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Ceramicist Crafts Elegant Vessels Using a Mesmerizing “Throwing” Process

With a series of mesmerizingly fluid gestures, ceramicist Eric Landon forms beautiful vessels on a pottery wheel. They’re crafted with a minimalist aesthetic and look deceptively simple in their execution, but they take an incredible amount of skill to produce.

Working under the name Tortus Copenhagen, Landon is eager to showcase and share what he knows. He creates high-speed videos that demonstrate the process of “throwing” from beginning to end. It starts with a lump of clay on a wheel, and then Landon makes tiny, calculated movements to push and pull the material into a variety of shapes. Afterwards, the newly-formed pot is fired in a kiln and has some glaze applied, but Landon refrains from adding any patterning or surface decoration—he lets the elegant form speak for itself.

Last year, Landon began posting his process videos on Instagram, and it completely transformed his pottery studio. People were (and still are) entranced by his throwing abilities, and the popularity has lead to sold-out workshops attended by people near and abroad. That, however, is not the best part of his Instagram-famous status. “The most rewarding thing about what I do,” he told the Instagram blog, “is acting as an inspiration for other potters around the world.”

Here's how Landon forms his gorgeous ceramics:

After they're removed from the wheel, they harden and are fired into their final forms.

Tortus Copenhagen Ceramics: Website | Instagram | Facebook
via [Instagram Blog]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
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