A couple of new forms

I made a couple of new forms (new to me at least). A heavily textured tea caddy, influenced by neolithic cultures:

approx 6 inches tall, unfired

..and a vase:

approx. 5 inches tall, unfired

Tried something new with this. The piece was scored with random lines as the wheel was turning, before doing a final couple of pulls. The faint score lines remain faintly visible under the throwing marks.

I'm still having problems with my clay not being plastic enough, and I've decided it must be the raku clay which is adding way too much grog and sand to the mix. It holds together well when fairly wet, but begins to fall apart as soon as the clay gets to a firmer consistency (that is to say, the firmness I'd ideally like to throw with), even when mixed 50/50 with a much smoother clay. The advantage of all that grog is that the clay stands up really well, even when quite sloppy. Feel I'm spending too much time mixing and wedging clay at the moment, so I'm on the look out for a good quality bagged clay, fairly groggy with some tooth and one which can withstand cone 10/11 firings...and of course not too expensive!