QotW: Of the things that you make, do you use anything pottery wise, and what is your favorite piece to use?

[Pres]

No new one in the question bank, so I will post this question: Of the things that you make, do you use anything pottery wise, and what is your favorite piece to use?

I imagine, that many of us make things to use at home or elsewhere. I know that I use pots that I have made, and if they don't work well for me, put them aside for the next version. So in the household, we use large and small bowls, berry bowl/colanders, apple bakers, batter bowls, and mugs. We are more coffee drinkers, but do have and use some teapots, and I have gone through several of these until they are right. My wife likes the large bowls the most, then the next down is the berry bowl, that we use often.  Mugs come and go, but of late there have been some that are favorites that someone always reaches into the back for. We have a purchased handbuilt platter from GEP, that we use, but obviously I did not make it. 

 

best,

Pres

[liambesaw]

Heh, my house is full of the things I've made going all the way back to the first grade.  My kids won't eat out of a bowl unless it's hand made, they're real snobs.  I leave the bottom half of the outside of my bowls unglazed but with heavy texture so they are easy to grip and feel really good in the hand.  I guess I'm a snob because now that I've been eating out of this style of bowl I notice how awkward it is to hold a Corelle bowl.

[Denice]

We still use the dinnerware set that I threw twelve years ago,  it its getting a little scratchy looking.   I have been thinking about putting one of the plates in a glaze firing.  It might cure the haze on the plates  or make the puddle.   I will give it a try in my next firing.    Denice

[GEP]

Coffee addict here. I love mugs! Some of my own, but I also love to buy and trade for mugs.

[JohnnyK]

My fave is a yunomi that I made because I wanted to work without handles. The glaze effect is such that I marvel at it every day and will be reproducing it or a variation of it in the future...

JohnnyK

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Working on a serious mug collection in our house! My kids have fights over their favourites, notably the "bunny cup," which is a nice handle-less  number from Shprixieland Studios, and one of @Joseph Fireborn's yunomi's.  The little turkeys appropriated them before I got a chance to use them!  Our popcorn bowl is another favourite. 

[dhPotter]

Making and using my own pottery is my own R&D lab. I do not consciously look at the shape of my hand or lips. It has taken a few years to work out the discomforts of my designs. I detest a mug that dribbles, so lots of R&D on the perfect rim for drinking, close but still not there. With me it is all about how to hold a piece. My hand arthritis dictates that the piece is easy to hold and does not strain the hands. It is pretty cool to make something then use it to find it doesn't work so well. Humbles one rather quickly. Wished I had taken an industrial/ manufacturing design course, or whatever the course would be to teach me ergonomics. Actually I haven't sold much because I don't put it out there. The feel and functionality must be to my expectation before I let it go out of my hands. Lots of R&D.

Favorite piece is the coffee mug. Since recently starting to press texture into the body of the mug, I like using several different mugs. I like the feel of the different textures. My hands are busy feeling the texture in both the body and the handle while using the mug.

If I were an illustrator I could make bowls look more interesting, but I am not. Altering makes the bowls more interesting. We use all sizes of bowls, from the condiment bowl up to the larger mixing bowl.

Edited October 11, 2018 by dhPotter

[Mark C.]

I like to use every day other potters mugs-coffee and milk as well as my stoneware dinnerware set every day that I made in 1976.I use the salad plate almost every lunchtime as well.

[LeeU]

My house is unashamedly peppered throughout with my own work. Some is non-functional, like my "excavation" series of shelf pieces and my Hidden Mask series of wall pieces.  My practical day-to-day ware includes tea light holders, rakued tiles that I use as large coasters, cone incense burners (my favorites are a heavy piece glazed in a beautiful silvery Palladium and one in a clear gloss-glazed super white porcelain), unique spoon rests, catchy catch-alls, free-form card/letter holders, tiny herb/spice spoons, small vessels and vases, and 2 favorite mugs.  

[Gabby]

I usually use my own things at breakfast and at dinner time. I have one tall handle-less mug for tea and another for cold, only because I like to see them side by side near my computer. I have a stocky little bowl I use for dried fruit and nuts and many just like it, only glazed differently.

At dinner time I strongly prefer a large bowl to a plate, and I always use my own, choosing from among four or so..

[Chilly]

I started to say two things are in daily use, then I worked my way round the house, and the number has gone up in each room.

In the kitchen we use spoon rests, butter dishes, a tea-bag bowl and fish-pie dishes, the lounge has a kindling-holder pot and ornaments, the en-suite bathroom has a pot that holds combs, the bathroom has plant pots and decorative trays to hold them.  I also have coasters in most rooms and the greenhouses, plus plant saucers everywhere.  At the scout campsite, all the crew have a mug with their name on it.

I have a pair of two-handle cups (one to use and one to ..........) to be wood-fired tomorrow for my mum who is struggling with holding a cup with one hand.  And as she drinks her tea while it is still scalding she can't hold normal cups with both hands.

So, a veritable haul of me-made pottery in-use, quite impressed.

[D.M.Ernst]

Cannot start the day without my teapot.