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Qotw: Have You Ever Taken A Video About Yourself, Showing How You Work?


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I just got a link to the new Ceramics Blog of Lisa Westheimer. I told you about Lisa earlier in the year. She's the one who came up to the Potters Council booth at NCECA Providence to introduce herself and her work, and who marched directly over to the booth for the PC membership to pay for her first year. We all liked the way she was doing promotion for herself. Remember Marcia?

 

I kept in contact with Lisa and now she has a new Blog and I saw in that blog a video of her, showing how she's doing a raku firing, a reduction in a BBQ Grill and then how she reviewed her own work. I admire her and all people who are doing videos of themselves for others to learn. I could never do that. I am way too shy (and I think I am not especially photogenic...).

 

So my question for you is: did (or will) you ever take a video showing how you work?

 

Btw: here is the link to the Potters Council member Lisa's Blog, and the video I just talked about. Have a look (and subscribe to her blog, why not....).

 

Have a happy week!

 

Evelyne

 

 

Go have a look at her blog: https://lisagwestheimer.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

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Can I shamelessly promote my videos? :D I want to move onto some more vlog type ones but I too am a little apprehensive about speaking in a succinct manner. One day soon I will make more educational videos.

 

I really enjoy making them but it would be a lot easier to have help. Filming yourself can get complicated and annoying.

 

Have to say after watching the video I still don't like anything about Raku. BlehH   :huh:-_-

 

 

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> Have to say after watching the video I still don't like anything about Raku. BlehH

 

Maybe raku firing has just changed a lot over the years but .... Wow! I am much too lazy to do all that set up/pull down/clean up work for three pieces!

 

As to shooting videos .... I hope to have a short test one done in the near future.

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Joel: you may shamelessly promote 1 video in this topic :D  (I knew you are doing videos...)

Hey - you can't say "BlehH" before you tried raku....

 

Chris: with a bigger kiln you can fire much more pieces than only three (obviously ;) )! And yes, there is some effort in doing raku firings, but the results are heavenly! Just came back from a Chawan Expo in Belgium and almost all the Chawan were raku fired. One more beautiful than the other!

Waiting patiently for your test video. Are you going to show it to us?

 

Evelyne

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Hi!!!

Lisa here.  Can I even begin to tell you how thrilled I am that Evelyn wrote about my blog and video?  I am over the moon! :lol:   I thought I would give you alittle background info.  I'm lucky in that my husband is a fine art photographer and has all the equipment and software needed to create videos.  2 years ago I had his assistant follow me around with a camera any time I did one of my alternative firings:  raku, smoke, luster.  We had all this footage, one thing led to another and I decided to create 2 instructional videos for my signature processes: luster and what I call 'horsehair bbq', a saggar fire done in a bbq grill.

 

My extreme luck continued in that a friend is an editor for commercials and an art collector.  He wanted to learn some new software so edited my videos for me in exchange for my artwork and a commission he wants me to execute.  Did I mention how lucky I am???

 

In regards to whether it's worth it or not to go through all this work for just 3 pieces, I usually produce more than that, but I love everything about the raku process from start to finish and I have it down to a science, and I have 3 kilns to do it in depending on my work load and time factor.  I did 3 loads of laundry and alot of computer work while firing those pieces, not too shabby...

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I recorded myself a way back when I was first throwing and posted it on the forums. It's somewhere in the potters council section. I have came a long way since then. I still watch that video every now and then to see how I have changed my technique. I can throw a bowl 10x better now. It's good to record yourself, sometimes you can't even imagine what your doing until you see yourself doing it.

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Evelyne, i am sorry to disagree with some of what you are saying.  i tried to see the website but the pictures would not work so i had no idea what was wrong with those pots.  the website looks as though it will be great once the bugs are worked out.  why can't i make those small pictures big enough to see detail in the selling section?

 

i agree that this is a pleasant person who is working hard to use modern technology but i agree with her own assessment that she spends too much time doing it and not enough in the studio with clay.  that is why i cannot post pictures without help.  i can do lots of things in all manner of subjects but computers are not interesting to me and i see no reason to invest so much time with them.

 

joel, i agree that this particular method of working is not the easiest way of raku firing.   spraying water on each piece separately seems to just waste time and effort.  those fingers only have so many squeezes in them.  why not just dip the whole pot into a bucket of water?  i cannot see whatever the potter sees and do not follow why the spraying is better than dipping.  i heard the explanation but cannot see it without a closeup.  doing a video without a director and at least 2 cameras is very difficult.  standing in front of the camera blocks what is happening.  and am i the only one who could not hear over the music?

 

why would a person go to all that work to make a raku BOWL?  nobody can use a raku bowl.  making an item to look at is fine for raku but a bowl makes no sense to me.  the thick glaze interior is not attractive to me, and glaze running all over the exterior is just a waste.  what purpose does it serve?  if it is still around in 40 years is someone not likely to try to eat something from it?

 

i am sorry if i sound harsh but these pots would have met mr. hammer a long time ago if they had been mine.

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Hi.  In response to some comments about how the raku firing in my video is kind of a waste of time, please consider that I did the firing mostly as a glaze test to see how my new glaze would perform as a top coat to other glazes.  No risk in using mutt pieces for that AND the target audience, in my mind at the time, were my students, adult hobby potters who out of the necessity of their lives, aren't able to do their craft full time and are looking for fast and easy methods to make work that delights them and makes their lives worth living.

 

I have a full complement of kilns and adjust my firing practices according to my work load.

 

Also, I have in mind at all times that my choice of media is very hard on the environment, from the mining of the Earth (often times in 3rd world countries) for it's minerals and chemicals to emissions, energy usage, and final product of a durable good.  I do not make work without being mindful of that.  I try not to take hammers to anything that is salvageable and can be used or be a decorative object.

Just saying.

:rolleyes:

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Hey,

Have I ever videoed myself? Never.

 

Will I ever video tape myself and dogs ... Probably never.

 

I dropped and kilt my digital camera... I have this Verizon tablet, and it might

have a switch to do filming, but I'm not sure. It will take photos!!!, if only

I can remember to use it. :-)

 

See ya,

Àlabama

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I take time-lapse videos of me throwing all the time because watching them helps me improve; even with time lapse I can see where I made mistakes so it's a great learning tool for me. I occasionally post one of my time-lapses on my Facebook business page but they're not intended to be instructional at all. I would love to do instructional videos in the future, though. I am not experienced enough yet with throwing to actually talk as I do it, and explain what I'm doing because that destroys my focus. But soon I want to do little tutorials with other things, especially videos of projects to share with my stamp customers. 

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Welcome Lisa! I am glad you are here on the forum and explain your work, your video and your philosophy.

 

oldlady: I don't understand what you want to tell me. What website has too small pictures? Do you mean Lisa's Blog? I just tried it: if you click on a picture, it enlarges. And, like Joel said, there was no music in the Raku-Video and one can hear her very clear. And of course you can use a raku bowl! You always wash and scrub the piece very thoroughly after the reduction, and if the glaze is not toxic (never use a toxic glaze anyway!) of course you can eat or drink out of it. Think of all the Chawan, the traditional tea bowls!

 

Now for the spritzing of water on the raku pieces: we did that too in a Raku workshop with Steven Branfman here in Switzerland. You can either spritz water on certain places, or all over the piece, but you could also dunk the piece into a bucket of water if you like. If you take the water sprayer you can choose where you want the water to go. Spritzing water on a hot raku glaze lets the color shine much more. It doesn't have to be luster! Also the colors in normal glazes will be more brilliant.

 

 

I would love to see more home made videos here. I hope Chris and Marcia and Giselle will show us their videos. And maybe others too?

 

Evelyne

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Lisa I enjoyed your video it's been 30 years since I have done Raku, I learned a lot of new tricks and techniques.  I especially like you grill for the reduction process, I have always reglazed disappointing pots you have nothing to lose.  I have learned in the past few years that other people may like some work that I don't care for, so I have learned not to judge my work too quickly.      Denice

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Lisa,

Loved your video. I am like minded in that I salvage pieces that can be saved. I refire often, especially saggar and for saggar pieces. here is a video of me by my husband. Not nearly as good as yours.

It is on Vimeo. We're still learning. It is also linked on my website raku pagehttp://www.marciaselsorstudio.com/raku.html.

 

https://vimeo.com/140180499

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Wow Marcia, the way you handle those pieces without tongs!  You are my HERO!  Bet you get very little breakage or cracks that way.  Do you find warping on large flat pieces like that?  I fire large platters and had tongs specially made to handle them by an iron worker friend.

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I am confused how you got a post to appear in the middle of the topic. I must have somehow missed it.

Lisa joined the forum yesterday and made her first post in the morning. It didn't appear for a few hours because it was waiting for moderator approval. (This is how we prevent spam from reaching the forum now.)

 

This should be a reminder to everyone that this is a PUBLIC forum. If you make a comment about somebody's work, you shouldn't be surprised if that person reads it and responds.

 

Lisa, welcome to the forum! Thank you for coming here to provide more info about your work and the video.

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