Heeeey batter, batter!

Things have been a bit busy around here lately. I have been wrapping up the track season, preparing for summer classes and doing a lot of cleaning and such in preparation for a new child. (My wife is with child, due at the end of July. Fun stuff.) Thus I have had little time for blogging or clay. The baby's room is almost done, though, and school is out so I should have more time. To start getting caught up...

(Sorry for the crappy pictures. My photo set up was displaced to get the baby's room ready and is not yet set up in its new location.)

This is one of a set of bowls that came out of the last glaze firing. I was somewhat disappointed with the colors. These were supposed to be light brown at the top, but the color "burned out," making it kind of difficult to see the sgraffito designs. Oh well.
I am really fond of this form, with the rounded body and tall foot and all. My concern comes with how these would stack in a cabinet. Making functional work, these things ought to be considered I suppose, but where does one draw the line when considering the "form follows function" argument? Is it enough that the bowl functions properly as a bowl, or should that function extend to how it is stored as well? Should a potter (i.e. me) find a new for that stacks better, or is it o.k. to say, "I know this piece will not function perfectly in every aspect, but artistically this form is the most pleasing to me, so I am going to leave it as it is."


These are two of the batter bowls that I was playing around with a while back. I call them batter bowls, but I don't know if they are really big enough to qualify as such. They hold approximately four cup, so they are more like over sized gravy boats or something. I was really a bit worried, though when I was cleaning these up. I washed them and tried pouring water from them, BUT THEY DIDN'T POUR WORTH A CRAP!! I was vexed. I believe the problem is with the spout being too short and not quite sharp enough. Next time I will extend the spout further down the body to create a better throat to direct the liquid.
Not to be entirely beaten, though, I tried mixing up some scrambled eggs in one yesterday morning and it worked like a charm. I think the lower volume (the bowl was only about half full) and the higher viscosity of the liquid slowed things down enough to make it pour properly. So it may work as a batter bowl, just not as a pitcher. I am going to make some waffles in a bit to further test this theory.
And now, I just found a spot that I missed shaving. If I don't go take care of that my wife will probably try to pull it out later. Hope everyone has a good Memorial day. Tschus.