Should have responded to this in the previous post. There is no question about it. You are absolutely right. But don't downplay the skill it takes to using a wheel efficiently and well. For most potters it takes many years and many mistakes to produce really good ware. I have been using a wheel for about 10 years now and I am nowhere near where I would like to be. It does not come easily to me. Your results may vary.
You could do volumes on patina alone.
It is a tool. One I don’t know how to use and I figure, focus one one technique until I’m happy with the results before moving on.
No problem with your method. But it is not what works for me. I need to switch back and forth. It makes it more interesting.
I think you make a good distinction here that is worth keeping in mind. I suppose for myself, when I talk about high quality bonsai pots, I'm referring to show quality pots. It's true that most bonsai pots offered by clay hobbyists are just fine as training pots, or step up pots from nursery cans. There's nothing wrong with using less refined pots for these purposes.
I make pots for bonsai and I tend to stick to more traditional forms with very clean lines. I've never really gotten into the asymmetrical, distressed look.
This has a lot of truth to it but it is a rather broad generalization.
Slab built pots no doubt take more time to make than wheel thrown pots, but you have to keep in mind those individuals that can make 5-6 bowls may have have the skill to do that many in that amount of time. Repetition is the key to building your skill. The more you do something especially the same task over and over you become faster at doing it. If you were to make the same slab built pot over and over, I'm sure you will cut your building time probably by 1/3 or more. You shouldn't refuse to get on the wheel. As @penumbra stated it's an additional tool that can be used with slab building...........such as doing seamless oval pots.
I happen to like clean pots as well.
I think there's a market for high-end slab built pots here in the US. The problem is that they are far and few between and the competition with high-end Japanese slab built pots is stiff. Most people looking to spend big bucks on a show quality pot aren't going to limit themselves to the US market only. They're going to look everywhere for the BEST pot they can afford. This usually means picking up a solid Japanese pot that is quality, will likely hold its value in the long run (I know, not always), and has some age on it. If you plan to make quality slab-built pots, then they better be really good, or a decent price for quality.
That was part of the idea behind this post. I'd like to support potters in this country, but I wasn't seeing a lot of what I wanted and also wasn't getting enough of a break in price to warrant their consideration.
As my trees have improved, I've certainly been more interested in better pots. I think there are a lot of us who've spent a while getting better trees, and are finding they're potted in duds now.
