https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dCKBy8AaSU
In this video,Janis Wilson Hughes from Evolution Stoneware Pottery demonstrates how to make a toothpick jar.
Janis Wilson Hughes is a potter from Johnson City,Tennessee. Her work focuses on functional tableware that mainly relates to bottle forms and containers for liquids. These items range from decanters,olive oil bottles,mugs,teapots,and cups. Her work is brightly colored blues mainly with accents of brown towards the top of her forms. Her forms have a theme movement throughout them. When she is not focusing on functional forms her work can become more sculptural like such as totems that could appear in nature and other stacked forms. Janis has been featured in many ceramic articles such as the Clay Times Magazine and Pottery Making Illustrated Magazine along with having many instructional videos available on YouTube to teach others.

<h2>Throwing a small jar with a lid to hold toothpicks</h2>
[caption id="attachment_16941" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://staging.ceramic.school/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Wooden-Rib.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-16941" src="https://staging.ceramic.school/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Wooden-Rib-300x202.png" alt="wooden rib" width="300" height="202" /></a> Using a wooden rib,Janis straightens her sides and keeps pulling to achieve more height.[/caption]

Janis starts with a half-pound of stoneware clay on a bat. She centers her clay and opens quickly using both of her thumbs. By quickly pulling up and coning in she achieves height and the desired width of the toothpick holder. Janis keeps pulling and removing excess water when needed along with checking the height of the toothpick holder to her toothpicks. Using a wooden rib,she straightens her sides and keeps pulling to achieve more height. She is going for a closed form technique that closed off the form to create the lid instead of throwing it separately. Janis continues to pull and cone until the top is closed off and then she shapes the knob using the excess clay at the top. At one point Janis uses a <a id="amznPsBmLink_3160403" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" href="http://www.amazon.com/WINCAN-30PCS-Sculpting-Pottery-Carving/dp/B06WLQDX32/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=ceramicschool-20&amp;linkId=3198a5b39948128539edab774e8a5437&amp;linkCode=ktl" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="wooden knife for pottery" data-amzn-link-id="3198a5b39948128539edab774e8a5437">wooden knife</a><img id="amznPsBmPixel_3160403" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&amp;t=ceramicschool-20&amp;bm-id=default&amp;l=ktl&amp;linkId=3198a5b39948128539edab774e8a5437&amp;_cb=1507250619453" alt="" width="0" height="0" border="0" /> to remove excess clay from the bottom of the knob,which gives it more form and lift from the lid. She then uses the same wooden knife to cut away excess clay from the bottom and create an undercut.

[caption id="attachment_16942" align="alignright" width="293"]<a href="https://staging.ceramic.school/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Toothpick-Jar-Created-by-Janis-Hughes.png"><img class="wp-image-16942 size-full" src="https://staging.ceramic.school/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Toothpick-Jar-Created-by-Janis-Hughes.png" alt="toothpick jar" width="293" height="281" /></a> Toothpick Jar Created by Janis Hughes[/caption]
At this point,it is time to create the crease for the lid and she uses a special tool that she made herself with clay and then bisqued fired. This tool looks similar to an ear cleaner in both shape and size. Janis does a final measurement for the toothpick and then using the tool she presses into the clay to create a crease where she will cut later. Once the clay has set up enough for the top to be cut Janis uses a knife and cuts it from the rest of the form. Since the knife is sharp it is easy to remove the top from the form as the wheel spins. She then flips it over and places the lid upside down in the jar in order to trim the lid. It is important to ensure that the lid is level so that you can trim it evenly. A good way to keep it level as you trim is placing a finger into the lid and then trimming with your other hand. Janis does exactly this as she removes the excess clay from the inside of the lid and then burnishes the rim with her fingers to smooth it down. Now it is time to finalize the rim of the jar itself to ensure a good fit. Janis removes the lid from the <a href="https://staging.ceramic.school/make-one-piece-lidded-jar/">jar</a> and then burnishes the rim with her fingers to smooth down the clay where it was cut. She does a final test fitting to ensure both parts will fit and then cuts it from the wheel with her special wire. This wire is a zigzag wire that leaves an interesting pattern as the piece is cut. This allows Janis to leave the bottom untrimmed and have an interesting design on it as well.
To see more of Janis Wilson Hughes’ work find her on YouTube as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/EvolutionStoneware">EvolutionStoneware</a>,Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionStoneware">@EvolutionStonewar</a>e and check out her website <a href="http://www.evolutionstoneware.com/">evolutionstoneware.com</a>.

How to Make a Toothpick Jar

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How to Make a Toothpick Jar

How to Make a Toothpick Jar

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