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Making of an open vessel water whistle.

1. Make a mug or cup with fairly thick walls. Before it is leather hard attach the handle. The top of the handle should be even with the lip of the cup. Cover it with plastic to prevent drying while completing step two.

2. Use your little finger or the eraser end of a pencil to form the pinch pot.

3. Put the whistle on the handle so it is directly over the cup wall. You may want to slice some of the whistle bottom off so it sits snugly at the handle and cup junction.

4. Push a small hole making tool like a juice box straw, coated on outside with oil to prevent sticking to clay, down through the whistle, burrow down through the inside the cup wall below the whistle. Push the wall several inches down on the inside of the cup. Remove all chunks of clay that was pushed out by the straw. Keep the straw in place and patch any cracks in the cup wall. This will make sure that the tunnel stays open while you are making the cup wall presentable. If the wall is too thin the entire area under the handle will need a patch.

5. Slowly twist and remove the straw. Now you have created a hollow tube through the clay, running from the top of the whistle down through the cup wall and out into the inside of the cup.

6. Plug the hole on the top of the whistle left by the hole maker or leave it for an extra note.

7. Sound the whistle. Make any necessary adjustments to get a clear tone. Be careful to handle everything gently to avoid collapsing the internal cavities.

8. After bisque firing (cone 06), put wax in the whistle openings, including the one inside the bowl of the cup. When these are safely plugged, glaze as usual. When the glaze is dry, unplug the whistle openings removing any crusts of glaze left clinging that might obscure the holes. Glaze fire (cone 022).

9. Fill the cup to above the opening inside with fluid and try the sound. Blow into the whistle, varying your breath. The lovely clear liquid voice of the nightingale will ring out.

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Have you ever come up with a good idea while working with your pottery or ceramics and thought that you would like to share it with others? You have? Well, why not send it to us and we will add it to the tips page for all to see.

There are signs that pottery and ceramics are losing appeal for a younger generation. There are pottery and ceramic departments closing in teaching institutions throughout the country. The common understanding is that younger students are reluctant to commit themselves to the intensive study required to master pottery and ceramics. Why spend three years to learn just one art form when you can pick up PhotoShop in less than a week? Pottery wheels lie idle as students flock to the computer labs. With all the stressful actions in the world today, releasing that stress through pottery and ceramics would be very beneficial to ones well being.