Pulling handles today, for stepped mugs specifically, the handle looping over the ledge as not interrupt it and springing away from the cup with more of an upward arch than my usual forms. All my handles begin from a larger block of clay. This lump is pulled and stretched out, longer and thinner, until I have a length that’s consistent in cross-section. This strap is then segmented off into smaller ‘blanks’ or ‘slugs’ or ‘billets’, I’ve heard all these terms used, and then these soft bits of clay are IMMEDIATELY attached to the leather hard cup and pulled again even thinner and finer. It’s a hard skill to learn, but no harder than throwing a pot, it usually comes a bit later for most people learning the craft, meaning plenty of decent vessels are ruined with poor handles, which often turns people off pulling handles like this, but you must persist! I hated the process for a long time for this very reason, as dozens of my carefully turned mugs were made to feel clunky and ill-formed due to scruffy handles I just couldn’t get right, yet, eventually, they began to flow more and feel more natural, intended as opposed to out of place. I’ve always liked this method as it creates handles that almost feel as if they’ve grown from the cup, like a branch from a tree, as compared to looking stuck on. My glazes help too, as they knit the components together by melting and softening the joins. Once attached, to ensure the try dry without cracked, as the leather hard cup and the soft clay handle are so opposed in consistency, I spray the entire vessel with water and wrap it up tightly in plastic. The cups are left in this environment to acclimatise to one another, the entire piece softens and then becomes the same consistency, and it’s only once that has happened that I’ll allow them to dry out in the open air. If you rush this process, cracks will form. #pottery #handles #satisfying #WIP #mug #howto #ceramics #studiopottery