Most of the time I don't know how I am going to alter a piece until I do it. I look at the form, turn on some loud music and just dig in. For me the process is very improvisational. I make it up as I go.
Here is a "blank" covered jar. It has been trimmed and is at a firm leather hard state.
I decided to start carving at the bottom of the piece. I work on pots upside down all the time.
I was able to carve the continuous spiral by using my banding wheel and a small wire loop tool. I used the corner of a square wooden drawer knob to pierce the bottom foot in 5 places.
Next I moved to the lid. I used two wire loop tools to carve the outer pattern. Then I used the round end of a broken off TV antenna to hammer the pebble pattern. It seemed like a good idea to pierce the rim of the lid in 5 places too.
I liked the 5 cuts in the rim and the foot. That lead me to divide the jar's middle section into 5 sections too. After that I decided to create vines. The cuts echo the pattern on the lid.
I used a fine wire loop tool to refine the edges of the leaves. Next I decided to pick up the pebble pattern over the surface. The vines popped out as a result.
These are small clay spirals. I made them by pushing clay balls into a little bisque mold of a button.
I scored the surface of the pot with a knife before I applied the clay spiral. The underside of the spiral is scored too. They are joined together with distilled white vinegar (which I prefer to slip).
I threw 5 different knobs so I would have lots of options. I will use the extra knobs for other pieces.
After looking at the jar with all 5 knobs I choose this one. Here is the completed jar with the knob in place.
A top view.
The textures look gorgeous at this stage while the clay is still leather hard.
