Rae Reich

My Dad, and a lot of WWII GIs, made rings from coins by tapping evenly around the rim with a spoon while holding and rotating from the center. The one made by Dad for his bride was so evenly tapped that you could still read the compressed wording inside. I think it was a quarter. The center was drilled out to size. He saved a failure that had gone wonky and was undrilled. I always imagined a whole bunch of guys all tapping, tapping, tapping while being transported across the Pacific …

Resin, Femo or Egyptian paste, in my opinion would be more ‘wearable’ materials for a finger because they do not fracture as sharply when broken or chipped. It’s a romantic idea but makes me cringe thinking how Porcelain shards are very sharp. (Maybe my hands get into more mischief than some other folks)

That’s a nice, efficient list, @Pres! Probably close to the minimum for most of us. I wondered whether to count trips on the wareboard when the pot isn’t handled but is moved. Doing a lot of glaze detail can stretch out intermittently for days. I really do enjoy handling my pieces and pots as I’m working with them. After all, we only have them for a short time and there’s often something to learn.

Attachments that aren’t stuck on tight are goin to fall off anyway, with vibration. I prefer leather-hard so they don’t dent but can be repaired if a handle falls off

Hi, Donna, Your project idea seems to put all the Research and Design expense and effort onto the craftsperson. Unless these will be able to command a high price with some guarantee of orders, I don’t imagine experienced potters would take you up on the offer. If you need standardized sizes and styles that can be personalized, you are asking for some kind of small-batch manufacturing, which would require serious up-front money. How serious are you? Rae ps, are these funeral urns?

On the creative side, I learned so much from most of my ‘mistakes’ that it’s hard to imagine not having made them. The things I learned too late were on the business side: (1) how to be practical about the narrow profit margin at large ‘craft fairs’ as imports invaded them and (2) if I wasn’t going to regularly monitor consignment sales I’d better not do them at all.

Well done!

Have you tried throwing while standing? Is the wheel on blocks for that reason? My Brent is on a Brent stand because the standard height (or, lowness) is hard on my back. I don’t stand to throw, though. I have a bar stool that puts my butt at the right height and two crates for my feet and the pedal. I didn’t come to this arrangement right away - took some years of testing, using other wheels, watching other potters, and listening to my body Good luck on your quest - maybe the studio would be willing to sell that old thing to you! Organize a pottery sale to fund them a new one?

Thinly cast porcelain, from the shards, would have just skittered across that elbow-high pedestal. Nice of Koons to make small, affordable copies of his signature dog “for the peasants.” If you get one for yourself, be sure to use Museum Putty! Can I get one that’s inflatable? oops! “… a little kick in the pedestal “ brought it down.

My Granny, (b.1888, d.1976) grew up in Utah and described to skeptical new potter me how the native potters there glazed their ware with milk! Sorry I doubted you, Granny!

Are you hoping to have a liner glaze that is watertight ? Generally, the stresses of the Raku process between an interior glaze and partially or unglazed exterior result in faults that impair the integrity of the pot. I would expect some crazing if the liner is applied thickly, depending on glaze fit at raku temperature. Test, test, test.

Piece of kiln shelf will reinforce the top. Can you make a little kiln shelf bagwall between the flame and the bottom shelf? Chimney, flue?

Those free, flimsy grocery bags @Pyewackette has been using are few and far between here in So California and other conscientious states these days, replaced by stiffer, reusable bags. Some other kinds of stores still use them, I acquire a few every month somehow. I also like the thinner grocery vegetable bags for smaller things, but I am glad to occasionally need dry cleaning services (the objectionable chemicals are not legal here anymore, don’t know what they use - not always ’dry’). Nothing better for lots or large work. In my hippie potter days I hadn’t the money or clothes for dry cleaning so I begged the bags from my mom and other “office people”.

Potato water after boiling potatoes? Dry Potato flakes?

It sounds like you have access to a kiln. Is there a problem with doing a ^018 firing? If the expense of the gold seems a problem, but you want to make several items, I think you will find that a little goes a long way. There is enough in a small bottle to do some preliminary tests before you commit to the final piece (s). Gold luster is best used in small areas and, as in your example, on black or dark surfaces.

Looks like gold luster to me. I know of no glaze that will look the same.

Ouch! I think we might have not specified that oven drying works best to remove the last remaining moisture from dry pots before they go into the kiln. The likely reason your pieces warped in the oven is that they were not dry enough, probably still leather hard. Is seems you need to have a way to take your work from leather hard (still can be bent or distorted, doesn’t look dry) to dry. That’s where a drying cabinet or box comes in. Vent holes at the top and a light bulb at the bottom, door closed to preclude drafts. Might take a couple of days until the pots look dry, depending on how crowded the box or cabinet is. Pots that look dry may still have enough moisture left in them to break or crack them when heated too quickly, but at that point they can go into a cold oven to warm slowly, leaving the door propped open a half inch for moisture to leave. To test, put the bottom of a piece against your cheek, if it feels cool there’s still moisture in it - dry very slowly, turn heat off when it reaches 100 degrees or so.

If I really loved a piece, I gave/sold it to someone who I could visit. Never give your family pots you don’t care if you see again, unless they’re clumsy. If you like looking at it, keep it around a while, unless you need the money. I mostly kept seconds and sold firsts, but there are a few that make me feel good and I’m glad I kept them.

Talk to contractors in your area about what kinds of tiles they install outdoors. They may have recommendations for materials and installation.

My older model oven has a pilot light that stays on all the time and makes a gentle warmth to dry pots, probably about the same amount of warmth as a low-wattage light bulb. I prop a wooden spoon in the door to allow moisture to leave. If you make a drying cabinet, be sure to have ventilation holes.

A little color theory - lavender corrects for too much yellow, so try adding a bit of talc to your cobalt. Talc makes cobalt go lavender. In very small doses, you might be able to color-correct your cream colored slip to appear whiter. Myself, I like the cream, but if it’s not your vision … I just love your camels! (Maybe a bit longer soak at the end of firing would heal those bubbles. ) Please invest in cones!!! Or maybe an earlier form of testing - draw rings?

Fascinating look into your beautiful work, hope you share more about working with china paints. Now that potters aren’t all working cone 10 reduction, nice to discover how to add low-fire accent effects to our brighter colors. I was inspired by Judy Chicago’s work in her “seminal” Woman Show to try them back then, but one workshop with her wasn’t sufficient, or I was too impatient, to do more than lusters after that. (Pretty sure I was using too much oil for silkscreen.)

Rutile on a runny clear glaze often creates those opaque falls of cream/pink/blue. Thought you might have done some decorating with it. Does your runny copper glaze have rutile in it?

I like the color of your homemade slip. Try using different brushes to apply it. When I worked with a slip of porcelain throwing clay I learned to apply it with a large floppy house-painting brush in a thick single coat, on the turning wheel or a banding wheel- Anything thinner would melt into transparency. For your mugs, that would mean putting the stencil on freshly thrown clay and coating with slip while on the wheel, removing the stencil when slip sets and adding the handle when leather hard.

Nice work!