Setting the Rim of Clay Pottery Bowls

Video Transcript

"The next step after shaping the bowl is working on the rim and I call that setting the rim. When I set the rim I want to make sure that my fingers are wet and I'm just going to hold it a little bit like that. I'm going to take the sponge and I'm going to curve it and I might push it out a little bit and when I do that it just gives you a little place to put your finger underneath and it just balances the bowl. Typically you are going to leave your lip a little bit thicker then the rest of your bowl for balance. Now because I'm working in porcelain I have a very very buttery smooth surface so one of the nice things to do is use the softest part of your hands and that would be right in here and that will really soften up that edge nicely. I can also just push down with my finger just to bring it out a little bit and then go back with this part of my in between my fingers. Now that softens the edge and I really like to have my pots look soft cause this clay this porcelain is so soft and if I have really soft edges it looks, it just looks really hard and it is nice to have something soft in your hands. So one of the things that I make it look even softer is I alter the rim and I put my fingers just on 4 sides of the pot. I just make these finger marks and this gives it a little bit more movement. Movement is really nice too cause your wheel is moving so I want to show how I make the pot. That it is a moving thing as it is made, it is not made by some machine, it is not just something that you can just buy tones of reproductions each one is individual and each one has its own character. What I'm doing now is just pulling out a little bit and that is even making it more soft that is called altering. "