Funky Functional

Platters Making Workshops

Platters Making, a community clay workshop was presented by Robert Linigen. Robert is an experienced and highly creative Nepean TAFE art teacher who presented with the creative methods to build a clay platter that can later be fired in a professional kiln.

Traditionally, platters have been made by laying a large slab of clay into a large, shallow mold and trimming the edge. Ceramic plates are some of the most functionally useful forms one can make. They also provide wonderful surfaces for artistic expression and creativity and can be combined with throwing techniques. Robert has demonstrated how these creative processes can easily be mastered with some patience.

Presentation on Platters making by Robert Linigen, St Marys Corner Arts and Craft Studios, April 2014.

Wheel throwing demonstrations with Christine Reynolds & Bob Beattie

Ancient ceramics were hand-built using a simple coiling technique in which clay was rolled into long threads that were then pinched and beaten together to form the body of a vessel. In the coiling method of construction, all of the energy required to form the main part of a piece is supplied indirectly by the hands of the potter. 

Fast wheel which operates on the flywheeling principle is the vary basic pottery tool. It uses energy stored in the rotating mass of the wheel itself to speed the process. The fast wheel enables a quick process of pottery-making to develop, called "throwing", in which a lump of clay is placed centrally on the wheel and then squeezed, lifted and shaped as the wheel turned. The process tends to leave rings on the inside of the pot and can be used to create thinner-walled pieces and a wider variety of shapes, including stemmed vessels, so wheel-thrown pottery can be distinguished from handmade.

Christine and Bob engage with members of the community to put this fundamental knowledge into practice making the basic pots.

Wheel throwing demonstrations, free community workshop provided by Bob Beattie, member of Nepean Potters, St Marys Arts and Craft Studios, April 2014.