary.

Attaching Handles to Forms

Rather than attaching handles to forms when they are really wet, some artists allow the handle to set up so its moisture content is equivalent to the cup it’s being attached to. Finish the piece by scoring and slipping the areas of attachment on both the handle and the cup and join the two. Cleans up any visible slip or excess clay from the scoring, being careful not to overwork the handle or the area of attachment.

To see learn more about Sandi Pierrantozi and see more images of her work, check out her website https://www.sandiandneil.com/.

**First published in 2012.