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Qotw: What Is The Coolest And Most Helpful Thingy You Have In Your Studio?


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Oh no!, don't think I make life easy for you! The "most helpful thingy" must be a thing that has nothing to do with pottery! See, now you have to think again.... :D

 

Good morning everybody. MY most helpful thingy is a water bottle that I can also use when my hands are full of mud. And the bottle is spick-and-span after using! I have to drink lots of water or tea during the day to prevent my head from getting a headache. Too little water in my body, too much pain. So it's drinking and drinking at least 4 liters of water or tea for me. And yes Marcia, I saw you using excatly a bottle like that at our symposium in Barcelona, and I was searching in every store till I found one.

 

(Of course I know that I could always use a glass and a straw if I don't want to smudge the glass or bottle with clay, but would that be cool? See!!)

 

What is YOUR most helpful cool object that helps you through a clay-day?

 

Happy week to all of you!

 

Evelyne

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I buy heavy duty planter dollies when I find them on closeout in the fall.  I use them under five gal. buckets of clay, I can roll them around my studio with ease.  I just bought this set of kitchen utensils from Tuesday Morning from the close out bin.  They are  silicone and have unusual shape and they look like they belong in a child's play kitchen, so small.  I have been making some hand coiled vases, jars and oil cruets and getting my big hands inside to smooth and shape has been frustrating. I started working with them last week they are wonderful, I have been able to get into every nook and cranny. My goal lately is to work smaller, smarter and quicker, these utensils have help me get there. The company who makes them is CORE.   Denice

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My 300 stack cd player that fills the studio and kiln area with tunes. I have volume controls at several locations. The unit is in the house . I could not spend all that time in studio without the tuns always going.By far my best non clay tool.

#2 may just be my car kilns wheels but thats all I have for rolling as studio is to small for carts.

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denice, no picture came through.

 

chilly, sell that wonderful antique and get a slab roller.  don't hurt it.

 

the only thing i can recall that is not a pottery tool is the small snickers bars with almonds for an afternoon pick-me-up.  they are always in the refrigerator.  

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My computer... does that count? Couldn't do what I do without the computer, scanner, digital die cutter, laser printers, pigment printer, etc. I use my iPad for capturing videos and photos as well. I'm a potter of the digital age.

 

Oh! and my darkroom setup for creating silk screens.

 

The LEAST useful things I can't live without in the studio... PUGS!

 

T

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Cordless headphones!

I need my jams for concentration and time keeping (I use playlists that are about an hour long) but I lost track of the number of times I almost hung myself on friggin' headphone cords!

 

Edit: runner up prize goes to craft foam molds, a la Meredith Host. They make surprisingly effective slump moulds for small items.

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Cordless headphones!

I need my jams for concentration and time keeping (I use playlists that are about an hour long) but I lost track of the number of times I almost hung myself on friggin' headphone cords!

 

Edit: runner up prize goes to craft foam molds, a la Meredith Host. They make surprisingly effective slump moulds for small items.

 

I am going to look for some good cordless headphones. I never thought of that. The ones I have, I connect to my little MP3 player and then thread down under my shirt and clip onto my pocket. It is a very flawed system since the cord comes out of the neck of my shirt and is inevitably either too tight, pulling the headphones off my head in tiny increments, or too loose, with a big loop that becomes increasingly covered with clay as I shove it out of my face. LOL

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My stereo system, first and foremost.  Gotta have my tunes, whether it be Mozart or Metallica.  Second choice are my swivel barstools, makes getting to and away from my tables easier when I'm writing notes, glazing, carving, etc.  Then my windows, for the light of course, and there is nothing like opening them to let in a country spring breeze and hear the birds singing.

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Having moved from a studio space that did not include a sink (*Gasp*), I have a custom, deep sink at a height where I don't have to stoop over to wash, mix, wipe stain, etc. It is a lifesaver for me...and of course, having a clay trap (my least favorite thing to clean but also MOST helpful).

 

I find it interesting that so many of us have mentioned music (and music delivery systems)...not surprised but getting a nice warm feeling about why I like these folks.  I cannot imagine my working space without having tunes readily available.

 

-Paul

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Having moved from a studio space that did not include a sink (*Gasp*), I have a custom, deep sink at a height where I don't have to stoop over to wash, mix, wipe stain, etc. It is a lifesaver for me...and of course, having a clay trap (my least favorite thing to clean but also MOST helpful).

 

I find it interesting that so many of us have mentioned music (and music delivery systems)...not surprised but getting a nice warm feeling about why I like these folks.  I cannot imagine my working space without having tunes readily available.

 

-Paul

 

I met a person once who told me SHE DOESN'T LIKE MUSIC. She doesn't listen to it, doesn't care for it, doesn't understand what everybody sees in it. 

 

She's a very nice person but I've never felt the same about her since then. I feel like something must be off in her brain. I mean, who doesn't like music? 

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Gise:

 

I like music, but rarely have tunes on out in the studio. I like silence better: the kind of silence you can hear. I think that it is from listening to drills, saws, and compressors running the last 42 years. There is so much noise in the world these days; how can one hear a still small voice?

 

Nerd

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Marc I haven't heard of LED fluorescent bulbs, do you need to change fixtures and do you have a choice of soft white, warm white or cool white?  Most of the lights in our house our LED, we have been looking around for exterior LED flood lights but the few we have found were pricey.    Denice

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All you have to do is remove the transformer (ballast) on most LED tubes. I use them to start my vegetables in the early spring.

 

I'm using 6000k (bright cool white) and I know there are 3200k lights (Warm white) and temps too.

 

Four 48" tubes, 1800 lm each, 6000k = 72watts total compared to 160w for 4 florescent tubes

 

Price is around $45US for 4 tubes

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I have the LED tubes in my studio and that beautiful bright light is so helpful that I can do much better work, of any scale, than with any other type of lightng. It makes me want to really focus in on whatever detail or qualities I am wanting to get out of a piece, whether the form, the colors, textures, etc. I can always see my supplies and tools, even those hiding in a back space, and it's a light that is just plain cheerful, also a big "plus" for me. 

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