: SShirley - Viewing Profile

http://www.edgefield...-3d-technology/

This popped up in my google alerts today.

I wish there was an online sales venue just for potters. Like Etsy but without the collectibles and vintage stuff and bows stuck to flower pots. The ones I see now are so full of other stuff that it's hard to find the handmade pottery. The same for Art Fire and Shop Handmade.com.

Maybe Potters Council could set one up and help promote it. That would be a great benefit to get potters to join the potters council. They could charge a sales percentage like Etsy does, and a listing fee or whatever.

I thought I saw a site like that once a long time ago, but can't find it again. It had really nice photos from really professional potters.

This is what I had in mind, but it's for British potters. http://www.onlinecer...om/our-artists/
We US potters need something like that.

Are you listening, Santa?

OK, so I'm sitting here in my gallery with nothing much to do, waiting and hoping for somebody - ANYBODY - to come in the door, so I started thinking. Dangerous, huh?

What if we could start a National Day of Clay, and it could be a day where all the potters (or at least a lot) across the country would open their studios and galleries and welcome visitors, to show people what we do. It would be a way to introduce people to our art form (and to us) and show them the benefits of buying and using our pottery. It could be promoted online with a web site where you could type in your zip code and it would tell you where the potters are within a certain radius of your home. Individual potters could promote it in their towns, maybe newspaper stories, or something with the chamber of commerce, or whatever, and it could grow bigger and bigger and bigger every year. Maybe we could get supporters like NCECA and Ceramics Monthly, or suppliers to help promote it. It could be as big a deal as the potters want it to be. Some might want to make it a party, some might want a low-key classy affair. Some might want to invite people to try their hand on the wheel, some might want to schedule a kiln opening for that day, or have door prizes or a drawing for some pottery, some might want to invite school children, who knows what we could think of to do. But it could be the same time every year, so people could look forward to it. Some potters might want to make a commemerative mug or tile to sell for each year's Day of Clay, and people could collect them. Universities and high schools could be involved. Museums maybe.

Some places, like North Carolina, really promote pottery, so it would be less important there, but I live in a very small town, in a economically depressed area, so any kind of promotion would be helpful. I'm not good a self promotion, but I do enjoy group promotion. Of course, we could all do something like this individually, but it would be more fun if it were part of a huge deal. Strength in numbers and all that.

What do you all think? Any other ideas?

Sylvia
Pittsburg, Kansas

I've been meaning to post this for a while and just got around to doing it.

This is a really easy system and works well. It's easy to re-position the pot later too, if needed.

Here's what you will need:

Creative Industries plastic square bat (about $7)
Vinyl screen molding (Home Depot - $6 for 12 feet, so there is plenty to share with friends)
PVC Cement (It's about $2 and also is plenty to share with friends)
Pruning shears
Several 6" ceramic floor tiles. They actually measure about 5 3/4", (Mine were about 59 cents each at Lowe's) Buy lots of tiles at the same time, so you can be sure they are all the same size.

Cut the screen molding with the pruning shears. I cut two pieces at 4" and two at 3 1/4".
Place the tile on the bat and position it with the molding pieces so it is in the center. I just eye-balled it.
Glue the molding pieces down using the pvc cement, so the molding is snug up against the tile.
Try not to get the cement under the tile.
Let it dry.

To use, just install the bat on the bat pins, and insert a tile. Throw the pot on the tile and remove it. If it doesn't come up easily you can use a putty knife under one of the exposed corners. Put in a new tile, repeat.

That's it.

I did this several years ago with concrete pavers and they really chewed up my pinky finger from centering. Glazed tiles are much better.

What do you do if you start to lose interest. I've been in a long slow slump lately and can't manage to finish anything. I have tons of bisque on the shelves and absolutely no energy to get it glazed. Shows are coming up very soon, so I have to get moving. I guess I'll start by cleaning and organizing my glazing room and see if that helps. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Sylvia