Another in my "Practical Primitive" series, this time I am replacing a broken sugar canister. This is a fun project that you can follow along with at home and make this great Southwest style sugar bowl. If you are interested in making this and have questions about what materials and tools to use here is a list of materials and substitutes
A sugar bowl is something everyone can use and the pottery does not need to be sealed to use for dry material storage so earthenware like this works great.
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0:00 Sugar Bowl Project & Needed Tools
1:06 Coil Building a Pot
4:30 Turning a Pot Into a Lidded Bowl
7:37 Scraping and Smoothing The Pot
8:44 Slipping and Burnishing the Sugar Bowl
9:53 Painting Designs on the Sugar Bowl
11:17 Firing the Sugar Bowl in My Yard
12:35 The Reveal and Using the Sugar Bowl
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks for showing the internal lip addition.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Thanks for teaching us! I’m having so much fun!
We don’t have saguaros up here so I made one from clay. I want to do a bowl like this. We have SO much clay here and I live by the wash so sand too. 😃👍 I love the way you paint your pots. Thanks again Andy!
Oh, you are in St David, heck yeah that area is crazy with clay. There is some good white clay just off Ocotillo Road in Benson, south of town. Thanks and have fun.
@Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery oh I’m so glad you saw that. I know where some is in the wash! I’m sitting on a goldmine. 😁 thanks Andy.
@Simply Pam There is a huge bank of clay over by Apache Powder too.
@Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery Awesome! I can see Apache Powder plant from the “back yard”. 😄Thanks Andy.
I never get tired of your videos! I even go back and study them. What is the yellow slip? I’ve tried red iron oxide but it fires a brownish red. Michael
Thank you. The yellow is a yellow clay I collect. But if you are making something like this you could go a couple of different directions. You could use a red firing clay or even a yellow ochre. https://amzn.to/3vmVgdT
If you like this kind of practical pottery builds, I recently put together a playlist of these kinds of pottery build videos. You can check it out at this link. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxjk09ZJzrltsy-JeeeEqINUbiTVD3fk- Enjoy!
I still think that giving either volume or weight of the clay you use for the project would be valuable so we know how much we’ll need.
I know that wheel throwers always work with clay weight, but I am pretty sure that hand builders don’t generally focus on weight so much. I start with a big lump of clay and when I get the pot I want, I stop, I never weigh it ahead of time, and if I weighed it after I was done it would not be accurate because the clay will have dried quite a bit by then. Also every potter works different based on their abilities and the qualities of their clay, so my pot may have walls that are fairly thin but someone else might make walls that are a bit thicker and that will increase the amount of clay used considerably.
Hi Andy, we really appreciate you showing the firing process in addition to the build. The Sugar Bowl came out great!
It’s all part of the process, leaving it out would not be fair for anyone trying to make something similar. Glad you liked it!
Another great video Andy. Feel better soon! Also, can you tell me if you have a video on painting techniques? I am having a very hard time getting lines smooth and straight like yours. I always get dripps in my lines.
Thanks! It has been a subject requested a few times but I am having trouble figuring out how to approach it. But I need to do it soon, so thanks for the reminder. It seems I have a lot of videos about how to make paint and how to make brushes but none about how to actually paint.
“Dingleberries” fabulous word! Love, love the sugar bowl. ❤️
Thank you Jackie! Glad you liked it.
Hi Andy. Another great P like one you made earlier.. If you angle the cut lower when taking lid off, you end up with a bevel, so the lid won’t fall in. Rotate the lid a few times when it’s damp and it seats itself.. Saves lots time.. ..
Good tip, thanks, I’ll give it a try.
Good video, its nice to have practical application for pottery rather than just being decorative. A coffee cannister would be nice. It’s hard to imagine life without coffee and then you can drink it from one of your mugs.
You know the idea of a canister has been on my list for a long time but I wasn’t sure how I could seal the canister. The sugar was a great opportunity because sugar doesn’t go stale is not kept tightly sealed, coffee does though. So before I take on coffee I still need to solve the problem of sealing the lid.
I just found your channel and I absolutely love it! I have no experience in making poetry but after watching your videos and seeing your passion I think I might just have to try it out. Keep up the good work and thank you for making such entertaining videos. They are really well made!
Thanks, glad you are enjoying my videos. You should try it, it’s a fun hobby and doing it my way doesn’t have to cost you anything.
That is awesome! Love the design that you chose!
Thanks!
LOL! Your sugar bowl came out fantastic! AND…. as I was wondering about the round bottom, well, you know. But I did laugh out loud actually. I will have to watch your video to find out why!
SOON I will be making me some pottery and I want to say, a lot of us can’t use yucca brushes unless we have them shipped in. Hmm, I wonder what the local Iroquois Indians used?
I’m hoping to get some help making a video about human hair brushes from a local Mexican pottery.
The full process is very helpful, as well as satisfying to watch! That bowl came out gorgeous. Hope you’re feeling better!
Thanks I almost have it licked today.
Hey Andy ! I was wondering if you could share your recipe for that yellow slip. It’s really nice looking stuff and that red it fires to is to die for. Thanks for all your work and best wishes !
It’s a yellow ochre/clay (ocherous clay, clayey ochre?) that I collect near the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. It’s magical stuff and it takes a polish real good too.
Beautiful work Andy. I know ur wife is gonna love her new sugar bowl.
She is already putting it to good use, thanks.
I love the video! You are such a great artist and potter! I had an idea that while I was watching you use your puki. I was wondering if making a puki out of a gourd would be something that you think would be possible or maybe a video idea. And again, great video!
Thank you so much, I am glad that you are enjoying my videos. Gourds have a weird dimple in the bottom so they are not rounded at the bottom like a bowl. I have a lot of gourds here and they all have that shape on the bottom. I wish I could post photos in the comments here. Maybe I will post it on Instagram in case you follow me there.
Hi Andy, I was wondering if you could discuss how to take your pottery to the next level? I am getting better at hand building, but the end product still look like a 9th grader built it. How can I finish my pottery and make it look more professional? I guess the main problem is with getting things symmetrical. I alway get an odd lump some where in my pot.
Oh, that’s a good idea, thanks Anthony. I will give this subject some thought and make a video on that this summer.
Have you ever made a container for chocolate, like the ones found in archeology sites? They look like a tall glass or jar in shape.
Are you referring to the tall cylinder jars found at Chaco Canyon? Because I have made a couple of those.
@Andy Ward’s Ancient Pottery yes, exactly
This is so amazing, I had no idea how lidded pots are formed, thanks!
You are so welcome!