I came across a You Tube video of a stretched oval platter by potter Tim See that piqued my interest. You make a thick plate on the wheel, then stretch it out by throwing it onto the ground. My first few attempts at this platter were a bit timid, but I eventually got a feel for swinging the clay onto the ground in each direction. I could not see where Tim's thumbs were in the instructional video, so I tried not to touch the sides as I swung the clay. But after trying it and watching the video again, I think he let his thumbs rest on the inside of the rim. I bet this thumb placement helped construct the oval shape. Since those were experiments, I manipulated them in different ways to see how far I could push the clay. Good to know this for future platters.
I wanted to make a large platter, so I eventually attempted using 10 pounds of clay (bottom one in the photo). I think it looked pretty good, I might cut away the parts where my thumbs were awkwardly placed and add handles. Those edges seem a little messy. The alterations need a swift and intentional motion otherwise they look too fussed over.
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