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What gets you back in the studio faster? New ideas, Throwing, sculpting, glazing or firing.

For example, I love experimenting with firing. The means make more pots so I can fire . What gets you going?

 

 

Marcia

What gets you back in the studio faster? New ideas, Throwing, sculpting, glazing or firing.

For example, I love experimenting with firing. That means make more pots so I can fire . What gets you going?

 

 

Marcia

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It's a tie between starting on a new project or getting close to the completion of one.   I finally got my last glaze worked out for a mural that I have been working on for 6 months .  I can't wait to get out to my shop to finish glazing and get it fired.    Denice

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All of my work is driven by deadlines. I don't think I ever make anything that isn't "due" soon. Yesterday I finished trimming my last two wholesale orders of the year, due on 11/24. And now I need to finish one last big cycle of work for my December shows, about $6000 worth of pots, for a show on 12/7 and for my open studio the following weekend. This doesn't mean I never experiment on new designs, but when I do I have a show date in mind for when I'm going to finish the project (or scrap it). I came from a long career as a designer, so deadlines are normal to me. If anyone thinks my answer takes the romance out of the idea of professional pottery, I'd say "who said it was romantic?" Fulfilling on a deeper level? Yes, there are many moments of euphoria/pride/satisfaction that result from this work. But in order to have that, the day-to-day life is about a high-rate productivity, and deadlines.

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Practice gets me out there. Practicing handles handles and more handles. I can't decide if my handles should be the same thickness as my cup rims or if they should be thicker. I like thicker, but then I feel like the mug feels uneven. Any insights?

I like handles that are a bit on the thick side. They are more comfortable to hold. It might seem unbalanced when the cup is empty, but will feel right when the cup is full.

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Practice gets me out there. Practicing handles handles and more handles. I can't decide if my handles should be the same thickness as my cup rims or if they should be thicker. I like thicker, but then I feel like the mug feels uneven. Any insights?

I like handles that are a bit on the thick side. They are more comfortable to hold. It might seem unbalanced when the cup is empty, but will feel right when the cup is full.

 

 

That's my issue. I feel like if I go with thin handles the mug seems off balanced when full, if its thick handled it seems better balanced full. But when you look at the mug the walls of the mug are smaller than the handle of the mug.

 

I will post some pictures of my handles next week and let you all decide on if they are too thick or not. I would appreciate any feedback and criticism. 

EDIT: looking at your handles Mea. I am so gonna just go crush all my mugs. 

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Grype,

Mea's handle are very nice and balanced with the mug. My teacher, Paula Winokur, had a project to learn handles. Throw your tallest cylinder and apply and pull as many handles off of it that you can fit onto it. That gets the forming down. Then, and this exercise is mine: throw some mugs. Line them up along the edge of a table. Pull some long even handle shapes, cut them up into about 2-3" lengths, attach them to the mugs and pull the finished handle. That should help you figure out the size you need for the mugs and you can still have a beefy shape if you like.

Pulling from the pot gives the handle a nice taper. 

Marcia

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It wasn't too long ago (maybe 7 years) that I made really bad handles, and I hated making them. I've put a lot of effort and practice into making them better and easier. I credit a lot of my growth to Tony Clennell's dvd on handle pulling.

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@Marcia, I pull my handles then attach them and pull them more. I will go take some pictures and post them, but they dont look as pleasing as Mea's. But I will keep practicing. Someone else mentioned doing something similar to what you said, called Octomugs where you put 8 handles on a mug, I guess I should start doing that as well and just crumble them after I am finished with the practice. Thanks for the advice.

 

@Mea, I might get that DVD cause I really want to make a sound functional mug, thanks for the title. I see so many handles that I think look terrible, and I want to have a gorgeous handle on my mugs. 

 

EDIT: Here is an album of a handle that I feel is probably my best handle I've ever made(which isn't very good). Any criticism's would be most welcome. 

 

To me I feel like the handle is too big, but holding it feels pretty good, but I dont drink out of a mug ever, so I am making something I don't ever use. I much prefer bowls and tumblrs. 

 

Handles: http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/josephrosenblatt/library/Handles

 

What I think I need to work on most is the shape of the handle to the mug, and when I attach the handle not smoothing the handle onto the mug, but just making a solid attachment. Then probably thinning the handle as it gets to the bottom.

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I gave up trying to smooth out handles. I put extra slip on and leave the ooze. I also gave up pulling handles off a pot or from a big lump of clay. Could never get the hang of it. I tried to learn but it never worked for me. Never tried to make big handles this way.

 

I had some footage knocking around and a lack of sleep so I decided to make a video showing how I do it. Just my interpretation of how to pull a handle. I probably read/saw it somewhere but I don't remember  :unsure:

 

 

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