Haven't made any clay vessels in a while, so thought I might take some shots as I go.
Feel free to add your 2cents as we go along.
I think by now we realize this method is sub par and not equivalent to having access to a kiln.
I as for one, envy anyone that does and wish I had access also. I know I could go to a local Tafe etc, but I just don't have the time to drop off and pick up.
I have been utilizing such pots for over 2 years now and they have shown no sign of decay/cracks.
This process of making, baking and finishing shall take over 6 hours, so later on tonight I should have some vessels ready to go.
Once again this is not pottery. I know how much effort goes into firing a load and constantly keeping an eye on progression heats and cooling down periods.
Penny spends many,many,many hours ensuring her pots are top quality. I encourage every Australian bonsai artist to purchase her work, with the knowledge that it shall be around much longer than them on this earth.
My method should be considered a poor and anti-social mans way of producing a vessel to hold his plants for training, or a means to hone your clay sculpting skills prior to attempting a real pot. Alternatively to following this tut, go out and join a pottery group and do it properly, I wish I could and for this amount of effort you could be making real pots.
Here's a link to another famous home brew attempt. http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATPaperBonsaiPots.html
The problems I have found with this method are (I've tried it numerous times now, to ensure I wasn't the issue)-
-Cement is fragile, clay bakes harder and cracks less.
-The paper strands suck up the moisture and create cracks.
-The paper doesn't smooth like the cement, and leaves tatty edges/creases.
-Cement pots are very very fragile, as in a knock will crack them.
-When drying in the oven at speed the clay cracks less than cement.
-Clay can be sanded smooth after oven bake, cement is harder to correct imperfections
It starts with a bag of Plaster Master Fireclay.
This can be purchased from any Buzzings place. Please buy it elsewhere if you can find it.
