Adventures in Hand-building

Hand-built turtles and snails for Chime #1

I've still been throwing pots on the wheel, but I've also been doing a little hand-building with friends in the studio. We put together some wind chimes. The first step was hand-building turtles and snails.  I seemed to be a step behind my friends, but it gave me time to think about how to construct this.

Off to the wheel I went! I made two closed forms, one for the upper bell to hold everything and another for an actual bell. I tried a little mishima to adorn the upper bell with a dragonfly.

When constructing the chime, I decided I wanted to add a touch of macrame (which I've never done before), so I went to the internet and found an easy stitch--the half-knot. I am pleased with the result and would like to make another! (Pardon the poor quality of the photo.)

Completed chime

We then started on another chime, making hand-built sections of a fish body. Originally I wanted to use jute to string the sections together, but knowing it's a natural fiber and would rot out in the elements, I chose to use the cord with a percentage of nylon and the macrame half-knot. The jute would have fit perfectly in the holes; however, I was not using the jute. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. I begged some wooden beads from my daughter--problem solved!

The neat thing about these projects--and this is really a no-brainer--is that we all three had a slightly different take on the look of the components and how we constructed the chimes.

I still prefer the wheel, but I'm finding a few hand-building projects that I really like and would like to repeat. They also provide a diversion from making wheel-thrown pieces and all the measuring that goes into fitting lids and butter crock pieces. In fact, I'm looking forward to making another tall, hand-built vase!

Fish chime