[Nelly]

Dear All,

Just read this interesting news article. Not sure I can publish it but thought I would put it out these for others to peruse.

Seems that people are stealing the mane or hair from horses.

In this article they mention one theory is that it is used by potters in their raku firing.

Now how silly is that?? Can you imagine a potter jumping a fence to steal huge amounts of horse hair??

While I have never done this sort of pottery technique my guess is that the responsible potter doing this horse hair approach would do it responsibly.

I say, do not blame it on the potters. It is someone else.

Wonder if it will affect sales for those who do this method given this theory presentation in newspapers.

http://www.thestar.c...merican-midwest

Nelly

[Idaho Potter]

Hey, if you know anyone who has a horse you can get all the horsehair needed for raku--offer to help comb the horse. If it is the mane (or tail) hair, and it's been cut, it was probably taken by the folks who make horsehair belts and hatbands. They get big bucks for those, and need the straight hairs for their braiding. Us potters don't care if it's the ball of hair from combing the tail, it all makes good marks.

[Nelly]

Idaho Potter, on 06 October 2012 - 04:37 PM, said:

Hey, if you know anyone who has a horse you can get all the horsehair needed for raku--offer to help comb the horse. If it is the mane (or tail) hair, and it's been cut, it was probably taken by the folks who make horsehair belts and hatbands. They get big bucks for those, and need the straight hairs for their braiding. Us potters don't care if it's the ball of hair from combing the tail, it all makes good marks.

Dear Idaho,

Just seems odd they would lump us in with "possible suspects" for this crime. Maybe they were just reaching in this article for someone to blame. I almost want to say that potters are being "profiled" in this article but I am not that narrow. I just wonder whether with this type of presentation will make people stop and wonder about this form of pottery. Some may even question the humanity of it with articles that identify it in this way. And I do agree, the marks on the pottery that the carbon lays are beautiful. I remember being mesmerized the first time I saw one of these pots in the craft gallery in Yorkville/Toronto. I thought now how can I do it?? As it turns out, it is a bit too complex for me right now but I can definitely see the aesthetic. Just thought I would share this article with the group.

Nelly

[JBaymore]

What you have there is a crappy piece of journaism.

Try doing a Google search for "uses for horse hair" and the first hit is Wikipedia... and look at what THAT has to say.

Wonder where the "reporter" got the idea to include potters?

Pile of BS.

best,

...............john

[Lucille Oka]

JBaymore, on 06 October 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

What you have there is a crappy piece of journaism.

Try doing a Google search for "uses for horse hair" and the first hit is Wikipedia... and look at what THAT has to say.

Wonder where the "reporter" got the idea to include potters?

Pile of BS.

best,

...............john

John is there any potter who uses horse hair in their clay work? Of course there are, that is probably why decorative pottery was included in the article. It didn't just single out pottery but included it. The comments were a bit more specific.

I hope that old potters are not jumping fences and cutting off horses’ manes and tails, but throwing a ranch or stable hand 20 or 30 bucks for a bag of horse hair is not above a human being's actions for something that they want or ‘need’. If this happens just a few times it will get around to the ranches and stables that a few bucks can be had by doing this and the market grows.

[Nelly]

JBaymore, on 06 October 2012 - 07:16 PM, said:

What you have there is a crappy piece of journaism.

Try doing a Google search for "uses for horse hair" and the first hit is Wikipedia... and look at what THAT has to say.

Wonder where the "reporter" got the idea to include potters?

Pile of BS.

best,

...............john

John,

I have to wonder as well?? But then again, when I did a search of this story, I found others that mentioned this same thing so it is curious.

In between waxing the bottom of my pots I also looked up horse haired belts. Pretty darn expensive.

But yeah, bad journalism but more importantly a story repeated in other sources. Like I said "potter profiling."

Nelly

[JBaymore]

Nelly, on 06 October 2012 - 10:37 PM, said:

But yeah, bad journalism but more importantly a story repeated in other sources.

Stuff that gets posted on the net gets re-used all the time and it speards like wildfire. Usually without much in the way of background checking. Look at all the stuff you see that warns you abount something that speads like crazy.... and is totally a hoax as documented on somethong like Snopes.

Yeah... the horesehair raku technique exists. It is not all that common a practice within a ceramic commuinty that is itself not all that big. I doubt it is the potters that are contributing to this issue... but the other uses that are far more common... and higher grossing endeavors.

best,

...............john

[Marcia Selsor]

Funny this should come up after doing a horse hair firing with my French Raku workshop group. I always get the horse hair from horse owners and they get it from their brushes after grooming their horses. It doesn't take much to get a line. as an old potter, I guarantee I am not night poaching over fences.

I have been used feathers more than horse hair. tailless ducks are on the rise!!!!
Just kidding.

Marcia

[JBaymore]

I understand that rice farmers in Japan are seeing their crops suddenly disappear overnight as the potters steal the rice to burn the straw and husks for ash.

best,

..............john

PS: I use horse hair for making brushes. I get it from horse owners when they occasionally trim the manes / tails. It is prescious stuff, they do not do that very often. I make a few brushes a year at most. The average might be one a year over 40 years.

The "burn hair on hot pots" technique for me is out... can't STAND the smell.

[sawing]

Couple of things:

First, I wouldn't lump all potters in with any other group, and I wouldn't lump all potters in the SAME group. Everyone is different, and I wouldn't put anything past anybody. We have had numerous artists trespass and steal from our farm in the name of their art. I don't think any of us could say with 100% certainty that no potter would ever steal horse hair. That's just not realistic.

That being said, I agree that even if there are some potters stealing horse hair, the numbers would be so small that it certainly wouldn't contribute measurably to this problem.

Second, if you do have a source for your horsehair, please consider offering them a little something for it. We supply hay to many horse farms in our area, and because of the nation-wide drought, the cost of feeding those beasts has risen drastically. Horse owners are hurting right now.

That is all.

[Cass]

ridiculous!...everyone knows its the violin bow makers!

[ayjay]

My pottery tutor owns a couple of horses and always has a supply on hand for Raku sessions, so, wasn't me.

[Denice]

Perhaps it's the people on ebay that sell horse hair. Denice

[Idaho Potter]

I get my horsehair from owners, and repay by inviting them to a raku firing. I always have a dozen or so extra small pots so visitors can glaze and fire and clean up one to take home. The horse owners love to take home something decorated by their horses hair (gotta agree with John tho, it sure does stink!). My bet is on eBay sellers. They go where they can make money.

[smastca]

Well, now I know why my horse has a bald spot on his mane.

LOL Actually, its from his friends playing and taking out 3 inches of mane in a mouthful.

But I have been supplying my teacher with hair. There's always lots of it around the barn.

[Rebel_Rocker]

After reading the first post my first thought was also braiders are more likely.

Look at the numbers.

1 horse hair pot = 1-3 horse hairs.

1 horse hair bracelet = 50 horse hairs. (guess)

If a potter were to steal a mane or tail it would probably last them a couple years. If a braider did it it would last a couple items. Where is the demand?

It doesn't rule out a potter/potters doing it, but it's more likely even if they are a part of the problem they are most likely a very small part of the problem.

[Lucille Oka]

Marcia Selsor, on 06 October 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Funny this should come up after doing a horse hair firing with my French Raku workshop group. I always get the horse hair from horse owners and they get it from their brushes after grooming their horses. It doesn't take much to get a line. as an old potter, I guarantee I am not night poaching over fences.

I have been used feathers more than horse hair. tailless ducks are on the rise!!!!
Just kidding.

Marcia

I really don't see the fascination with the horse hair effects. All I have ever seen is squiggly black/brown lines that can also be achieved with underglaze and a liner/striper brush. Yes it is a lot more work and does require decorating skills you know like potters do.

Don't worry Marcia, ducks you can always l'orange after plucking the feathers, bon appetite!

[Marcia Selsor]

Lucille Oka, on 07 October 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

Marcia Selsor, on 06 October 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Funny this should come up after doing a horse hair firing with my French Raku workshop group. I always get the horse hair from horse owners and they get it from their brushes after grooming their horses. It doesn't take much to get a line. as an old potter, I guarantee I am not night poaching over fences.

I have been used feathers more than horse hair. tailless ducks are on the rise!!!!
Just kidding.

Marcia

I really don't see the fascination with the horse hair effects. All I have ever seen is squiggly black/brown lines that can also be achieved with underglaze and a liner/striper brush. Yes it is a lot more work and does require decorating skills you know like potters do.

Don't worry Marcia, ducks you can always l'orange after plucking the feathers, bon appetite!

I have eaten more duck in France than I have in years. last time it was with figs. delicious.
Marcia

[Nelly]

Marcia Selsor, on 08 October 2012 - 01:02 AM, said:

Lucille Oka, on 07 October 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

Marcia Selsor, on 06 October 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Funny this should come up after doing a horse hair firing with my French Raku workshop group. I always get the horse hair from horse owners and they get it from their brushes after grooming their horses. It doesn't take much to get a line. as an old potter, I guarantee I am not night poaching over fences.

I have been used feathers more than horse hair. tailless ducks are on the rise!!!!
Just kidding.

Marcia

I really don't see the fascination with the horse hair effects. All I have ever seen is squiggly black/brown lines that can also be achieved with underglaze and a liner/striper brush. Yes it is a lot more work and does require decorating skills you know like potters do.

Don't worry Marcia, ducks you can always l'orange after plucking the feathers, bon appetite!

I have eaten more duck in France than I have in years. last time it was with figs. delicious.
Marcia

On another note, I do wonder if human hair would not do something similar on a pot. Does human hair contain the necessary carbon to make these lines??

Just irks me someone would lump us in with people who steal in the name of craft. It is, as has been said, more likely someone making "big" money in the same way they did with ivory. Thank you to everyone who showed an interest in this topic.

Nelly

[Marc McMillan]

It is silly imagining a potter would steal horsehair since you can spend $20 and get enough horsehair to last you hundreds of pots.

Regarding the use of human hair: you can use it, but the line is going to be much finer. I also use the hair from my black labs....I seem to have copius amounts of it.
Marc