Ellen
Shankin presented the February 16 and 17, 2013 workshop for the Clay
Matters Pottery Guild. She is a functional potter,
throwing stoneware pots and firing in a gas reduction kiln.
Ellen
demonstrated the throwing, trimming and shaping of pitchers, soy bottles, platters,
plates, salad bowls and salt and pepper sets. All pots began on the wheel
and were formed with basic tools: a metal rib, a slice of sponge, a wooden
knife, some chamois and a fishing line cut off tool. Ellen never
uses a needle tool and she throws without splash pan, no need for
one. When it came time to trim she did have one special tool which
she unwrapped from its roll of protective padding, her precious Bison trim
tool. After trimming Ellen patiently refined the pot with rasp and
paddle to achieve her concepts of volume and contour.
One
technique she used which was new to me was the making of a second cut in
cutting off a piece which was thrown off the hump. She cut the piece off
the hump and then added a second lower cut, forming a clay bat. She
then lifted the piece off the hump by picking up that protective bat of
clay.
You
can read an article by Ellen Shankin in the current issue of Studio
Potter. She writes about her interest in Ba Gua, an
"internal" martial art dealing with breathing and
posture. Ellen invites us all to visit her in Floyd, Virginia
during the 16 Hands Studio Tour on May 4th and 5th. Or you might
like to join her in Tuscany for two weeks in the summer. This summer
is filled but you could get on her list for the summer of 2014.
To see more photos of the workshop, check out the photo page.
Once again it's time for our Spring Pottery Festival. 
