One of the questions I often ask my students is whether they live with handmade objects. Do they use their own pottery? Sometimes in the beginning, we make a variety of things and give them away, as we are in love with making and just want to keep making. This means, in some ways, we are blind to negative outcomes.
For example, one of my first gifted objects, which survives to this day, is a soap dish built like a clawfoot bathtub. Cute, right? Well, it would be cute and more functional if I had thought to put a drainage hole in it! Luckily it has mostly been used to hold hairbands, from what I’m told.
Anyway, when we observe our space and the functional items in it, handmade or not, we can develop an understanding about why things are made the way they are. When we use things we make, we learn how to make them function better. What a maker is always trying to do is find balance between aesthetic choices (how things look) and the functionality of the object. This is something I still struggle with, especially when developing new forms. There is a give-and-take with some objects, and we learn over time and practice and use where we have wiggle room to make objects interesting and beautiful as well as useful.
This project is my take on what a soap dish should be. It is funky and bizarre, but fun and practical in a weird way. Its design is based on how I use bar soap and my need for a nail brush to get all the clay off my hands—this is always where you should begin a new functional-object investigation: how do you engage with it? We will be incorporating high-fire Kanthal wire to keep the soap from resting in the water that may drip below! Curious? Let’s get started!
Making the Dish
Using a ruler, measure out a shape 4 inches (10 cm) long and 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide on a piece of paper, and cut it out with scissors. This is the template for the soap dish.
Roll out a small, thick slab, about ¾ inch (2 cm) to 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick and a bit bigger than the shape of your footprint/template. Use your template as a guide to cut out the shape. (Use a fettling knife or a needle tool for thicker clay.) Try to keep the edges crisp. Once you’re done, let the slab firm up until it’s soft leather hard.
Using a needle tool, make a line about ½inch (1.3 cm) from the edge all around the top. This will be your guide when using a trimming tool to cut into and dig out a shallow dish. Start someplace mid-wall and gently dig in about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm) to ¼ inch (0.6 cm) deep and make a shallow dish (1). After you are done carving out the dish, use a metal rib and your fingers to clean up the form (2). Let it firm up again to a soft leather hard.
Adding Drainage Holes
Using the blunt end of a wood knife, make an X in the center of the dish. Use a scalpel to cut around the edge of the X shape (3). Remove the cutout and gently squish the X shape to soften the edges (4).
You can cut out any shape you like. I play with using drill bits to make holes. Your form should be close to medium leather hard. Use a ruler to create grid a pattern then use a medium-sized drill bit to create holes at the intersection of the grid. You can attach the drill bits to an actual drill or use your fingers to twist the drill bit into the clay. To create successful, clean drill holes, I have a few tips. You want your clay to be a perfect medium leather hard. If it’s too dry, you run the risk of cracking the clay and punching through to the backside. If it’s too wet, you will get gummy and mushy clay around the holes, and the result is a poorly defined drain. Let your form firm up, and try different stages of dryness. Tip: Make a slab to practice on to avoid mistakes. For any burrs that happen, let the clay dry a little, and then can use a dry paintbrush to clean up the holes.
Shaping the Wire
For this project, I decided to use wire as a perch to rest a nail brush and a small bar of soap. My goal with the wires is that as the soap shrinks through use, it will be able to sit easily on the bed of props.
Gather Kanthal wire, wire snips, and a pair of needle-nose pliers. I suggest testing new materials so you understand how they will react with your clay and glaze and firing method. For this soap dish, the form is glazed and the wire is not.
Tip: I used baling wire to practice making a variety of shapes before I moved on to the Kanthal wire, as it’s inexpensive and usually found at the local hardware store.
Kanthal wire survives the firing well, but it can become a bit brittle, and maybe a bit flaky. Spanning long distances is not recommended. (A heavier gauge will hold up better; in the beginning, try to keep it under a 3-inch (7.6-cm) span.) Your clay will shrink around the wire as it dries and fires, so small cracks can occur, as well as possible breakage. Don’t panic—there are always risks when combining materials, but the more you practice and test, the more you will be able to compensate and have successful outcomes.
There are a variety of patterns and shapes to achieve with your wire and pliers (5). Cut out several pieces of wire and shape them making sure they are all close to the same size, width, and height. As with anything, it takes practice to create consistent bends and shapes. Remember that the wire ends will go about ¼inch (0.6 cm) to ½ inch (1.3 cm) into the clay, so make sure you leave your ends a bit longer.
Using a tiny drill bit, create a series of small holes where the wires will slide into. Or, if your clay is soft enough, gently press the wires into the clay (6). If your holes are a little bigger than the wire, I recommend dipping your wire into some thick slip, which will fill in any gaps in the assembly. If your drill holes feel tight, be careful and press in gently. There is more chance of cracking if the clay is too tight around the wires. (Clay shrinks, but wire does not.) If it feels too tight, gauge up your drill bit, re-drill the holes, and insert a bit of slip. The wetter the clay, the easier it is to insert the wire, but the clay shrinks more. If the clay is leather hard, it has already shrunk a bit. Drilling the holes will help ease any cracking.
Clean up any sharp corners of the form, and use a soft, damp brush to clean up any stray slip or burrs.
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One of the questions I often ask my students is whether they live with handmade objects. Do they use their own pottery? Sometimes in the beginning, we make a variety of things and give them away, as we are in love with making and just want to keep making. This means, in some ways, we are blind to negative outcomes.
For example, one of my first gifted objects, which survives to this day, is a soap dish built like a clawfoot bathtub. Cute, right? Well, it would be cute and more functional if I had thought to put a drainage hole in it! Luckily it has mostly been used to hold hairbands, from what I’m told.
This project is my take on what a soap dish should be. It is funky and bizarre, but fun and practical in a weird way. Its design is based on how I use bar soap and my need for a nail brush to get all the clay off my hands—this is always where you should begin a new functional-object investigation: how do you engage with it? We will be incorporating high-fire Kanthal wire to keep the soap from resting in the water that may drip below! Curious? Let’s get started!
Making the Dish
Using a ruler, measure out a shape 4 inches (10 cm) long and 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide on a piece of paper, and cut it out with scissors. This is the template for the soap dish.
Roll out a small, thick slab, about ¾ inch (2 cm) to 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick and a bit bigger than the shape of your footprint/template. Use your template as a guide to cut out the shape. (Use a fettling knife or a needle tool for thicker clay.) Try to keep the edges crisp. Once you’re done, let the slab firm up until it’s soft leather hard.
Using a needle tool, make a line about ½ inch (1.3 cm) from the edge all around the top. This will be your guide when using a trimming tool to cut into and dig out a shallow dish. Start someplace mid-wall and gently dig in about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm) to ¼ inch (0.6 cm) deep and make a shallow dish (1). After you are done carving out the dish, use a metal rib and your fingers to clean up the form (2). Let it firm up again to a soft leather hard.
Adding Drainage Holes
Using the blunt end of a wood knife, make an X in the center of the dish. Use a scalpel to cut around the edge of the X shape (3). Remove the cutout and gently squish the X shape to soften the edges (4).
You can cut out any shape you like. I play with using drill bits to make holes. Your form should be close to medium leather hard. Use a ruler to create grid a pattern then use a medium-sized drill bit to create holes at the intersection of the grid. You can attach the drill bits to an actual drill or use your fingers to twist the drill bit into the clay. To create successful, clean drill holes, I have a few tips. You want your clay to be a perfect medium leather hard. If it’s too dry, you run the risk of cracking the clay and punching through to the backside. If it’s too wet, you will get gummy and mushy clay around the holes, and the result is a poorly defined drain. Let your form firm up, and try different stages of dryness. Tip: Make a slab to practice on to avoid mistakes. For any burrs that happen, let the clay dry a little, and then can use a dry paintbrush to clean up the holes.
Shaping the Wire
For this project, I decided to use wire as a perch to rest a nail brush and a small bar of soap. My goal with the wires is that as the soap shrinks through use, it will be able to sit easily on the bed of props.
Gather Kanthal wire, wire snips, and a pair of needle-nose pliers. I suggest testing new materials so you understand how they will react with your clay and glaze and firing method. For this soap dish, the form is glazed and the wire is not.
Tip: I used baling wire to practice making a variety of shapes before I moved on to the Kanthal wire, as it’s inexpensive and usually found at the local hardware store.
Kanthal wire survives the firing well, but it can become a bit brittle, and maybe a bit flaky. Spanning long distances is not recommended. (A heavier gauge will hold up better; in the beginning, try to keep it under a 3-inch (7.6-cm) span.) Your clay will shrink around the wire as it dries and fires, so small cracks can occur, as well as possible breakage. Don’t panic—there are always risks when combining materials, but the more you practice and test, the more you will be able to compensate and have successful outcomes.
There are a variety of patterns and shapes to achieve with your wire and pliers (5). Cut out several pieces of wire and shape them making sure they are all close to the same size, width, and height. As with anything, it takes practice to create consistent bends and shapes. Remember that the wire ends will go about ¼ inch (0.6 cm) to ½ inch (1.3 cm) into the clay, so make sure you leave your ends a bit longer.
Using a tiny drill bit, create a series of small holes where the wires will slide into. Or, if your clay is soft enough, gently press the wires into the clay (6). If your holes are a little bigger than the wire, I recommend dipping your wire into some thick slip, which will fill in any gaps in the assembly. If your drill holes feel tight, be careful and press in gently. There is more chance of cracking if the clay is too tight around the wires. (Clay shrinks, but wire does not.) If it feels too tight, gauge up your drill bit, re-drill the holes, and insert a bit of slip. The wetter the clay, the easier it is to insert the wire, but the clay shrinks more. If the clay is leather hard, it has already shrunk a bit. Drilling the holes will help ease any cracking.
Clean up any sharp corners of the form, and use a soft, damp brush to clean up any stray slip or burrs.
Excerpted from The Beginner’s Guide to Hand Building: Functional and Sculptural Projects for the Home Potter by Sunshine Cobb and published by Quarry Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group. To learn more, visit www.quarto.com/books/9780760374764/beginner-s-guide-to-hand-building. See more of Sunshine Cobb’s work online at www.sunshinecobb.com or on Instagram @shinygbird.
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