Had a great 11 days in Korea participating in the Gangjin Celadon Festival, and visiting potters around the country. I’ll post pictures and comments from the trip as I get them organized. Took hundreds of pictures and hours of video that need to get edited and filed.

One of the most impressive things for me were the onggi demostrations. In the SW area of Korea, onggi is made using straps of clay rather than coils. It is quite an effective technique for making large pots quickly. Making the straps takes a bit of practice though.

I decided to make some study projects, starting with a tool basin, a big pot to keep the onggi tools in to keep them wet. I used a slab for the floor and added two slabs, which were paddled and stretched, then thrown without water. Decorated with a little ‘happy fish’. The whole affair is about 20″ across, and about 12″ high. As you can see, the form is just the start of a large jar.

I also threw some Ido style bowls and small cups using the methods I saw in Korea. I did it with the sticky clay used for the big onggi bowl, because my normal clay just doesn’t stretch enough to be thrown the way they did it. Here are some of the untrimmed pieces and a few finished small cups.