I often get asked which technique I prefer. I usually respond with, "Any of them, as long as I don't spend a long time working with it".  Every long production gets draining after a while and I often feel the need to rotate in between techniques, them being wheel throwing, mold making or hand-building. 

My main production technique is done by wheel throwing; by the speed I can achieve new shapes and the quantity of products I can have in the kiln by the end of a week, it's amazing. Mold making is saved for those projects where the specifics are so detailed, I need to get the shape replicated as similarly as possible. Different from what many might think, mold making is not faster or a way to cut corners, it involves a lot of technicalities and practice. It takes time to put together and develop properly. But we'll get to that another time. 

Hand-building is something I long for after a long period of producing something repetitive; it's my escape from long projects with a lot of specifications. I get to freely build shapes that I sort of have a plan for in the back of my mind, knowing that it will never come through exactly like I predicted. 

If for wheel throwing and mold making I get excited over the amount of control I have, for hand building I get excited that I'll lose control along the way, and the final result will become somehow different from what I anticipated. 



This kind of vase, for instance, is built layer by layer in a coiling technique. The shape comes together as I go; it also needs some time in between to settle, breathe, and dry so it doesn't collapse. So I must follow the rhythm it imposes. The shape forms organically; any small inclination, the next layer should follow its course. 

With this kind of technique, unpredictability is common, so my expectation of seeing these bigger pieces getting out of the kiln alive is little. I hand build for the enjoyment of it; so it became my self-soothing time at the studio whenever I get the chance to make one of these projects.

Slowly forming a shape, not knowing for sure what will come out of it, taking time to see it come alive. Sometimes I think, isn't that what it should always be all about?! 

For some pieces, including this one, I begin the base on the wheel and then complete the rest through hand-building. In an ideal world, I’d combine these two techniques more often and make a habit of working with both in a more integrated way. 

Would this bring my most loved techniques into balance? Perhaps it would open a more natural dialogue between them. At a time when I feel called to rethink my process, it feels inspiring to explore that possibility.

This beauty is available for purchase at the studio. 
Price: 245€
Specs: Stoneware 
             6,1 kg
             ↑49 cm x ↔43 cm