I am exploring ways to make my pottery better, and one of the areas that i want to explore is handles. they are currently pulled handles, bit recently I have began to explore the idea of modifying slab handles.
When I was first making mugs, I could never get handles right. I started with using rings of clay cur from a cylinder, they were serviceable enough, but they always seemed crude, I had given up on the more traditional pulled handles because they had seemed out of reach. not great, but good enough.

Two years later, I had undertook an apprenticeship at the Ozark folk center where again I tried the pulled handles. They were still not up to par, but the experience that I had developed with the clay had allowed me to make something better than what I had previously accepted. after a few more years, I had gotten the pulled handles to where I was satisfied with them. when I was struggling with the handles for the second time, frequently my handles would slump over. To counter this, I began to attach a bar of clay at the top of the handle to strengthen the bond between mug and handle. I came to like the way the bar felt in my thumb when the center was pressed down . This was the beginning of my thumb rest.

Recently, I have began to feel that the handles can be further developed. overall I feel satisfied with the technical aspects of the handle, but now I want to create a handle that will satisfy several competing aims. I want it to be quick to make, but also break me out of what seems to me like stagnation in my mugs. Towards this end. I have been experimenting with slab handles that have been modified by pulling. so far, I have had about 40 new mugs made with this method, and so far it seems that I have been able to use this method without sacrificing craftsmanship. As I work with the idea, I grow more certain that somehow I am on the right track to making a more interesting mug.