American-made ceramics forms

Pitoon

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I been thinking about what @Bonsai Nut said about the Japanese "finishing man" who only tidies up pots and what American potters would think about that information....

First....
I think this person may only exist in a mass production line up...which means there are pots started and finished by one dude.

Second....
What do we think American potters would do with that information?

Unfortunately, I think we would consider it "too hard" then, or "too much trouble", rather than think we can or should also do it for ourselves.

Sorce
I feel it comes down to how much time a potter is willing to invest into their pots. If they know/feel they are only going to get X amount of dollars for that pot.......is it worth it to the potter to spend the additional time to "tidy" up the pot?

For my little mame pots, I've put in some serious time working on them. I have ball park figures I plan to ask for them, price of course depending on the amount of time invested into the pot. If they sell the buyer will be a proud owner of a kick ass mame pot......if they don't sell I'm more than happy to keep them for myself.
 

ikiru_vessels

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I would like to believe a mass produced pot could still be of good quality. It all depends how much time the producer is willing to put in to polish the pot after removing it from the mold.
Exactly, my comments were related less to the viability of sustaining life for the bonsai as the impact is negligible and more so to the craftsmanship and attention to detail - while it may have no impact on the tree, it just doesn't "look good" or "feel good" IMO when handling it. There is something to be said for natural inconsistencies (grog lines, diff size feet, uneven rims, glaze drips) that end up being character building elements and stylistic traits of a specific potter, but I think its fair to say some fundaments like a flat bottom, limited if no warping, no cracking, etc. are a given with higher end pottery.
 

ikiru_vessels

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The one that got away... can’t remember which mushroom box this was for the mold lol 😩 was finishing the edges with a sponge...
 

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ikiru_vessels

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Finally got some glazed finished pots back! Really underestimated the difficulty of photographing glazes and having them correctly resemble the look and feel in real life... time to start the cycle all over again. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!
 

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Pitoon

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Finally got some glazed finished pots back! Really underestimated the difficulty of photographing glazes and having them correctly resemble the look and feel in real life... time to start the cycle all over again. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!
Yes, it's very difficult to accurately show glazes in pictures. Good job on those!
 

thams

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Finally got some glazed finished pots back! Really underestimated the difficulty of photographing glazes and having them correctly resemble the look and feel in real life... time to start the cycle all over again. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!
Very nice - especially for a first attempt! Can you get a better picture of the round pot jpeg IMG_3394? For whatever reason the simplicity of the pot paired with that glaze caught my eye and I would love to see more of its details.
 

ikiru_vessels

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Very nice - especially for a first attempt! Can you get a better picture of the round pot jpeg IMG_3394? For whatever reason the simplicity of the pot paired with that glaze caught my eye and I would love to see more of its details.
Let me know if you have a preferred view or angle etc. happy to send more directly to you. Thanks for the interest! This was an interesting test for me as if was one of two layered glaze pots, this only only having the rim getting a matte black application. The base being matte turquoise didn't seem to adhere very well in spots to the clay body, so I'm happy I added the black (turned more like dark grey) to make it a bit more interesting and where the two overlapped created a volcanic rock effect to the glaze especially on the top of the rim.
 

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Pitoon

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Let me know if you have a preferred view or angle etc. happy to send more directly to you. Thanks for the interest!
I like the glaze on that pot. The shape is nice too. My only thing with the pot is the huge drainage hole. In my experience small pots dry out way faster than larger ones. With the size of those holes one would have to water every couple of hours in the summer if not top dressed with moss and even top dressed it will dry out fast. Just something to consider.
 

ikiru_vessels

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I like the glaze on that pot. The shape is nice too. My only thing with the pot is the huge drainage hole. In my experience small pots dry out way faster than larger ones. With the size of those holes one would have to water every couple of hours in the summer if not top dressed with moss and even top dressed it will dry out fast. Just something to consider.
Great feedback, appreciate it! Even with the mesh over the hole it's a lot of air for the size of the pot. Guess it would be best suited for a tropical environment 😅. I was most pleased that despite the size of the hole it has almost no warping around the rim of the hole.
 

Pitoon

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Great feedback, appreciate it! Even with the mesh over the hole it's a lot of air for the size of the pot. Guess it would be best suited for a tropical environment 😅. I was most pleased that despite the size of the hole it has almost no warping around the rim of the hole.
My opinion.......that pot would be optimal for a miniature orchid.
 

thams

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Let me know if you have a preferred view or angle etc. happy to send more directly to you. Thanks for the interest! This was an interesting test for me as if was one of two layered glaze pots, this only only having the rim getting a matte black application. The base being matte turquoise didn't seem to adhere very well in spots to the clay body, so I'm happy I added the black (turned more like dark grey) to make it a bit more interesting and where the two overlapped created a volcanic rock effect to the glaze especially on the top of the rim.
Sorry I'm so late responding to your post. This pot looks great! I really like the proportions - it's simple enough to let the glaze shine without being overly busy. Is it a trick of the light, or is the glaze somewhat metallic?
 

ikiru_vessels

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Sorry I'm so late responding to your post. This pot looks great! I really like the proportions - it's simple enough to let the glaze shine without being overly busy. Is it a trick of the light, or is the glaze somewhat metallic?
Must be the lighting, nothing metallic but the darker grey/black ends up looking like shiny carbon.
 

ikiru_vessels

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It's a nice pot! This was your first batch of pots?
Yeah! I have been making bonsai material for about 12 years now and have always loved the pottery so figured I'd give it a try during COVID lockdown here in California, really loved it so I decided to get the pieces fired and glazed.
 
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