The covered trays I make are the byproduct of my stubborn need to push processes beyond the obvious in an effort to make complex forms that amuse me. In my work, I see abstract combinations of the urban environment I grew up in, the nuance of aging industrial architecture, juxtaposed by the rural expanse and Midwest agricultural landscape where I now reside. I am inspired by reflected light and cast-shadow shapes that are fleeting and often underappreciated in whatever environment or space I happen to be in and keep a sketchbook of idea drawings and photographs.
The wheel has always been my tool of choice, and I can quickly flesh out a volume as a starting point, and then the creative process of asking “What if?” and “What else?” leads me down a road of improvisational variations. I find the subtle curves remain even after I introduce angles and structure through altering. I do consider these to be utilitarian and my hope is that they speak about space and exist in domestic environments where users consider and experience them in a tactile way.
Design Construction
Essentially, two forms are created separately and nest together through a combination of wheelwork and handbuilding. Visually, the challenge is making the two individual forms look as though they belong together. Technically, the challenge is getting them to actually fit or key together. The keying process displayed in this tutorial is only one exploration I have tried and used. Creating a paper template will aid in getting the lid and tray to line up as you are flipping parts upside down and right side up to make additions. I like to use tracing paper for this.
When I’m making my work, I examine it from many angles and intuitively respond to the planes and edges to see what it needs to make it feel unified. Seeing the two pieces together is key to being able to make any fine-tuned adjustments. Look for themes that you can repeat for a cohesive look. I am always trying to set myself up for what might come next in the designing of the piece and the decisions that will ultimately come with the surface treatment.
Creating the Form
Throw a 2½ pound (1.13 kg) cylinder with no floor. The cylinder should be consistent in thickness and slightly tapered with a thick upper rim (1). Mark the lid very lightly with a wire to note where the corners/bends will be (2). Next, flood the bat with water. This will allow the form walls to slide and move once a wire is run underneath. Using both hands, alter the form into a shape with corners (3), like a square or rectangle, or an organic shape. Mop up the extra water off the bat and wait for the form to stiffen a bit.
Creating a Template
Now, flip the cylinder form over and, using a piece of tracing paper, make a template of the base by marking the inside and outside edges with a pencil (4). This will be the template for a tray that accurately fits the lid. Additionally, make a registration mark on both the paper and the clay form (5). Next, cut out the outer profile of the template, then use the template to cut a slab for the tray (6). Trace the base markings and the registration marks through the tracing paper. This will become the underneath side of the tray (7).
Forming the Tray
Set the lid on the slab, flange edge down. Flip the lid cylinder back over (using bats), so the slab drapes the cylinder to form a nesting relationship. Using a soft rib or sponge, coax the slab down into a slight curve but try to keep the outer edge somewhat flat (8). Use the template again on what will be the top of the tray to register the marks that indicate the flange area where the lid will sit (9).
Once the tray slab is slightly stiffer, flip it over onto a piece of foam and attach a foot, which is made from strips of slab. Score and slip all connections, including the corners, and watch for slip squishing out of the joint areas, which means there is a good connection (10). After the slip has equalized for a few minutes, clean up the seams with a stiff brush or stick.
Altering the Lid
Moving back to the altered cylinder. The upper profile of the lid can now be cut to the desired shape (11). You can use a paper template to help with symmetry and confidence with edge marking and cutting. Next, cut several slabs (two horizontal and one vertical for this lid) and attach them to the top by scoring and slipping to enclose the lid form (12).
Clean up inside seams with a dry, coarse-bristled paintbrush. Trim the outer seams and planes with a Surform tool to the desired depth (13). Next, use a serrated rib to refine and texturize the lid, (14). Place the lid on the tray and run a pointed wooden tool around the edge of the lid to define its space on the tray.
Create key holes in the lower edge of the lid with a drill bit, but don’t go all the way through (15). Score the tray where the corners of the lid will make contact, add small balls of clay to the corners on the tray, then place the lid on top to register marks where the lid and tray will lock together (16). Tip: Dust with cornstarch to help prevent sticking. Then, wipe away extra clay on the tray and clean up the fit.
Reunite the two forms. Make several cuts to the attached slabs and the tray to add character to the lid, then turn and read the form to decide on a good handle solution. In this case, I am adding a block piece for the handle that repeats other characteristics of the form (17).
Finally, I pre-drill holes where I will epoxy heavy wire after the glaze firing (18). I dry the pieces together slowly.
Surface
I incorporate references to the passing of time and subtle decay. Depth of surface is achieved through heavy scraping and texturizing, and then applying surface layers: terra sigillata (at bone dry then bisque to 06), underglaze wash (watered down underglaze), color-blocked underglaze, and glaze. All of this happens on the red, toothy canvas of Laguna SB Red clay. I use masking tape and/or wax to get crisp edges. The pieces don’t have a predetermined surface plan, rather I respond at each stage to the cues I left earlier in the process. Ultimately, I glaze fire the work to cone 5 with a slow cool for a satiny surface.
Veronica Watkins resides on a hilltop cattle ranch in Maryville, Missouri, where she takes care of her family, maintains a studio practice, and is an associate professor of ceramics at Northwest Missouri State University. Her work has been exhibited in regional, national, and international shows. Learn more at veronicawatkins.comand on Instagram @vlwatkinspottery.
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The covered trays I make are the byproduct of my stubborn need to push processes beyond the obvious in an effort to make complex forms that amuse me. In my work, I see abstract combinations of the urban environment I grew up in, the nuance of aging industrial architecture, juxtaposed by the rural expanse and Midwest agricultural landscape where I now reside. I am inspired by reflected light and cast-shadow shapes that are fleeting and often underappreciated in whatever environment or space I happen to be in and keep a sketchbook of idea drawings and photographs.
The wheel has always been my tool of choice, and I can quickly flesh out a volume as a starting point, and then the creative process of asking “What if?” and “What else?” leads me down a road of improvisational variations. I find the subtle curves remain even after I introduce angles and structure through altering. I do consider these to be utilitarian and my hope is that they speak about space and exist in domestic environments where users consider and experience them in a tactile way.
Design Construction
Essentially, two forms are created separately and nest together through a combination of wheelwork and handbuilding. Visually, the challenge is making the two individual forms look as though they belong together. Technically, the challenge is getting them to actually fit or key together. The keying process displayed in this tutorial is only one exploration I have tried and used. Creating a paper template will aid in getting the lid and tray to line up as you are flipping parts upside down and right side up to make additions. I like to use tracing paper for this.
When I’m making my work, I examine it from many angles and intuitively respond to the planes and edges to see what it needs to make it feel unified. Seeing the two pieces together is key to being able to make any fine-tuned adjustments. Look for themes that you can repeat for a cohesive look. I am always trying to set myself up for what might come next in the designing of the piece and the decisions that will ultimately come with the surface treatment.
Creating the Form
Throw a 2½ pound (1.13 kg) cylinder with no floor. The cylinder should be consistent in thickness and slightly tapered with a thick upper rim (1). Mark the lid very lightly with a wire to note where the corners/bends will be (2). Next, flood the bat with water. This will allow the form walls to slide and move once a wire is run underneath. Using both hands, alter the form into a shape with corners (3), like a square or rectangle, or an organic shape. Mop up the extra water off the bat and wait for the form to stiffen a bit.
Creating a Template
Now, flip the cylinder form over and, using a piece of tracing paper, make a template of the base by marking the inside and outside edges with a pencil (4). This will be the template for a tray that accurately fits the lid. Additionally, make a registration mark on both the paper and the clay form (5). Next, cut out the outer profile of the template, then use the template to cut a slab for the tray (6). Trace the base markings and the registration marks through the tracing paper. This will become the underneath side of the tray (7).
Forming the Tray
Set the lid on the slab, flange edge down. Flip the lid cylinder back over (using bats), so the slab drapes the cylinder to form a nesting relationship. Using a soft rib or sponge, coax the slab down into a slight curve but try to keep the outer edge somewhat flat (8). Use the template again on what will be the top of the tray to register the marks that indicate the flange area where the lid will sit (9).
Once the tray slab is slightly stiffer, flip it over onto a piece of foam and attach a foot, which is made from strips of slab. Score and slip all connections, including the corners, and watch for slip squishing out of the joint areas, which means there is a good connection (10). After the slip has equalized for a few minutes, clean up the seams with a stiff brush or stick.
Altering the Lid
Moving back to the altered cylinder. The upper profile of the lid can now be cut to the desired shape (11). You can use a paper template to help with symmetry and confidence with edge marking and cutting. Next, cut several slabs (two horizontal and one vertical for this lid) and attach them to the top by scoring and slipping to enclose the lid form (12).
Clean up inside seams with a dry, coarse-bristled paintbrush. Trim the outer seams and planes with a Surform tool to the desired depth (13). Next, use a serrated rib to refine and texturize the lid, (14). Place the lid on the tray and run a pointed wooden tool around the edge of the lid to define its space on the tray.
Create key holes in the lower edge of the lid with a drill bit, but don’t go all the way through (15). Score the tray where the corners of the lid will make contact, add small balls of clay to the corners on the tray, then place the lid on top to register marks where the lid and tray will lock together (16). Tip: Dust with cornstarch to help prevent sticking. Then, wipe away extra clay on the tray and clean up the fit.
Reunite the two forms. Make several cuts to the attached slabs and the tray to add character to the lid, then turn and read the form to decide on a good handle solution. In this case, I am adding a block piece for the handle that repeats other characteristics of the form (17).
Finally, I pre-drill holes where I will epoxy heavy wire after the glaze firing (18). I dry the pieces together slowly.
Surface
I incorporate references to the passing of time and subtle decay. Depth of surface is achieved through heavy scraping and texturizing, and then applying surface layers: terra sigillata (at bone dry then bisque to 06), underglaze wash (watered down underglaze), color-blocked underglaze, and glaze. All of this happens on the red, toothy canvas of Laguna SB Red clay. I use masking tape and/or wax to get crisp edges. The pieces don’t have a predetermined surface plan, rather I respond at each stage to the cues I left earlier in the process. Ultimately, I glaze fire the work to cone 5 with a slow cool for a satiny surface.
Veronica Watkins resides on a hilltop cattle ranch in Maryville, Missouri, where she takes care of her family, maintains a studio practice, and is an associate professor of ceramics at Northwest Missouri State University. Her work has been exhibited in regional, national, and international shows. Learn more at veronicawatkins.com and on Instagram @vlwatkinspottery.
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