Dale Cochoy
Shohin
In an earlier post I mentioned that I am often commissioned to make a pot for a customer for a Specific tree. This might be a tree that is already potted into a bonsai pot or one that is being developed to go into it's first pot.
When I speak with a customer about making a custom pot I first get the INSIDE measurements of length, width and depth that are needed. We talk about shapes, colors and finishing. Then, I set to work. There is usually some math involved in calculating sizes, shrinkage, etc. I also work from past experience making similar sizes and shapes. I can usually get pretty close in size to a requested size. Some pot types are easier to zero in on than others. Slab built pots and round 'thrown' pots are easier than ovals. Also, when there are extreme changes in rim, top diameter, bottom diameter it throws some quick calculating into the construct 'on the fly' so to speak.
I want to show you an example of some fruits of my labor concerning a pot I recently finished for a customer. Actually, it was three pots. As pots get more and more fancy and technical there are always more things to go wrong, so I usually will make more than one example for a customer to pick from. This series is a good example of my works along these lines.
At a show last fall a customer took a liking to a pot I had but it wasn't quite the right size. So, after the show, he went home, did some measuring and contacted me with what he figured he needed. I then made three examples that were each a bit different in shape and size, but finished with the glaze he requested. These are the three pots. Which one do you like?
When I speak with a customer about making a custom pot I first get the INSIDE measurements of length, width and depth that are needed. We talk about shapes, colors and finishing. Then, I set to work. There is usually some math involved in calculating sizes, shrinkage, etc. I also work from past experience making similar sizes and shapes. I can usually get pretty close in size to a requested size. Some pot types are easier to zero in on than others. Slab built pots and round 'thrown' pots are easier than ovals. Also, when there are extreme changes in rim, top diameter, bottom diameter it throws some quick calculating into the construct 'on the fly' so to speak.
I want to show you an example of some fruits of my labor concerning a pot I recently finished for a customer. Actually, it was three pots. As pots get more and more fancy and technical there are always more things to go wrong, so I usually will make more than one example for a customer to pick from. This series is a good example of my works along these lines.
At a show last fall a customer took a liking to a pot I had but it wasn't quite the right size. So, after the show, he went home, did some measuring and contacted me with what he figured he needed. I then made three examples that were each a bit different in shape and size, but finished with the glaze he requested. These are the three pots. Which one do you like?