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Thanks again Oldlady - a simple 3 ingredient recipe sounds good to me. Unfortunately I only have the dolomite among my 'ingredients' but I've found a substitute for Cornwall Stone on Lakeside Pottery and have some other kaolin. It's worth a try - nothing to lose!

I'm going to write it down and mix some for my next batch of test tiles.

 

Celia

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Paul: sure, the 30 hours in my example weren't for nothing. I learned a lot and during the scraping and finishing I was intensely thinking and reflecting and solved some non-ceramics problems. Thank you for your thoughts and tips! What are you doing when discouraged?

 

Marcia: I am sorry to hear you had such a bad firing last Saturday. That really hurts when one object cracks and drag the other pieces with it. Your remark: "So it goes", is that kind of being above such things, or more "resign yourself"? Thank you for the video! I didn't know you were having such pain. Isn't that weird that the pain left you after retirement? I mean, I know that you loved teaching. Did you have too much stress as a teacher?

 

Tom: I keep my fingers crossed that you can do new ones for mothers day! Hey, you can do it!

 

Guinea: oh yes, pain is a downer all right. I mean what are my 30 hours of work and then the warping in the kiln against your pain? Nothing! And I must say that I admire your persistency. That is the right attitude: if I can't do 30 mugs anymore, I'll do 6. You go girl! The cat-ear bowls are special...

 

rakuku: I had to smile... my studio at the moment is a pigsty x 3. I know exactly that a clean and dust-free studio is a must, but, like you, I would appreciate having a cleaning fairy. We could take turns with her (him?).... And the "I try harder" thinking is full of hope and confidence. Bravo.

 

Marko: Meditation is surely a good thing to get centered again and to not exaggerate the problems. I'am happy for you that you have such nice things to calm yourself. Putting the problems away till tomorrow..., well, then tomorrow they will still be there and you have to start thinking of a solution. And no, I won't stop making ceramics. Not ever! Thank you for your good wishes and I wish you that someday you can and will do a show with your pieces. By the way: will you show us your ceramic works in your gallery here on your site?

 

Karen: we live and learn... Thank you very much for the tree picture. You know, I imagined something completely else when you talked about it in the other thread. That is some invention of yours! Kudos. I can see that it works just fine.

(whisper: we don't play with clay...) ;)

 

Pugaboo: yes!, that is a statement we all can relate. I applaud you and your "looking forward and up"! Thank you. All the best for your husband and for your back ache.

 

Giselle: if that beautiful cup and saucer in your avatar is your work, you don't have to hide from "Masters"! And oh, what a great idea regarding the cleaning. I hope rakuku is reading this too. So you say to yourself: I clean what I can within 30 minutes and then I can stop (for today)? Well, I have to try this. Like that, my studio will be spick and span until, say, Pentecost? (I didn't say which year....).

 

Chris: yes, the best thing would be to learn of ones failures and go onward, of course. It's sometimes hard though to be reasonable. Maybe what Marko said: wait until tomorrow, (and maybe the next day a failure turned into a learning curve). I see what you mean regarding the works pictured in magazines etc. I am sure most of us feel the same.

One.... do we really have to struggle to be as good as the ones we find fabulous?

Two..... I agree. Period. :huh: 

And I agree heartily to your solution! 

 

Celia: I admire every ceramist who is doing his/her own glaze! I tried once and I (naive) started with eucalyptus ash glaze. Oh boy.... (that's all I say). So I understand your problems very well. I am sure, after understanding the whole process, it would be a great thing to do, but... There are quite a few glaze threads going on here in the past and also currently. So if you have a specific question, somebody here will help you. The cone6 book of John Britts' is very good. There is also a Britt DVD you can buy in the bookstore here: http://ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/understanding-glazes/

 

clay lover: excuse my French but: that stinks! That is so very mean. I can read between the lines that it makes you not only angry but sad too. Yes, what can you say?! Go to him and confront him? He would deny. You can not even be proud if the copied object sells at his booth. You wouldn't know if it's the design or the price. I'am sorry you have to go through things like this. I hope you can find inner peace nonetheless.

 

Oldlady: thank you very much for your help and your kindness!

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Evelyne: Thank you! The cup and saucer in my avatar is slip cast from a vintage mold. So I cannot take credit for the design. I'm glazing my first wheel-thrown work to be fired (hopefully this weekend!) and those items I will take credit for. :) 

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I get discouraged when the realization sets in that I can put $2.50 with everything I know about pottery

and buy a cup of coffee anywhere in Alabama.  I get over it by eating a slice of humble pie with that coffee.

See ya, ;>)

Alabama

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I tend to be a very upbeat person...especially now that I have retired!  I've enjoyed reading this thread.  /but I was having trouble thinking of something that really discourages me until I read Chris's comment about lack of craftmanship.  I see people making very sloppy work with little attention to detail, finishing, craftmanship, call it whatever.  Best example is turning over a pot and seeing a rough, ugly, uneven bottom.   Or thick throwing bumps in a bowl.  And people are buying this stuff.  Arrrggghhhh.  Makes me crazy.

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My husband claims he would start a pottery and call it the Wonky Pot. He likes primitive, uneven, rough hewn, warped looking stuff. He even asked me if I could make him a bowl that wouldn't sit even but slanted to one side when you used it. After refraining from smacking him on the head I took my nice round, evenly balanced bowl and went back to my studio.

 

Wonky Pot snort more like a wonky MAN.

 

T

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Evelyne,

 

Smack him on the head because after 33 years he KNOWS I don't do rustic. I like things neat, tidy, organized, level, straight, round, square, etc. I struggled and struggled when I started to get my pieces to look like the shapes in my head and he has the audacity to ignore all that and ask for the one thing I REALLY don't want to do and is like finger nails on chalkboard to me just thinking about it. I told him he was welcome to make one himself but he said no you can do it.... Grrrr guess I will have to try anyway since his birthday is coming up. But it really irks me that he doesn't see the merit in what I do do and that I should just toss all that carefully earned precision out the window and make wonky pots.

 

Ok deep breath one or two wonky pots won't kill me... But then again.......

 

T

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Rebekah: oh yes, I can understand this discourages you. But I heard that you are selling quite well when participating at ceramics fairs...

 

Pugaboo: haha - you two are like North Pole and South Pole. I would say wonky is a bit of an "offensive" word for the ones among us who are making works in the primitive ways ;) How about hand building him a chawan (tea bowl)?

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I was already so discouraged when I first read this I could not respond. It took two days to pull myself up by my bootstraps and decide to stick one foot in front of the other and move forward, not backward. I get discouraged that 3 years of study and practice and science and muscle memory (3 decades ago) is just not rushing back. I get discouraged that the re-learning is not as fluid, motivating, and reasonably as quick as I think it ought to be. I get discouraged at the difference being over 65 definitely has on the body.

 

HOWEVER...I made myself set a small goal for one day and stick to it. I did that for three days in a row. I now have a little bowl with a decent foot, test slabs with texture in four different bodies, and enough test stuff to fill the kiln. So there!! One of the bodies is basaltic, and I am very excited about that. I know that when I lighten up on myself re: throwing and let the pleasure of "doing what I do", which involves cutting, ripping, tearing and incising slabs, infuse my spirit, I can more readily move through the tunnel and out into the sunshine.  

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pugaboo, look at each of your legs.  are they an even length?  maybe your hubby is pulling your leg and thinks it is funny.  men sometimes have the ODDEST sense of humor.

 

my 96 year old neighbor tells the "funny" story about taking the garage door remote control up into his small plane and buzzing the house.  when he returned, his wife told him about the scary experiences she had with the garage door opening several times.  she was afraid someone was trying to get into the house.  that had never occurred to him, he STILL thinks it is funny, 30 years later.

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Rebekah: a wholesale deal sounds great. Maybe there are more if the customer is satisfied?

 

Lee: the first part of your post sounds a little depressed, but the second one is full of hope and of "looking forward to the future and not backward to the past". I like that and I hope your good days are more and more.... Re-learning at the age over 65 is hard and I'am sure never quick. But you can re-learn!... and it needs courage! I wish you more days where you can cut, rip, tear etc. at and in clay! Chin up Lee, we are here for you!

 

oldlady: what a story! What a husband (roll eyes)...

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I like things neat, tidy, organized, level, straight, round, square, etc. I struggled and struggled when I started to get my pieces to look like the shapes in my head and he has the audacity to ignore all that and ask for the one thing I REALLY don't want to do and is like finger nails on chalkboard to me just thinking about it. I told him he was welcome to make one himself but he said no you can do it.... 

Ok deep breath one or two wonky pots won't kill me... But then again.......

What if YOU threw a basic pot and then allowed him to play and alter it himself? Maybe don't watch, though. ;) 

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thanks- actually I am not selling in between which is the problem. I think I had 2 etsy orders this year.  I did however make a wholesale deal with somebody recently and I am just working out my contract and waiting for her to order the stamp.  

 

Rebekah: I've been selling on Etsy since 2012, first my clay stamps and then my pottery too. Please feel free to contact me either here or at either of my Etsy shops anytime. I'm happy to answer any questions you have about ways to improve sales. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Giselle: please post pictures of the ones "you take credit for".

 

So I know it's been awhile since this exchange but I finally glaze fired last weekend. I've been taking photos and editing them, so I finally have some of MY stuff, my REAL stuff up in gallery if you want to see. http://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/gallery/album/947-wheel-thrown-work-2015/I'll be adding more in the next couple of weeks as well.

 

This is only my second full kiln load of glazed and finished items. I can't stop smiling and I'm so fired up with a hundred new ideas now that I've seen how everything came out. I wonder if I'll ever get tired of this?

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giselle, i have been looking at your work and just realized that my mouth fell open at the first of your photos, and half an hour later, it is still open.  what lovely things you make!  no, you will never tire of making this kind of work. 

 

your stamps are so unique!  we all make stamps but to have such a varied choice is remarkable.  maybe i now see what all the people talking about texture mean.  i see only the stuff everyone makes with the same old rubber mats and wood stamps and think "where is the originality?".    SO glad you posted these, thank you!

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I am normally a very impatient person. When I'm working on something I love, time slows down and I feel like I have only been working for a few minutes until I look at the clock and realize it's been hours.

 

Thank you all. :) You're very kind.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evelyne

 

Computers!!!!!!!!

 

I finally found the command needed to attach a photo to a post on this forum. 

So below is the photo of the Tile Tree for Raku that I wanted to post in  the Making Your Own Tools discussion.

.attachicon.giftile trees 4.jpg

 

Solution; Shut the computer off and play with some clay.

 

Karen

Thanks for your tile tree idea! I saved the photo in my Good Ideas file.
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Evelyne,

Smack him on the head because after 33 years he KNOWS I don't do rustic. I like things neat, tidy, organized, level, straight, round, square, etc. I struggled and struggled when I started to get my pieces to look like the shapes in my head and he has the audacity to ignore all that and ask for the one thing I REALLY don't want to do and is like finger nails on chalkboard to me just thinking about it. I told him he was welcome to make one himself but he said no you can do it.... Grrrr guess I will have to try anyway since his birthday is coming up. But it really irks me that he doesn't see the merit in what I do do and that I should just toss all that carefully earned precision out the window and make wonky pots.

Ok deep breath one or two wonky pots won't kill me... But then again.......

T

Even though your man seems to be asking you to "loosen up", you could mansplain that perfecting your skills first will make your future "rustic" pots more pleasing to you both. It really is more 'potterly' to make a perfect pot and then distort it pleasingly than to make a sloppy pot and call it 'good.'
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