Karen B

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Karen B student forever

Topics I've Started

Mikail Zakin 1920 - 2012

Posted 28 Sep 2012

Mikail Zakin (1920-2012)
We were saddened to learn this past week that Mikail Zakin passed away after a short illness. She spent the last part of her summer teaching at Castle Hill on the Cape and encouraged her students to keep going and growing their work in clay. Mikail was the co-founder and president of Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, New Jersey. She helped teach and inspire two generations of potters. She was a force right up to the end of her 92 years. Anne Bailey was involved in the early pottery shows that were organized by Mikail Zakin and Karen Karnes at Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, New Jersey. These shows still go on today.
Anne remembers,

"Mikail was such an inspiration to so many potters. When the shows at Old Church first began back in the 1970's, we would all gather at Mikail's house for dinner to share stories and food. Mikail along with Karen were strong advocates for the creative life and helped many aspiring young potters find their way. When I last saw Mikhail last year she was as sharp and interesting as ever! She will be greatly missed."

A memorial service will be held at the:

Art School at Old Church, Demarest, NJ on October 6 at 6:00 PM

Click here for the Old Church website for more information: http://tasoc.org/
Cost of pots

Posted 28 Aug 2012

I would greatly appreciate help as I have been basically winging it when it comes to pricing my pottery as I
don't know the cost. I fire twice electric, cone 04 and 6. I glaze from large batches I mixed from bulk materials.
I buy clay in bulk.

Could someone help me with a method or formula to figure out my cost per pot?
I remember that in some studios, they price costs for students at a certain price per square inch.
So I'm guessing this is based on some formula to figure costs. Thank you.
Envirovent died. How to vent?

Posted 18 Jul 2012

My vent died as I was starting a bisque (of course I have a show on Sunday!).

I found info on how to vent the bisque, but I haven't found anything on how to vent the cone 6 firing.

I am really worried as to how the glaze fire will come out. I have a 12 cu.ft skutt kiln with computer controller.
I have 3 large platters which leave just enough room on the shelves for the posts, and a bunch of bowls and mugs.

My kiln is in my garage studio. I left the window and side door open with a fan facing the window.
The garage door doesn't open although it has about a foot open at the bottom. (my 16 yr old just drove into it a couple days ago)

I did read that I need to remove the vent for the glaze fire and plug the holes in the bottom.

I appreciate any suggestions to make this work until I can get this vent repaired.
Large Platters Cracking

Posted 6 Jun 2012

A couple of years ago I rolled out white stoneware and made 3 large platters (19 inches) with extensive surface design.
They all broke into 3 or 4 large pieces.
Now I have a Bailey slab roller and made a couple of rounded rectangle tiles (18 x 10). I ran them once through the slab
roller (5/8"). They both cracked into large warped pieces in the bisque.
I tried again with the platters and rolled them down gradually in different directions until they were at 5/8 inch. I put them
on the wheel to cut them round (20 inches) and did a little compression with a rib, as well as pulled up a rim. They are drying
now and I hate to lose them in the firing.
My questions are, should I buy single shelves to fire them on? Could it be the fault of the overlap on 2 half shelves? Should I try putting,
maybe, grog underneath them to create a movable surface? Or, could the way I rolled them out do the trick?
I'm firing to cone 6 electric with an extended cool down program.
Attached is a picture of one of the platters, rolled by hand, that I glued back together. You can see the cracks.
Thank you.