This Fall I took an introductory hand building class at the wonderful Hawaii Potter's Guild. I was able to make all sorts of art, and some of it turned out better than others. Thankfully, a few of the projects were suitable for the garden! My teacher Esther had us make planters of various sizes. This was our application of the slab technique, one of the basics. Then on the last day of class she brought in a variety of succulents and cuttings for everyone to share. I love my cute new plants in their homemade planters. Another project was to make shrunken heads. This was actually done near the very beginning of the class, as an introduction to one of the most fundamental hand building techniques: the pinch pot. The heads have clay beads in the middle so that they rattle. I think they turned out pretty cute, and I experimented with iron and cobalt oxide instead of glaze coating. I really didn't know what to do with the little guys at first, but realized that they will work just as well as the rocks and cinderblocks we have lining the garden path!
