Ken Adams

To say that creating double-walled vessels using the balloon casting technique is "something of a challenge" is an understatement! This vessel is the first 'satisfactory' result, after a series of notably useful failures. Its creation started with the crafting of the vessel that was to form the exterior surface, using a standard balloon casting method. The only notable difference on this ocasion was the first attempt applying slip to a partially inflated balloon, followed by full inflation. This approach resulted in especially thin walled sections and these are clearly evident in the photos presented here.

After creating the first vessel, attention turned to the second, and how it could be inserted and properly secured. There were two key challenges: first, the outer vessel was close-rimmed, so the balloon being used to shape the interior wall would have to be inflated, covered with slip first, and then be sufficiently deflated in order to be inserted inside the exterior vessel without all the slip dropping off; second, once inserted it had to be reflated, enough to make proper contact (and therefore stick) to the interior of the outer vessel, but not too much that it damaged the outer layer (which would anyway be weakened through renewed contact with wet clay). The problem is that it was close to impossible to see the extent to which the internal balloon had inflated without becoming painfully cross-eyed, because it was so close to my face! Indeed, in this case the outer vessel was partially torn apart, and with the benefit of hindsight, the better approach would have been to do everything in front of a mirror. Still, what a feast for the eyes!