[buckeye]

I know I havent been posting much but since christmas I seem to have gone into hibernation mode. Other than my daily job I really havent been doing much except being lazy. It doesnt help that my electric to my kiln still isnt fixed but all else is good. Once I get that fixed WATCH OUT!


SO! I would love to hear what projects everyone is working on, what are you all up to in your studio?

[minspargal]

I am cleaning my studio as we are getting ready to move to Austin for a year. We will be back here every month so i am finishing up some glazing so i can fire next time i am in town.

[Denice]

It's good to be lazy for a while, my son requested a shaving skuttle a week before X-Mass so I made two but there not quite the size he wants so he's sending me measurements for the size he wants. I started a tiling project with talavera tile and some I made mixed in, it's a breakfast booth. I have about 800 tiles to lay since Talavera tile is irreqular in size and are warped, they are slow to lay so this will take me a while. I have been working on different types of design on mugs and doing more research on C6 glazes, I had a visitor yesterday SShirley from the forums came by to visit and see my studio. Sylvia lives about 300 miles away, she was in the area visiting her sister, she has a beautiful gallery/store and a huge shop and brought me a mug, I really enjoyed the visit. The only thing I didn't do was work on my computer skills but when the weather gets nasty maybe I'll work on it, yesterday was 67 degrees so I try to be outside as much as possible. That's lazy post holiday weeks for me I hope your kiln gets fixed soon. Denice

[teardrop]

Preface: Studio = kitchen table

Still playing with making slab pitchers here. I am trying out/creating different styles of handles in an attempt to not only see how many variances i can come up with on the same basic theme...but also which seem to feel the best in most people's hand (hard for me to discern cus I have big hands). I'm also looking at placement and how different handles affect balance. (alot of the testing/decisions will have to wait until they are bisque fired and I can pick them up by the handle).

I am calling this ongoing series of pitchers "the Tee towel series" because the texture on the side is merely a nice and bumpy tee towel pressed into the surface. As I go along I plan to add designs/themes as needed. Other than those items, I am also interested in:

Getting familiar with the construction
Proportioning of the handle/bib/body
Discerning how thick I want to make the walls and finding a balance between strength and weight
Figuring out how long each peice takes to make
Figuring out how much clay is in each peice/etc.
Visualisualizing how the glazes will look and what colors I want to migrate to for a "water pitcher" that will more than likely live in someone's kitchen.
Deciding upon a balance (if I can sell these at all..LOL) between time/supplies and eventual sales prices...when i get THAT far. For awhile I'm gonna be targeting charities and non-profs who hold 'silent auctions" or other fiundraisers and will probably give away more than i ever sell...but we shall see where it goes.

hope ya get yer kiln goin, buckeye.

teardrop

[trina]

What i DON'T want to happen is to HEAR any crap from the instructor and be LIMITED BY SOMEONE ELSE in any way, shape, or form



Those are really lovely sentiments teardrop. Trina

[wolfie50]

buckeye, on 05 January 2012 - 07:18 PM, said:

I know I havent been posting much but since christmas I seem to have gone into hibernation mode. Other than my daily job I really havent been doing much except being lazy. It doesnt help that my electric to my kiln still isnt fixed but all else is good. Once I get that fixed WATCH OUT!


SO! I would love to hear what projects everyone is working on, what are you all up to in your studio?

Good morning!

I think think this is the first time I've posted here though I do pop in daily to read stuff.

I'm a fairly new potter and recent owner of my own wheel! Until now, I've taken several courses in throwing and one in handbuilding and I have to admit that I LOVE pottery! It is all a little overwhelming though, especially the info on glazing...much easier when my instructor makes the glazes and we know they're suitable for the clay base we use at our classes.

But, I'm hopeful it'll all become easier...fingers crossed! I just threw 10 bowls....ALMOST all the same size...in fact, they were all so similar when I threw them but I didn't think of measuring height as I was trimming them (I left a thicker foot), so in the end I have 6 very similar and another 4 approx the same size. I've done a little fancy schmancy decorating with underglazes and used some ideas from Jason Bige Burnett and Erin Furminsky, so paper cutout, mishima, slip glazing and stamping! Loving the detail stuff! As decorated greenware they look amazing....hoping they'll look as nice once I get them fired. Which, of course presents another problem. I don't have a kiln....but do have a few options to have my pieces fired. I'm also unsure of which clear glaze to use as I'm using a Laguna B-5 Mix and as yet haven't purchased a glaze. So, it's a slow process for me. I expect I'll have shelves of decorated pots waiting to be glazed and fired. I'll be so excited when I finally get to fire them!

So, that it in a nutshell. Today I think I'll throw some tumblers (I'm crap at handles! hahahah)

Brenda

[teardrop]

.....

[Chris Campbell]

I placed some pictures in my gallery of the dozen+ pitchers I've made in the interim between Fall semester and the Spring semester should anyone want to take a look/comment.

Need some kind of a link to find this .....

[teardrop]

I think you can get there by clicking the green square below my name. I can click on the green square below your name and see a folder in your gallery called "My colored porcelain" but there are no pics there. (or it is blocked from public view)

you may also be able to see them via the "member's gallery" tab above on the toolbar but I don't know if they are buried in there or not.

[buckeye]

Teardrop - I went to your profile then to your gallery and seen your pitchers, I for one think they are very cool, thank you for adding them to your gallery!

Wolfie50 - glad to see you post for the first time, some great people here that make it fun and so much to learn and so many here with years and years of experience, very helpful folks. Always love to see new people post. I think that is so great that you threw bowls and they matched close! that is absolutely great.

Denice - I would absolutely love to see pictures of your tile project, if you dont want to share with the whole forum if there is any chance you would email me pics It would make me very happy. I think that is so great you got to meet SSshirly from the forum! I would love to eventually meet some of the great people who have been so helpful and nice on the forum.

Minspargal - that sounds very hectic! I hope it all works out, mind if we ask why you are moving for a year?


EVERYONE thank you so much for sharing what you have been up to! It honestly made my evening to sit here and read.

[wolfie50]

Thanks buckeye! I wanted to say also that I'm not so worried now about having a kiln, because it seems I'm not the only one! I hope your is repaired soon! As for the rest of us, I guess it's just throw, throw, throw! (The beauty of clay is it'll wait a very long time!)

[minspargal]

Buckeye, my husband has been working in Austin for the last 3 yrs and commuting on some weekends and i got tired of living like a widow. He swears that this will be his last yr. there in Austin. (I should have got it in writing) Teardrop, nice work on your pitchers. Denise, i also want to see a photo of your tile project when you finish. I also make tiles. Wolfe keep on with your throwing, you'll get it down pact in no time the way your working.

[Pres]

buckeye, on 05 January 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

I know I havent been posting much but since christmas I seem to have gone into hibernation mode. Other than my daily job I really havent been doing much except being lazy. It doesnt help that my electric to my kiln still isnt fixed but all else is good. Once I get that fixed WATCH OUT!


SO! I would love to hear what projects everyone is working on, what are you all up to in your studio?

Hmm a few warmer days here, so I am getting out into the shop. I have some mugs to throw, Chalice and paten set to throw, and a bunch of salsa dishes. This should use up most of the clay on hand. So that will mean a trip to Pittsburgh in the van. Hopefully I will be getting a larger 220 v heater in the shop by mid February. Orders have to be finished by March/April. Weather here in the winter is a problem-so far milder than usual. Last winter we had >32F from October on. This year much milder.

[SShirley]

Denice, on 06 January 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

It's good to be lazy for a while, my son requested a shaving skuttle a week before X-Mass so I made two but there not quite the size he wants so he's sending me measurements for the size he wants. I started a tiling project with talavera tile and some I made mixed in, it's a breakfast booth. I have about 800 tiles to lay since Talavera tile is irreqular in size and are warped, they are slow to lay so this will take me a while. I have been working on different types of design on mugs and doing more research on C6 glazes, I had a visitor yesterday SShirley from the forums came by to visit and see my studio. Sylvia lives about 300 miles away, she was in the area visiting her sister, she has a beautiful gallery/store and a huge shop and brought me a mug, I really enjoyed the visit. The only thing I didn't do was work on my computer skills but when the weather gets nasty maybe I'll work on it, yesterday was 67 degrees so I try to be outside as much as possible. That's lazy post holiday weeks for me I hope your kiln gets fixed soon. Denice

Denice, I had a wonderful time meeting you and seeing your beautiful home and studio and your amazing work. Your tile work is very beautiful. You should post photos of your fountain and breakfast nook. Thanks for letting us visit and being so gracious about our little tagalong. We really enjoyed our visit!
Sylvia

[teardrop]

buckeye, on 06 January 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

Teardrop - I went to your profile then to your gallery and seen your pitchers, I for one think they are very cool, thank you for adding them to your gallery!

Thanks for taking the time to >look< and then comment, buckeye. I hope ya get everything squared away with yer kiln SOON. Ya gotta be goin into withdrawals by now!

addiction is an ugly thing, huh?

be well.

[buckeye]

teardrop, on 07 January 2012 - 09:30 AM, said:

buckeye, on 06 January 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

Teardrop - I went to your profile then to your gallery and seen your pitchers, I for one think they are very cool, thank you for adding them to your gallery!

Thanks for taking the time to >look< and then comment, buckeye. I hope ya get everything squared away with yer kiln SOON. Ya gotta be goin into withdrawals by now!

addiction is an ugly thing, huh?

be well.

Your not kidding, I am SO addicted!! Being patient though and I know once its fixed there shouldnt be anymore problems, should be good for a while.. I hope!

[Marcia Selsor]

Built a wedging table for the Univ. classroom. Delivered pieces to an exhibition, fired my first raku of 2012 for a show next week. Slaking down hundreds of pounds of dried up porcelain at school, applied for several residencies and already got one for next Fall. Picking up supplies for the Univ. from Austin. Hope to see some shows while here with my husband who has meetings for 3 days. Also working on courses for Spring semester. Working on ^6 reduction workshop this coming weekend.
Then it all starts next Tues.
Fast break!Hope everyone is off to a productive New Year!
Marcia

[TJR]

Buckeye, you slacker! I spent the holiday moving into my dream studio! Yes, heat in the floor, seven windows, no stairs to haul clay up and finished work down I don't have my kiln installed yet, so I am back in my old studio trying to glaze 40 mugs on a card table. Luckily I had the foresight to not move four of my glazes. Packed the glaze tongs though. If I could figure this blog out, I would post some pictures for all of you to drool. How do I get to the gallery to see these amazing pictures of the pitchers? Or is it "pichers "of the pitchers?
To be continued. Back teaching highschool art on Monday.
TJR.

[teardrop]

I've been busying counting "negative reputation" points that I've been given by the self-appointed small-minded folks on this website.


As far as clay..... Still working on pitchers here... I started a new series/shape...totally by accident, really. My wife was making something else and cut out a pattern....and when I saw the remaining peice of scrap from her cut-out it just screamed at me to be used....so that's what i did. I've made 4 in this style...all but this first one are adorned with designwork on the sides and I am also experimenting with applying "trim" to cover the seams rather than smoothing them out to see how that may work.

Kinda like the simple-look of this handle.

I've also been experimenting with making wood molds I can use to sturdy things up/press against as I affix the slabs together for the body of the pitcher. I also ordered an extruder and some nice cutting wheels so I can ditch the kitchen knife and quit making small "noodles" of clay for the seams by hand. Both of these approaches will cut down the production time I'm now experiencing.

I am also reading/absorbing all I can about GLAZING/GLAZES. My instructor is going to be offering some "side" classes on glazing that I plan to attend and I am currently working on an Excel spreadsheet and am going through recipes and tagging formulas. when I am finished I should be able to hit the magic button and see the exact quantities of materials I will need to make a series of glazes. Also looking at some commercial glazes as well. Either way...glazes and glazing are something I plan to focus on and understand as much as possible in all of this

fun stuff all around....

teardrop

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[Mark C.]

I had PRC wrist surgery on Jan.3rd-3 bones removed.I have been starting my physical therapy on right hand today. Got back from a two day trip to SF at UCSF-Surgeon took cast off and told me To start PT.Scar looks like about 3 inched long-I'd post a photo but do not want to gross anyone out
My only limitation is my own pain level-Hand is a dead weight with very little finger movement-ned lots of work now

Yesterday I cancelled my best spring show in Tempe AZ-it would have been my 20th annual consecutive spring tempe show
I'm out of clay for at least 3-4 months
I'm just hoping to be able to continue my career in clay-next show in mid may
I'm really glad I made tons of pots before this surgery as I have be making my rounds with my wife's help keeping my gallery/outlets full of pottery so I can keep the $ flowing
This hand surgery has been harder on her in some ways
Mark