The Tools Behind Every Natasha Swan Ceramics Piece
Every piece starts long before the wheel spins. Here’s a look at the tools I use in the studio every day — and why each one matters.
The pottery wheel
The centrepiece of the studio. It takes years to feel natural, but once it does, it becomes an extension of your hands. Every mug, bowl, and diffuser vessel you see in the collection was shaped on this wheel — centred, opened, and pulled up by hand. I have a shimpo whisper and the work horse, a 20 year old production pottery wheel similar to Potclays Artisan wheel.
Wire tools and loop tools
A wire tool cuts the finished piece cleanly off the wheel head. Loop tools come into play later, when the piece is leather-hard and ready for trimming — they remove excess clay from the base and refine the foot ring that the piece sits on.
Ribs and scrapers
Wooden and metal ribs are used to smooth the walls of a piece while it’s still on the wheel, compressing the clay and strengthening it. A well-ribbed wall is thinner, more even, and less likely to crack during drying. Mud tools are the go to.
Sponges
It sounds simple, but the right sponge makes a real difference. A sponge on a stick is used to remove water from the base of a deep vessel — too much water sitting at the bottom weakens the clay and causes problems later. Natural sponges are my preference for making but normal cheap sponges are needed for studio cleaning.
The kiln
The piece that transforms everything. Clay goes in as bisqueware; it comes out as stoneware, vitrified and waterproof, fired to 1280°C. Opening a kiln after a glaze firing is always a moment of anticipation — the results are never entirely predictable, which is part of what makes each piece unique.
Glaze brushes and dipping tongs
Glazing is its own craft. I use a combination of dipping, pouring, and brushwork depending on the piece and the effect I’m after. The same glaze applied differently can produce completely different results — which is why no two pieces are ever identical.
The Salt Pig and the Meadow Mug both started with exactly these tools, in exactly this order. That’s true of everything in the collection.
Every piece in the collection was made with these hands and these tools. Shop the collection and find yours.