PRankin Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Happy Holidays everyone. I've uploaded a photo of the most difficult project ive ever done. It is a sake set, wheel thrown with Standard 365 ^6 Porcelain which I never worked with before. The glaze is Amaco Sahara Clear and Potters Choice Lustrous Jade. It is a gift, shhhhhhhh, don't tell, for one of my kids and I love how it came out. I was actually in tears when I opened the kiln this morning. The challenges for me were unfamiliarity with this clay even though I've used porcelain before, throwing the little less than 2 inch high cups off the hump, and making them all the same size and shape. This porcelain seemed to take a very long time to dry and I was so afraid of s cracks, xyz cracks or any other abnormalities I just let them sit covered for weeks at a time, even after trimming, which was another nightmare because they were so small. I was familiar with the glazes but not how they were going to react with each other. No time to test but whew, it worked out beautifully. Then my kiln was acting strange as I posted in another thread so the whole process created a lot of stress for me since I made two sets of these for two of my kids. I can't wait till they open their presents and share some warm sake with me that I just bought today to go with the sets. So, my question to y'all is what clay project was your most difficult? Was it one piece, a new technique or a challenge that comes to mind? Did you complete it successfully or gave up on it? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Set looks very nice Paul. I am sure your kids will love it, anything homemade seems to be a hit in my family as it is personal and required thought. The hardest thing I ever made was a set of tall vases for my aunt, she wanted some of my work and offered me some money in exchange for them. I gave them to her and she loved them but I had never throw porcelain vases over 16'' tall before, as my kiln can't hold anything taller than 17. I was worried about glazes badly, but it all came out rather nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What? Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Those look great. I plan on making a couple of sake sets with trays in the coming year. I too have a huge amount of fear when working with new clay bodies and glazes especially when I have done no testing. Sometimes it works out for the best. I had to make two pitchers the same. Five years later I came across one of them at a thrift store. I should have bought it but I was too angry. I have been making sectionals for a while now which pose many issues but practice is paying off. Here is a pic of a four footer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronfire Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 A friend asked me to make a lid for one of her 12" wide crock pot for pickles. Figured no problem, searched up the clay and found the shrinkage. Did the calculations,bisque fire, glaze fire and find it just does not fit. ⅛"to big. Well I will just make another. After the bisque it was ⅛ to big so I was excited as it will shrink a bit to fit. Well it fit but was broken in 2 pieces with the glaze fire, found the 2 parts in the kiln with 1 ½" gap between them. Well off to make the 3rd one with success, I just gave it to them for Christmas, can't bill for making 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 What, you are angry wondering how the pitcher wound up in a thrift store? there could be any number of legitimate reasons, none of which would be a rejection of your work. how do you fire the tall pieces? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 The last piece I regret starting was a fountain that was nearly four feet tall and the diameter of the widest point just barely fit in my kiln. It was one of those wild hair projects that I decided to do one day when I was waiting for a mural to dry. I built it in two parts and had a band on the top half to cover the overlap. I quickly discovered that they were too heavy for me to lift, my husband even struggled with it. Then we had to take the kiln apart and build it around each half, after the fourth firing I promised my husband I wouldn't do a project like this again. He said you like to work big, you'll do it again I don't mind. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 Hmmmm... I can't think of anything that I've done that has been super difficult. I've had a couple forms, or multi-piece wares, that I've struggled with a bit. But if I would have to pick something, I'd say it is the tea set I did for my daughter last year. Since it is a child's set, the items were quite a bit smaller, than I was used to working. I really don't do anything "shot glass" sized, so that was different. The same with making handles that small. I bounced some ideas of some of the posters here, and came up with a solution on that front. One of the more challenging aspects of the project, is that I wanted to build the wood box for the set myself. I hadn't done something like that in years. Luckily, colleague in the Industrial Tech department, gave me help, advice, and even some scrap wood, they were just going to toss. I made him a mug, as thanks. And the trickiest thing to the whole project was not letting my wife find out about it. I wanted both her, and my daughter to be surprised. My wife will occasionally pop her head in my basement studio. Somehow, she never did so, when I was working on the set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 I don't get stressed out about the technical difficulty of too many things. If someone else has done it somewhere else, I figure it must be doable somehow (even if the road to get there is long.). I rather enjoy figuring out the "how" even if it's on the fly. Right now, my stress comes more from trying to achieve a certain consistent quantity of production, while maintaining the highest quality standards that I can. Not all of my forms are the same quality, and it bugs me. I know it all comes with practice, but it takes a while to get through all those 10,000 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What? Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Old Lady: The person I made the pitchers for was a good coworker and crane operator for me for twelve years. Yes there could be good reason for this. I just hated knowing the pair was separated and left his possession. For all I know he could have passed away. As for the firing; Bisque 06 and Cone 10 reduction are done in down draft Bailey shuttle Pro 54(propane) at the local community college. Wish I had natural gas at home and no HOA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerdry Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I am planning on making a commemorative plate for a "once in a lifetime" trip to Tahiti that I took in 2014. I made sprig molds of various shells and such that I collected on the beaches, tested and practiced creating the inscription "Tahiti 2014" I plan to put on the flattened rim, tried various glaze combos to try and reflect the unbelievable color of the water....not sure why I'm dragging my feet with this. Maybe because I'm sure I won't be able to get just right..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 The most difficult patterned cane I ever made took about two weeks from planning to execution ... AND ... it looks so simple no one could pick it out as a hard one! Some of my easiest designs look more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Multi sectional large pots are on that list for sure but getting a 3 foot semi flat fish thru my cone 10 fires spanning 3 shelves was another ball buster I sold it to cheap as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinR Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 A dinner set with covered serving dishes. It took 37! glaze tests to get the colour the customer wanted. Why not quit while I was ahead? She was a colleague of my husband Lin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewV Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 Chess sets are challenging. There are 32 pieces and 6 different shapes to work together in a cohesive fashion. Larger pieces stretch the abilities of the craft and also require extra patience. And time. The dragon made entirely from slices of cups and bowls for wings -- almost successful and the glued parts didn't matter much -- was hard enough I haven't tried again. But I still think the biggest challenge every potter faces is finding the time and money to slog through the first year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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