Dogtooth Dogbowls - Handbuilding

Overconfident after going through ceramics induction, the first clay I bought from the school’s store was porcelain. I figured I’m already fantastic at using stoneware bodies, so I should go ahead and try more difficult materials…

This is how far I got into slab building with it until I gave up and tore it all up to turn into slip.

The picture might not show it, but it was falling apart, like melting. The first step in slab building is to make big slabs and let them dry out, but with porcelain, the outside of the slab dries out enough but the inside is somehow still to wet to hold itself together to other pieces. I’m probably either going to use the slip for casting, or depending on the next project, dry it out for wheel throwing, as it seems unsuitable for any kind of handbuilding.

As I was making the porcelain version, I also realized I had to slab build differently than I usually do because I usually connect them corner-to-corner, cutting each edge diagonally, but the bowls won’t fit together like that. So each side has to be connected at the base from the top of it, and the container for both of them should be connected at the sides of the base.

Obviously, the stoneware was easier to build with. I did have trouble with how it dried—the narrow interior edges made it difficult to make sure everything was sealed off, and I’m pretty sure there’s a corner that’s going to crack in the kiln. I think it’s small enough/big enough I can fill it with something to repair it.

The edges of each bowl don’t perfectly align, which is fine since I have to put glaze on it, and it needs to be able to took out easily-ish, but I’m worried that it looks too wonky. I’m hoping the bisque-fire warps it enough so that they might fit neater together. I’ll also have to sand all the faces of it—it was too fragile at every stage to take off the shavings before its bisque fired.