LeeU

My last fire was last August and when I read the QotW I thought I'd best skip this one. Well, I feel much better after reading Pres' comment about not firing since last September!  I keep a log.  Began in 2014 , when was doing 6, then 4,  then 3; since 2020, averaging 2.   Always low production w/ hardly any pressing deadlines, a too-big kiln, and self-permission to just go w/the flow of Lee-Life.  I should have a kiln load ready by March. I've had to adapt  "everything" involved w/the process to minor cognitive impairment (MCI), a result of minor TBI (traumatic brain injury). It is not--or so they say--progressive.  So, theoretically, once I get the hang of what I really can & can't do, I should be good to go w/no surprises. My motivation & level of acceptance took a near fatal hit, but I'm beginning to enjoy exploring a new style. The next fire is my first post-diagnosis test run--will she sink or will she swim?? The main challenge is that construction is fairly rough & funky , but I don't want the pieces to look too rough & too funky,  so I need to turn the heat up under the burner labeled "visually appealing", and pray.

My last fire was last August and when I read the QotW I thought I'd best skip this one. Well, I feel much better after reading Pres' comment about not firing since last September!  I keep a log.  Began in 2014 , when was doing 6, then 4,  then 3; since 2020, averaging 2.   Always low production w/ hardly any pressing deadlines, a too-big kiln, and self-permission to just go w/the flow of Lee-Life.  I should have a kiln load ready by March. I've had to adapt  "everything" involved w/the process to minor cognitive impairment (MCI), a result of minor TBI (traumatic brain injury). It is not--or so they say--progressive.  So, theoretically, once I get the hang of what I really can & can't do, I should be good to go w/no surprises. My motivation & level of acceptance took a near fatal hit, but I'm beginning to enjoy exploring a new style. The next fire is my first post-diagnosis test run--will she sink or will she swim?? The main challenge is that construction is fairly rough & funky , but I don't want the pieces to look too rough & too funky,  so I need to turn the heat up under the burner labeled "visually appealing", and pray.

Holy cannoli-you have an amazing attitude-good for you! If you get tired, let yourself be tired, tho, don't push it--and best wishes going forward.

I'm trying out a new ^6 white w/grog and am in the process of rehydrating 50 lbs, in batches. It was already hardened by the time I got it. It had taken 2 months for the company to get it to me in the first place, so I was already ticked when it came "half baked", so to speak.  SInce they had refunded my payment I decided to just "let it go" and didn't bother to ask for a fresh replacement. I'll be using it to fill my kiln for an early spring fire. I got some new glazes I'm eager to try, so this will keep me busy for the next 2 months. 

I'm trying out a new ^6 white w/grog and am in the process of rehydrating 50 lbs, in batches. It was already hardened by the time I got it. It had taken 2 months for the company to get it to me in the first place, so I was already ticked when it came "half baked", so to speak.  SInce they had refunded my payment I decided to just "let it go" and didn't bother to ask for a fresh replacement. I'll be using it to fill my kiln for an early spring fire. I got some new glazes I'm eager to try, so this will keep me busy for the next 2 months. 

I'm trying out a new ^6 white w/grog and am in the process of rehydrating 50 lbs, in batches. It was already hardened by the time I got it. It had taken 2 months for the company to get it to me in the first place, so I was already ticked when it came "half baked", so to speak.  SInce they had refunded my payment I decided to just "let it go" and didn't bother to ask for a fresh replacement. I'll be using it to fill my kiln for an early spring fire. I got some new glazes I'm eager to try, so this will keep me busy for the next 2 months. 

I have zero plans for pot shop work for February. March is a big maybe?
I painted  the wood floor in throwing room just after xmas as the industrial paint wore though in the traffic areas in the last twenty years. That was a big job getting all the throwing area empty then extra mopping and drying and sanding, then two coats of really nasty heavy duty floor paint which is grey and I had 3/4 of a gallon left over from twenty years ago when I built the throwing  addition and painted the floor before the walls went up . I wore the super duty resperator where no smells get through to do this job and had doors open whenever it was not raining for weeks. .
That said I threw two kiln loads and fiired them in January for backstock to last through  Feb and March. for my outlets
Today I head south for 4 hours to  Santa Rosa to have a tarrsal tunnel sugery on my right foot in early am on Monday . (its like carpel tunnel only on the foot (ankle area is the compression area) This is about twice as hard recovery from carpel tunnel surgery I'm told . Both my feet are numb on balls ,one for a year so I'm trying this 1st foot to see if it works. If it does I'll do the other foot later. The cast stays on for 3 weeks and my foot cannot touch the ground for those 3 weeks. I have a knee scooter and crutches and will be laid up on pain killers for a spell. I hate drugs.My rehab starts in 6 weeks from tomorrow (mid March)so no pots being made. The nerve gets compressed just like in carpel tunnel so they cut the sheath to allow the nerve more room. PS ,I never have had carpel tunnel but know all about it from  my wrist surgeons and friends who had that surgery 
 I did throw a few salt cellars yesterday with some spare time on my hands.I'll need 80 of them by spring
I will order some tools  from Laguna so that a bit of clay stuff  when I'm off the pain meds. The tool order is mostly for others as Kemper tools may be gone soon as I noted in post last month.
I have some tax work lined up as well as a pile of books to read-none are about clay
I will have a huge wholesale order to do when I get my foot back but it will be late March at best. That order is every spring and it a Subaru with about 20 boxes of pots.No idea when that will get done this year at this time. Its my last day today with two good feet
Clay work is on hold for me for most of those two months
Getting old is not for the faint of Heart

When I returned to clay work after a lengthy career detour, I had a blast trying out a wide variety of commercial ^6-^10 bodies. I loved exploring the grays, browns, black, tan, whites, iron, grog, etc. (never reds-no can do-the staining makes me cringe). I lost access to wood firing when J. Baymore's anagama kiln went dark due to the closure of the Sharon Art Center  & the pandemic, which kept me from using the NH Potters Guild kiln--so my woodfiring days are gone. For woodfiring ^10 I loved Troy's T437 porcelain-the way it shows flame color (pic). For ^6  loved  Sheffield's T-3 Stoneware-a light buff, fine grog.  My favorite at the moment is IMC's Dragon Fruit, a speckled light gray that looks a bit like granite (pic).

Fans and clay studios - bad mix. Two very popular ways to get this done, place the pot on an unused wheel rotating very slowly and a fan blows on the pot while it’s revolving. Old habits die hard - folks would set their ware on top of an operating kiln (usually along the edge not where it could be screeming hot). Oh, and third I have chattered things nearly right after throwing (10 min.) by drying with a heat gun while still rotating slowly on the wheel until stiff enough to chatter. Dry evenly inside and out, don’t overheat.
None of these are great for the ware, but as a way to move the demonstration along ….. the bowl below was thrown, dried and chattered nearly all at once. Definitely dried out enough to demonstrate chattering.

"Climate Change" : Goldfinch,  budding lilac tree, & post-snow/freezing rain iced branches 1/24/24, in NH. I do some photography.  

"Climate Change" : Goldfinch,  budding lilac tree, & post-snow/freezing rain iced branches 1/24/24, in NH. I do some photography.  

"Climate Change" : Goldfinch,  budding lilac tree, & post-snow/freezing rain iced branches 1/24/24, in NH. I do some photography.  

"Climate Change" : Goldfinch,  budding lilac tree, & post-snow/freezing rain iced branches 1/24/24, in NH. I do some photography.  

"Climate Change" : Goldfinch,  budding lilac tree, & post-snow/freezing rain iced branches 1/24/24, in NH. I do some photography.  

Online stores aren’t less work than doing festivals or fairs, they’re just a different kind of work. Certainly less physical labour in terms of not having a booth to set up or tear down. But you have to be good at figuring out software, taking images and promoting yourself online somehow. Some people are really good at making social media connections, some people would rather have a root canal than play games with the algorithms.
As far as my personal opinion on Shopify vs Etsy goes, they’re comparing apples to oranges. Etsy is an online marketplace, and Shopify is a website building platform like Squarespace or weebly. You don’t go to Squarespace expecting them to drive traffic to you. But I’m not of the opinion that Etsy does a stellar ob of driving traffic to a given seller, and they change their SEO requirements frequently enough that no one can really make a consistent living off of it. 
Shopify is just focused primarily on e-commerce, and has a bunch of features that let it handle shopping traffic and security built in. If you build your own website on Shopify, you pay them flat fees and you own it as long as you don’t do anything illegal and keep paying them. You’re in control of your own audience, for good or ill. You’re in charge of driving your own traffic, whether through social meda, ads, your email list, SEO or other methods.
If you open an Etsy shop, they also focus on e-commerce and transactions are secure. But ultimately, they own the platform and you are subject to how they want you to run your business. You don’t have to go too far to find the cons of using Etsy. Some of the complaints are from people who aren’t approaching selling there like running a business, but some are quite valid. The way they run their external ads is borderline usury, the requirements for things like top seller badges are unsustainable and the fee structure is unnecessarily complicated. My accountant *hated* their obtuse reporting. But the reason I left was because the traffic they drove to my site didn’t result in any conversions in a 1 year period. The customers who bought were all from my own efforts (social media and newsletter).
 

I have a hard time imagining that best sellers could be ranked based on (implied? perceived? known?) preference for certain surface decoration and/or colors.  So many choices, so many makers, so many buyers, so many locations!! I'm now very interested to see what sellers here have to say! Also whether there is any insight as to whether location, time of year, sub-populations in the region, comments from buyers, other variables, etc. seems to influence what sells best. 

In the light blue field below the text comments field, see the paperclip bottom left--- you can  click  on the hyperlink for "choose files" to upload from your own files.  If the size exceeds capacity, it will tell you & then just reduce it in any editing program.  I use Paint (on a PC w/Windows)  & set my pics at 600 pixels for the max  measurement or reduce by a percentage.

I will just emphasize what Callie said regarding protection for hair--essential!! And, gloves--very necessary-not flamable, obviously, and w/strong protection for handling  wood, stone, metal other materials and items around a kiln site...you never know what you may run into. 

Wow  . . . while I always explain to my students just how long I spent learning enough to begin life as a professional potter (9 years with classes, the least 3 yrs were 30+ hr weeks),  words are all you got to prepare them for likely the most difficult  'hands-on'  endeavor the student has ever attempted, and they rarely suffice.
While I can speak to folks who have learned to play a fine instrument, I can convey - to some degree - the difficulty of the task in front of them. I tell them to recall when "less noise" was a 'victory' and apply that rate of progress to the wheel . . . and that helps . . . but the difference is that every music student has been told many times - for multiple years - "how difficult" learning to play is.  So,  music students are 'prepared' for the inevitable early lack of music and prevalence of "noise".
Not so the average pottery student . . . "I've seen 'Ghost' (the movie) "You can't tell me pottery is hard to do" is a quote from a 30-something yr old man I know.
Nobody spends any great amount of time telling their children how difficult pottery is and how long it will take even if they work hard. It hurts "exceptionally competent" people's feelings to be so bad at anything . . . much less,  something "as simple as pottery must be."
 
I will from now on use these words,  
"you do not "do pottery"  you become a potter."
 
Thanks,  old lady !!
 

So my experience of wood and soda firing as a medium sized woman is all  in the frozen north, but a number of my teachers actually were educated in Georgia and other, warmer places. I imagine March will be cooler for you, so it’ll be more comfortable. 
The best clothing is layers of 100% cotton you don’t mind getting dirty or wrecked. It should be not too baggy, so it’s not getting caught on things or subject to catching errant flames during a stoke. It should be loose enough to move comfortably in. The layers are so you can adjust to the changing temperature around the kiln site. It should be some form of natural fibre, because those will char, rather than melt like synthetics in the event of flying cinders or burns. Even the expensive orange canvas stuff will eventually get trashed, so get whatever fits that description that’s in your budget. I think a welding jacket is overkill, unless you find a comfortable one. 
The workboots are a good idea, although I will say that the newer, lightweight “steel” toes (I think they’re some kind of mesh now) are much more comfortable, and it’s pretty easy to find women’s sizes. Unless something goes very wrong, I haven’t encountered burnt feet, but axes and wood debris are worth being mindful of. Get the steel (or mesh) shank ones if you’re working with things like pallet wood that haven’t had nails removed. No one needs nails through the sole!
The only other thing I’d recommend is some form of hair covering. Even if you’ve got long hair that can be tied back, embers can still singe the flyaways.  Some cheap, colourful bandannas to keep you covered are nice. 
As far as soda or salt goes, *mostly* those are gas kilns, although sometimes people will add a few pounds of salt to the back chamber of a multi chambered wood kiln. The physical demands of soda are less, because you’re not having to chop wood or stoke, and the PPE concerns aren’t quite the same. When it comes time to spray or soda bomb, mostly you’re worried about your lungs and your vision. And your hair, again. You can wear the same cotton work clothing, workboots and bandanna. Watching a gas kiln fire is like watching paint dry, so you won’t be around it for more than brief checks until it’s time to add soda. Mostly folks move away from the kiln after the soda’s been added, and while the dampers are closed. So you’re only wearing most PPE during spraying or when you’re pulling draw rings/checking cones, etc. I’d contact the workshop provider, and ask what they provide for PPE, and what they recommend you bring. Usually you have to bring your own respirator, because they should be fitted properly. They will often provide face shields.
 
 

I use the printers blankets (free/low cost/different sizes from printers) that Old Lady turned us to, as well as (depending on project/purpose) slab mats. I use drywall for ware boards. I use a canvas covered large cement paver for some things. like cut & slam wedging.

I use the printers blankets (free/low cost/different sizes from printers) that Old Lady turned us to, as well as (depending on project/purpose) slab mats. I use drywall for ware boards. I use a canvas covered large cement paver for some things. like cut & slam wedging.

I use the printers blankets (free/low cost/different sizes from printers) that Old Lady turned us to, as well as (depending on project/purpose) slab mats. I use drywall for ware boards. I use a canvas covered large cement paver for some things. like cut & slam wedging.

Roughage!

More reading:
Very paranoid about Silicosis - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community
Silica Dust Exposure - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community
Can air purifiers remove silica dust from my Ceramic Studio - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community|
Dust Collection For Small Studio - Clay and Glaze Chemistry - Ceramic Arts Daily Community
Toxicity (digitalfire.com)
Dedicated Studio shoes/sandals, no tracking clay into the house!
For if/when clay gets on clothes, have a few clean sets handy in the Studio.
Change rags when there's any dry clay on thar, bag or drown in water, along with dusty clothing! ...else, wet that rag.
Wipe down clay smear/bits inside the clay bags with a big ol' sponge, then spray a mist of water in thar before closing up the bag.
Dry clay on plastic sheeting/bags -> instant dust!
Handle the dried out empty clay bags outside, away from the Studio (clean inside and out, save for reclaim!).
Some forum regulars are using air filtration systems, also centralized vacuums (where the exhaust is routed outside/away).
My overhead kiln vent doubles as a glaze mixing station fan.
I'm handling the glaze material outside, away from the Studio door - repacking from the sacks and bags into lidded containers - then hosing the area down later.
Find a P100 (or equivalent) dust mask/respirator that fits you well and wear it when doing dust things.
Check/clean surfaces regularly. Note where dust accumulates, and how much - that's why I believe wedging and trimming are what generates dust in my Studio.
How else can one assess the dusty-ness of the working space?
Heh, I've posed this question several times over the last five years or so...