VanTiki Mugs: Octopus Time Lapse - Other Crafts

V VanTiki Member Hawaii Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 1046	V VanTiki Posted posted on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 10:29 AM Mahalo for the compliments! Moon Dog - You are FAR too kind! :) As far as assembly techniques - most of my mugs are assembled with a variety of cut slabs or pinched spheres. Very basic hand-building stuff. For my larger mugs I'll build the main form over a PVC pipe for support during assembly. I did use paper patterns when I was repeating mug styles (when I started a year or so ago I offered several types of mugs that I built over and over for people). Since I've switching to one-of-a-kind mugs I still use paper patterns to rough things out - I have some thick card stock and some sizzors by my clay table that I'll use to test out ideas before cutting the clay. As far as a book, there are a ton of great handbuilding books out there - I wouldn't have anything new to add! :) As for the day job - I enjoy that too. I work out of my house doing animation and illustration - a nice creative balance! You can see some of my day job efforts at http://www.bigdtv.com Sam - So glad you like my work! I always get nervous when a clay professional checks out my mugs! The clay you describe sounds great! My mugs are actually all high fire (cone 5-6, and the pickled heads are cone 10). I do use a lot of underglazes on them, as I feel the bright colors fit into the tiki-pop style. I'd love to see some of your stuff - where can I check it out? Mahalo, Henrik "VanTiki"

Mahalo for the compliments!

Moon Dog -
You are FAR too kind! :) As far as assembly techniques - most of my mugs are assembled with a variety of cut slabs or pinched spheres. Very basic hand-building stuff. For my larger mugs I'll build the main form over a PVC pipe for support during assembly. I did use paper patterns when I was repeating mug styles (when I started a year or so ago I offered several types of mugs that I built over and over for people). Since I've switching to one-of-a-kind mugs I still use paper patterns to rough things out - I have some thick card stock and some sizzors by my clay table that I'll use to test out ideas before cutting the clay. As far as a book, there are a ton of great handbuilding books out there - I wouldn't have anything new to add! :)

As for the day job - I enjoy that too. I work out of my house doing animation and illustration - a nice creative balance! You can see some of my day job efforts at http://www.bigdtv.com

Sam - So glad you like my work! I always get nervous when a clay professional checks out my mugs! The clay you describe sounds great! My mugs are actually all high fire (cone 5-6, and the pickled heads are cone 10). I do use a lot of underglazes on them, as I feel the bright colors fit into the tiki-pop style. I'd love to see some of your stuff - where can I check it out?

Mahalo,
Henrik "VanTiki"

Post #349315 by VanTiki on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 10:29 AM