The first wall pockets I made were out of necessity; I was getting married in my parents’ backyard and wanted to have flowers along the aisle. I wanted to make something simple, beautiful, and functional that I could attach to folding chairs. A hanging wall pocket with fresh-cut flowers worked perfectly. Since then, I have made hundreds of wall pockets, merging the functionality of a hanging vase with my fascination with throwing closed forms. Along the way, I’ve learned about antique wall pockets, such as those made by Roseville Pottery and Weller Pottery in the early 1900s (A), which are popular again as vintage wall décor.
The wall pockets I make are thrown on the wheel as a closed form and then trimmed and altered at the soft leather-hard state. I experimented with different shapes and styles before settling on the form I make now, which has an organic shape reminiscent of a seed pod or cocoon.
Materials
I use a cone-6 white stoneware (RO-14) from Rovin Ceramics in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I glaze fire between cone 5 and 6. I fire down from top temperature and soak my glazes for an hour at 2050°F (1121°C) to get a smooth matte finish. My plaster bats are made of 67% Ceramical and 33% Pottery plaster, and the bat recipe is 500g water to 750g plaster in the ratio above.
Forming
To make a wall pocket, start by centering 1½ pounds (700 g) of clay on a plaster bat (any bat will work). Once the clay is centered, open the ball of clay all the way to the bat. Keep the opening narrow, roughly 1½ inches (3.8 cm) wide at the bat. Leave a skirt of clay about ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick at the bottom of the centered clay and pull up the walls from above the skirt (1). This extra skirt of clay will form the flared rim of the wall pocket.
Pull up a cylinder, being careful to leave the area below the rim sturdy and at least ¼ inch (6.4 mm) thick, so the neck is easier to collar in later. I keep the base area just above the skirt of clay relatively narrow and stretch out the belly of the wall pocket above it (2).
Smooth the profile and compress the outer surface of the belly with a rubber rib as you stretch it. I like the visual profile of this shape in the finished wall pocket, and it also creates a wall pocket opening that holds a small bouquet of flowers. If the base is wider, the finished wall pocket will have a larger opening.
Keep the diameter of the rim narrow while shaping the wall pocket. After shaping the cylinder, remove excess water from the interior with a sponge on a stick. Begin to close the wall pocket form by collaring the neck. Start collaring about 2 inches (5.1 cm) below the rim, using even pressure from your fingers. I start with six points of contact when collaring, with one finger over the rim to keep it compressed (3). Squeeze inward with gentle pressure and move your fingers steadily up the neck to collar it in. Collaring will thicken the walls of your pot, so after each collaring, pull up the thicker neck area to shape the profile and keep the clay tight. Collaring can often make the rim uneven. Use a needle tool to trim it back to flat between pulls (4). As the opening narrows, use just your fingertips to squeeze the neck inward, continuing to run your fingers upward as you collar the rim (5).
The final collaring will seal the wall pocket into a closed form (6). I leave this extra clay as part of the wall pocket shape and texture this stem with heavy throwing lines. It’s also possible to pinch off the excess clay once you close the form and leave the base of the wall pocket rounded. Regardless of final shape, compress the connection point by pressing down on it with your fingers and/or a rib to ensure a good seal.
Clean up the profile of the wall pocket with a rubber rib. Use a wooden knife to trim away excess clay at the bat (7) and then wire off the wall pocket. Set it aside to dry to soft leather hard.
Trimming and Finishing
Once the wall pocket is at a soft leather-hard stage, remove it from the bat and set it on a board to dry for another thirty minutes until the area to trim is soft but no longer sticky. Center a bisque-fired chuck and attach it to the wheel with lugs of clay (8). Lay felt or other soft fabric on the chuck to protect the form. Place the wall pocket in the chuck and gently center it by holding your hands loosely around the neck as the wheel spins. With the wheel spinning, cut away the rough interior of the neck with an X-Acto knife and trim the remainder of the inside (9) and outside of the rim (10).
To shape the wall pocket, gently bend up the rim on the side that will be flattened to fit against a wall (11). Gently tap the entire wall pocket on a cement board or dry wall to flatten one side (12). Smooth and finish the flared rim and use a hole corer to cut a hole in the back for hanging (13). Cut the hole at an upward angle so that it hangs snugly on the wall when finished. Dry the wall pocket to bone dry and bisque fire.
Glazing
I stilt my wall pockets in the glaze firing so that the unglazed areas are not visible. Wax the back of the wall pocket in two areas (see 15). I use soy wax from The Flaming Candle Company, melted at a low temperature in an electric frying pan. Melted beeswax is also an excellent wax resist. Do not use melted paraffin as the fumes are toxic. Cold wax is also an option, but it should be left to dry for a few hours before applying glaze.
Line the inside of the wall pocket with glaze, blocking the hole with a finger, and allow to dry overnight. Dip the outside of the wall pocket (14). I use glaze stilts created by cutting up bisque-fired tiles on a tile saw. You can also throw or handbuild small 1-inch (2.5-cm)-diameter disks about ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick and bisque fire them to use as stilts. Attach the stilts to the back of the glazed wall pocket with melted wax or Elmer’s glue (15).
Sarah Gelsanliter is a studio potter creating unique handmade pottery at One Acre Ceramics in southeastern Michigan. She shares the studio with her husband, Thomas, who is a designer and tile maker. They sell their work at retail stores across the country and through art fairs in the Midwest. For more information, please visit oneacreceramics.comor follow @oneacreceramicson Instagram.
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The first wall pockets I made were out of necessity; I was getting married in my parents’ backyard and wanted to have flowers along the aisle. I wanted to make something simple, beautiful, and functional that I could attach to folding chairs. A hanging wall pocket with fresh-cut flowers worked perfectly. Since then, I have made hundreds of wall pockets, merging the functionality of a hanging vase with my fascination with throwing closed forms. Along the way, I’ve learned about antique wall pockets, such as those made by Roseville Pottery and Weller Pottery in the early 1900s (A), which are popular again as vintage wall décor.
The wall pockets I make are thrown on the wheel as a closed form and then trimmed and altered at the soft leather-hard state. I experimented with different shapes and styles before settling on the form I make now, which has an organic shape reminiscent of a seed pod or cocoon.
Materials
I use a cone-6 white stoneware (RO-14) from Rovin Ceramics in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I glaze fire between cone 5 and 6. I fire down from top temperature and soak my glazes for an hour at 2050°F (1121°C) to get a smooth matte finish. My plaster bats are made of 67% Ceramical and 33% Pottery plaster, and the bat recipe is 500g water to 750g plaster in the ratio above.
Forming
To make a wall pocket, start by centering 1½ pounds (700 g) of clay on a plaster bat (any bat will work). Once the clay is centered, open the ball of clay all the way to the bat. Keep the opening narrow, roughly 1½ inches (3.8 cm) wide at the bat. Leave a skirt of clay about ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick at the bottom of the centered clay and pull up the walls from above the skirt (1). This extra skirt of clay will form the flared rim of the wall pocket.
Pull up a cylinder, being careful to leave the area below the rim sturdy and at least ¼ inch (6.4 mm) thick, so the neck is easier to collar in later. I keep the base area just above the skirt of clay relatively narrow and stretch out the belly of the wall pocket above it (2).
Smooth the profile and compress the outer surface of the belly with a rubber rib as you stretch it. I like the visual profile of this shape in the finished wall pocket, and it also creates a wall pocket opening that holds a small bouquet of flowers. If the base is wider, the finished wall pocket will have a larger opening.
Keep the diameter of the rim narrow while shaping the wall pocket. After shaping the cylinder, remove excess water from the interior with a sponge on a stick. Begin to close the wall pocket form by collaring the neck. Start collaring about 2 inches (5.1 cm) below the rim, using even pressure from your fingers. I start with six points of contact when collaring, with one finger over the rim to keep it compressed (3). Squeeze inward with gentle pressure and move your fingers steadily up the neck to collar it in. Collaring will thicken the walls of your pot, so after each collaring, pull up the thicker neck area to shape the profile and keep the clay tight. Collaring can often make the rim uneven. Use a needle tool to trim it back to flat between pulls (4). As the opening narrows, use just your fingertips to squeeze the neck inward, continuing to run your fingers upward as you collar the rim (5).
The final collaring will seal the wall pocket into a closed form (6). I leave this extra clay as part of the wall pocket shape and texture this stem with heavy throwing lines. It’s also possible to pinch off the excess clay once you close the form and leave the base of the wall pocket rounded. Regardless of final shape, compress the connection point by pressing down on it with your fingers and/or a rib to ensure a good seal.
Clean up the profile of the wall pocket with a rubber rib. Use a wooden knife to trim away excess clay at the bat (7) and then wire off the wall pocket. Set it aside to dry to soft leather hard.
Trimming and Finishing
Once the wall pocket is at a soft leather-hard stage, remove it from the bat and set it on a board to dry for another thirty minutes until the area to trim is soft but no longer sticky. Center a bisque-fired chuck and attach it to the wheel with lugs of clay (8). Lay felt or other soft fabric on the chuck to protect the form. Place the wall pocket in the chuck and gently center it by holding your hands loosely around the neck as the wheel spins. With the wheel spinning, cut away the rough interior of the neck with an X-Acto knife and trim the remainder of the inside (9) and outside of the rim (10).
To shape the wall pocket, gently bend up the rim on the side that will be flattened to fit against a wall (11). Gently tap the entire wall pocket on a cement board or dry wall to flatten one side (12). Smooth and finish the flared rim and use a hole corer to cut a hole in the back for hanging (13). Cut the hole at an upward angle so that it hangs snugly on the wall when finished. Dry the wall pocket to bone dry and bisque fire.
Glazing
I stilt my wall pockets in the glaze firing so that the unglazed areas are not visible. Wax the back of the wall pocket in two areas (see 15). I use soy wax from The Flaming Candle Company, melted at a low temperature in an electric frying pan. Melted beeswax is also an excellent wax resist. Do not use melted paraffin as the fumes are toxic. Cold wax is also an option, but it should be left to dry for a few hours before applying glaze.
Line the inside of the wall pocket with glaze, blocking the hole with a finger, and allow to dry overnight. Dip the outside of the wall pocket (14). I use glaze stilts created by cutting up bisque-fired tiles on a tile saw. You can also throw or handbuild small 1-inch (2.5-cm)-diameter disks about ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick and bisque fire them to use as stilts. Attach the stilts to the back of the glazed wall pocket with melted wax or Elmer’s glue (15).
Sarah Gelsanliter is a studio potter creating unique handmade pottery at One Acre Ceramics in southeastern Michigan. She shares the studio with her husband, Thomas, who is a designer and tile maker. They sell their work at retail stores across the country and through art fairs in the Midwest. For more information, please visit oneacreceramics.com or follow @oneacreceramics on Instagram.
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