The Iris

This pot was build using thinly rolled slabs wrapped around a sand-filled balloon allowing a boulder form to be created. The surface was textured with denim and given a hammered finish with a pebble. The fired pot was then heated, waxed and polished.

The overlapping thin slabs give the opening an iris effect. The pot resists being looked into but instead looks out at the viewer.

The technique of filling up a balloon with sand was something I came up with myself. Once the balloon is filled as required, sucking the remaining air out and tying off the balloon gives a tightly-packed mass of sand that can be thumped against a flat surface to create facets around which thin layers of clay can be pressed.

When I returned to the college for a second course I overheard the tutor describing my technique as one of the options available for hand-building. As far as am aware though, the Ammann Balloon Technique has not entered contemporary ceramic nomenclature.