The majority of Millbrook Pottery designs are hand thrown using white stoneware clay. There are many steps taken to produce each pot. The first of which is clay preparation.
The next step is to accurately throw the the pot. This is often one of the fastest steps, the pot is cut off the wheel with a wire and placed on a drying rack.
I usually have several pots in various stages of completion at any given time. Depending on the design there are still many processes to to be completed before the first (bisque) firing of the pots. Pots such as bowls or vases require drying to a leather hard stage before they can then be turned upside down to trim surplus clay from them. Other pots may have sections removed with the aid of a sharp scalpel to create cut-out or pierced designs. The cutting is done when the pots are at the leather hard stage. After designs have been cut, the raw edges have to be thoroughly washed to remove any sharp edges.
Pots are thoroughly dried before they are "fired" in the kiln,. The firing process has two stages, the first stage prepares the pots for glazing, the bisque firing, and the second and final stage is the glaze firing, after which the pots are ready for sale. I apply glazes by dipping, brushing or splashing glaze onto the pot. I fire in an electric kiln to 950c for a bisque firing and 1230c for a glaze firing. Opening the kiln invariably creates anxiety as well as eager anticipation as the final glaze effect may depend on where pots have been placed in the kiln. It is very satisfying when pots look as beautiful as I imagined them when making them.
A younger me!