Pres Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 All too often when working in studios by ourselves with no one else around, we get poor habits while working. Maybe it is something we have had for years, or something we just picked up within the last few years. A few of mine. . . wiping my hands on my pants instead of a towel or rag while throwing. waiting too long to clean the wheel up, everything is crusty, and so has to be soaked down to soften before cleaning. Doing the same with the floor. Not putting tools away once I use them, either that or developing a better tool organization system. These are just a few of mine I have noticed lately, what are yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Ditto on pretty much everything you said Pres, though I don't wipe my hands on my pants. My general "organizational" system is naturally chaotic, you should see my desk in my classroom. I call it the "Sedimentary System". Everything is in a chronological order, based on when it got placed in the pile. Need something from a couple months ago, it's towards the bottom of the pile; a couple days ago, towards the top. In the case of my desk/ classroom and studio, I usually end up doing a big "purge" every so often. That usually corresponds to the point that I get fed up with looking at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgpots Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Have you been spying on me? I need to search my studio for the hidden cameras. All I can say is ditto, ibid, and op cit... Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia UK Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Mixing very small quantities of slip, oxide, glaze etc. for decorating and leaving them in small dish without labelling - sure I'll remember what they are. 2/3 days later looking quizzically at the same mixture wondering exactly what it was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I clean my wheel head and tools after every use. I don't mop the floor often enough, I am doing it about once a month as needed right now. I clean my wheel pan(large skutt pan) and change my water once a week. I keep a pretty tidy workshop because its in the garage. What is interesting is seeing people who have potted for a lifetime studio and literally the walls are the color of the clay they use. I can't ever imagine myself letting it go that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Miller Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 In addition to everything Pres said, I have a terrible habit of leaving my sponges in the slip bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 In addition to everything Pres said, I have a terrible habit of leaving my sponges in the slip bucket. You and every potter ever. Before I add my full classroom slip bucket to the reclaim clay bin, I do a sponge search. The sponges honestly aren't too bad to find, it's pieces of chamois that are tough. Once they are saturated with the slip, they feel like small strips of scrap clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 OK, OK, so I leave my chamois in the slip bucket too. Used to be a major problem when recycling, even by cut and slam. Nowadays I TRY to keep it on a bobber in the bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLN studios Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Letting (ignoring) so much clay pile up before you recycle it. nightmare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Another lousy floor mopper here:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark McCombs Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 All of the above. Dust dust dust. Need to be more proactive than reactive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I have about 200 brushes. I just keep taking a clean one when I need it. I put them aside until I have dirtied them all and am forced to do a massive clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I have a few of the above mentioned habits but my worse one being unable to throw away unused items. I think I'm going to find a use for it again and usually I do unfortunately. The other day my husband needed some metal screen, I thought I had thrown one away 8 years ago. I checked my shop it was still there taking up space. I think I'll do some clearing out today. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Denice, I think artists are naturally kind of packrats. It might originate, in college, when you have to live on a tight budget and you never know when you might need some scrap material for a project. Art teachers are even worse. We have that same instinct to keep potentially useful materials, like other artists, but then also know that their budget could be cut at any moment, meaning that we may have to make due with whatever we have. This past Spring I (And by "I" I mean a student helper) cleaned out my supply closet. It was full of three or four instructor's worth of stuff. We found things in there, that predate the building. I "liberated" quite a bit of materials . You can only kid yourself so long in regards to, "I could maybe use that someday...". A funny bit about cleaning out the closet, I had three or four prepackaged, probably pretty costly at one time, Art History sets. They consisted of a record, a cassette, and an ordered slide carousel. My guess is, you went through the slides as the record played music for ambiance and the cassette described the artwork. It was like a virtual museum tour. Anyway, after finding the sets, I had to explain to my student helper what slides were. I ended up tossing most the sets. I kept a few slides for some darkroom special effects, and gave the records to the student, which she melted to make bowls for her graduation party. Wasn't much point in keeping them, as I can look up any artwork on Google, and stream it to my digital projector... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joy pots Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I'm clearing out the studio after 23 yrs. because I need a new floor. What a lot of stuff & what can I toss? It all needs washing too. The press molds take up a lot of room & are needed. My basement space is 150 sq.ft. With 7 shelves, 2 wheels & work station. I' pretty good at keeping the floor & wheels & tools clean as I hate to start work with a dirty space. The things not used all the time collect dust big time. Maybe I'll go shopping today instead. Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 my studio is clean. that is the problem. I spend time keeping it clean. now I have to make a mess of some area or other. as I said once, I am a Pro-crastinator, not and amateur-crastinator. I did once rent space in a studio that was so dusty that anyone walking in created a cloud. I did not go back after the first month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Eating in the studio is probably a habit I should break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 And drinking tea and leaving mugs in studio,, nothing brings you out of revery than a month old dregs hit the mouth when expecting a nice hot slug of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.