Joseph Fireborn

Chilly, that's how it is with California. Except it's two drops of rain that stops us in our tracks. We drove down to L.A. last weekend after rain and there were accidents on every freeway.

I got an electric kettle this year for the studio. It's great for heating fresh throwing water and I also heat water to clean my wax resist brush.

My hands ache and burn when I go out there at night. During the day is fine. At night if I run a load of laundry in the dryer and use hot throwing water and wear layers it's not too bad.

Yeah, same here. It was fun. :3

Ah, the smell of fresh, musty clay!

Welp. Opened up some bags. Nice and moldy. Feels good to throw again. Started with a bowl as per usual.

take it easy, virus's have a way of coming back

Thanks for all the good wishes! Hope you all are doing well also.

Welp. Just finished spraying after 3.5 weeks of not touching a pot. Trying some new glaze combinations.

Sneezing while wearing a respirator builds back pressure: for the record.

Have you been to the doctor? I thought I had a bad head cold. It was two days before Xmas so I thought I would see my doctor before the holidays. Turned out I had pneumonia. Had to skip Xmas.

I go to the hospital a few times a month to see my blood doctors. They do nasal lavage and test it for everything. Clean so far. I have no idea what it is. It is almost over though. Ready to get back out there. I have been doing a lot of glaze study and reading.

I finally got around to watching it. So relaxing with the piano music. I loved seeing your process.

I really enjoyed watching your video. And I have bookmark you for future videos, etc. You are doing so well. Thanks for sharing.

Joseph, I couldn't find a place to follow your blog. Did I miss it or is there just no button?

Last order of clay I got from my supplier was almost soup. Had to dry it out on plaster boards. Next time I am opening a bag before I pick it up.

That would be awful. I want it soft but not soup or wet.

Check the made on date. My supplier stamps all their in shop clay. They are pretty good about rotation, it's (FIFO) First In First Out.

The excitement of experimenting.

Looking great! I left some comments. Truly a gorgeous color!

i left some honest comments in your gallery, i was to blablabla to write it all here.

Thanks for honest comments and thoughts everyone/

yea its neat. I never thought about it, i mean its useless for anyone who doesn't have a disk spinning 24/7, but still neat to watch.

You have a point, Joseph. It's still incredible though.

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

So happy that you had that good experience, Joseph!

posted the final glaze surface of all my testing in my gallery, three close ups of a cup. perfectly glossy and within limits. CAN it get any better... I am sure it can, more test to come.

Yes. Great isn't it!

Yeah, that's why I currently leave the glaze mixing up to you wizards...

lol. wizard. more like bumbling baboon.

A Baboon Wizard? Sounds like a new animated film!

Standard

Did you all already tried to throw with Southern Ice? Absolutely best porcelain to throw, ever!

I haven't. The main reason for buying a bag was to try a glaze combination out that I really enjoyed on stoneware, hoping it would be brighter on porcelain. It ended up being a lot more boring on porcelain as the iron from the stoneware body comes out into the glazes and makes the much more interesting. So I will probably just turn the rest of the bag into slip.

Welp. I think I might have found a temporary direction for a while. I just unloaded one of the best pots in my short career. Pictures coming soon. I also figured out how to layer my white so that it wouldn't be so boring. But I will have to do a ton of testing before that is ready to be used on actual pots. This black iron rich glaze is so darn beautiful.

The problem with going in a direction is you never have consistent stock xD

I think I am going to go for it and just see what I can do with these 3 glazes. Of course I will satisfy my testing hunger with my yunomis as they are a wonderful place to explore form and surface. Can it be true? Will I stick to it? I highly doubt it. HBP is always right.

Except it rained today! So I am throwing 3# bowls all day. I forget how much I enjoy throwing bowls. Something so simple that is so complex to get a beautiful inside and outside curve. Plus all the different profiles. So enjoyable. Kiln at 650F. MUST RESIST.

Listings? You sell real estate I take it?

Etsy Listings.

SO glad for you, your pots are really excellent too!

Thanks Babs! Really loving pottery.

I don't always have days like this. But when I get so much done, with a smile. Good on you Joseph.

I gave up rather quickly because it hindered crystal development. On my winter list to try it again.

im going to use the grid method on this, when I get the book in the mail soon. I think that will be the best way to figure it out as the glaze will pool and i can test many things quickly, or atleast I hope quickly once I learn it all.

How did any of your tests go? Did you return to them? Searching the forums for various Silicon Carbide posts.

Joseph: I recommend anger management courses; throwing things is a sign of anger from stress.

= ). Oh my son loves to come in when I am throwing pots away. He puts on his safety goggles and tosses them in the trashcan as hard as he can. BAM.

Mine gets horribly gritty dusty,and not from clay. It blows in from the window into the yard.

Yea. I had more leaves and pollen then dust. I open the garage during the day to get fresh air and hear the birds sing and let my dog lay on the driveway. The wind blows it all in, rather annoying.

Exactly what happens with mine! As if pottery wasn't messy enough already!

That moment when you go into your studio and throw away all the test mugs and cups youve been making over the last year, then realize your trashbag is to heavy to pick up out of the trash can. The sound of funky blues playing in the background and the sudden urge to throw yunomi off the hump. Life is perfect.

Patience always pays off.

i hope so. lots of work ahead of me.

Ooh never thought about that aspect ....

yea, a lot of the times ill make a nice yunomi on a bat when I just get a feeling to make one in my sessions, then after ive made it, im like, this foot is too short for the cup height and I dont like it. throwing off the hump solves this problem. and i need to learn to throw off hump anyways cause I am going to start making a lot of jars and lids are much easier off the humpedy hump.

I tried it once. Threw two small bowls and a vase. Worked pretty well but it was strange because I'm used to weighing everything.

Should I send you a case of Red Bull? 2 packs of No-Doz, and 5 gallons of coffee?

No thanks. Just sweet tea does the trick.

Finalizing glaze recipes is part of the process.

I think my work is going to go in a different direction for a while. I am interested in exploring some of the surfaces I got in my firing. Most of the pieces were poop, but there are spots on the pieces that are beautiful and very interesting.

Can't wait to see your results good or bad.

It's La Nina I think. But I have no idea what that means. All I know is its 70 degrees one day, and then below freezing the next. It's absurd and makes everyone have sinus problems all the time. I dont like to work when its that cold, cause even with my heater in the garage it still hurts my body.

You hang in there Joseph I think your doing great work and spring will be here soon.

Thanks. This week is supposed to be nice, so back in the studio I go!

Joseph, you should try a currie tile next time. Once you try it you won't go back

I thought about a currie tile or a tri blend. I am not sure where to start. I probably wont even worry about it for a while as I have so much other more important work to do. Maybe when I get some slow time or I just feel like taking a break to experiment.

Posted some of the stuff from the kiln, just a few pictures. My wave mug came out ok. Needs more work. Can't wait to put that on the inside of a large shallow bowl.