: nairda - Viewing Profile

Try stirring small amounts of water into the jar of latex when it starts to get a little thick. In addition to keeping the jar tightly closed it helps to then put it in a ziplock bag. Also a good idea to not store it in your kiln room. I use Mold Maker brand (sold at chain craft stores). I had the same problem with Forbes wax on highly textured surfaces...all those tiny glaze droplets in places a sponge won't easily clean. Faster to peel off the latex than do all that sponging.

Have used both Amaco Liquid Underglaze and Velvets with no running beneath clear glazes. Used Highwater Little Loafers. Under glazes applied to leather hard clay, bisque to cone 06. Used either of the clear glazes found in Mastering Cone Six Glazes. Fired to cone 6. Line work stays put, but most of it is on horizontal surfaces.

With yarn bowls it helps to rest the bowl on its rim when cutting the opening for the yarn. Drill a hole and then start the channel from there. Cut through the rim section last and dry the bowl upside down and lightly covered to let it dry slowly. Also helps to use a good quality knife (Dolan for example) and lightly oil it so it slips easily through the clay body.

Just a follow up as to how the class went. From the written evals and from feedback in person, the students really enjoyed the class and were very satisfied with their learning experience. We were very clear about the class being just a very small venture into the wide world of clay, and about having realistic expectations.

They made amazing progress (some came in when the studio had open hours outside of class and it turned out that two of the six had a little prior clay experience). Thank you for all the suggestions.

Draw your image on paper. Then tape lightweight drycleaner plastic over your drawing and trace your image with a Sharpie. Now you can take the thin, clear plastic sheet and position it anywhere you want on your piece to see how it will look. When you like the placement, just trace over the lines with a stylus or dull pencil to transfer the lines to your pot.

If you find your image is too small or too large, just take your original drawing to a copy machine and re-size the image. Then use the plastic bag trick.