Denice

My big Skutt was my most expensive purchase, it was used but needed elements and a new cord. My Bailey slab roller with the added cost of building a table for it was second. My new AIM test kiln and Brent wheel were about the same price as the slab roller. Best buy for the money was the slab roller, I have used it more than any of the other equipment. I have never had to fix it and it works like a new one, I could sell it easily for the money I have in it. I will probably keep it until I kick the bucket, people will be walking past it at my estate sale wondering what in the heck it was used for. Denice

Sit for throwing, mostly standing for hand building, usually up and down like a yo yo. Use to sit a lot because of my bad feet, now that I am older everything hurts so I just keep moving. Denice

I also love buying historical books about art. When I find them at a estate sale it is like finding a treasure trove, they are coming down in price now because younger people just want to look it up on the internet. I have quit buying so many books recently , having two estate sales after my mother in-laws death I realized I need to downsize my stuff. Denice

If I have a interest in a technique that I haven't tried yet I will check it out video's on-line first and make sure it is something I want to delve deeper into. My next step is to start investigating books on-line on the subject. I will start out with one or two books and may order more later. Our local library stopped expanding it's art book collection, they said not that many people checked them out. I don,t mind buying books, no one would write them if people didn't purchase them. Denice

I have a glass of water and a small chocolate bar in my studio, I probably should switch to filling a bottle with water. Denice

I have a shelf that is broken in half on one inch stilts above the holes in my kiln. The outlet vent is about 50 feet away from one of my neighbors. No complaints but they have a house full of kids so they probably don't even hear it. I live at the edge of my town, fields every where, at night I can here the the semi's on the highway that is a half of mile away. Tanker airplanes warming up from the airbase that is five miles from where I live. Try wearing some earplugs when you work in the studio while firing. I have had my envirovent for twelve years and barely notice it anymore, it has turned into white noise. Denice

I rarely wedge anymore, I work out of a fresh bag of clay. Cone 6 clay needs some slamming around before you start working with it. I drop my on the studio's concrete floor and that usually loosens it up. Denice

I made a slab out of POP and one out of #1 pottery plaster. Someone gave me the POP, I have always used #1, it was one of those I need to use up this POP moments. I decided to make a slab also the same size out of #1 plaster. Clay on the POP took forever to absorb into the plaster and after several uses it started to crumble. I also took longer to dry out. If someone offered me a bag of POP I would kindly refuse it. Denice

I have Multiple Sclerosis and have problems with some type of molds. I nearly passed out in a hotel lobby because they had soaked a couch with cleaning solution and it was developing mold on the inside. They told me I was the second person that morning that was having trouble breathing in that area, they had the couch removed. I have never had any problems with the little bits of mold in my clay. I pour bleach in my settling water if it starts to stink, it will only start to smell if something like paint gets into the water. I have a very dry studio so there is no musty smell in it. Denice

I have taken clay classes at two schools that had electric and gas firings, one was a college the other was a arts school. Both suffered from complaints from the city, fire department and neighborhoods that were several blocks away. The city and the fire department was always coming up with new rules and regulations for the kilns and firings. They were trying to make it so difficult to fire gas kilns that the schools would eliminate them. I knew that I would always live in the city limits and would be better off going electric, Richard Zakins book had just been publish on oxidation firing and I was inspired and felt like I was at the beginning of a new evolution of ceramics. Gas firing was the only way to go when I graduated, I have never regretted my decision. The research and development of C5/6 oxidation glazes took off and exciting colorful glazes were created and the new evolution in clay continues. Denice

Both of those items are very hard to find used. I built my extruder from a magazine article from Ceramics Monthly, you can find a lot of info online about building one. I built mine because I wanted to find out if I would use one enough to put out a lot of money for a new one. I use it but not a lot, after several years it needed some repair, by then I had some ideas on how to improve it. I have used it for 15 years. The only way I could save money on a slab roller was to buy the roller unit from Bailey and build the table myself. My husband built it out of 2x4's from the instructions that came with it. That was twenty years ago and it still works like it is new, I use it a lot. I produce thousands of tiles and do a lot of hand building. You don't need to start out with a extruder or slab roller, you can buy a pastry roller from a restaurant supply co. I used it for years before I decided it was time to invest in a slab roller. If you wait awhile many of the people who decided to open a pottery studio during covid will move on to something else. There will be a lot of equipment for sale. My first studio had a tiny table, three tools, bucket, glaze brush and a used kiln. Denice

I use 1 inch stilts under a shelf that has split in half, I want to make sure I have enough circulation for my Enviorvent to function well. The bottom is always a little colder so I don't mind starting the load a little higher in the kiln. Denice

Oh hip surgery! Let me know how it goes, I will need to have it done sometime in the future. My hand doctor is finding out how slow of a healer I am, he wants to do surgery on my other hand that I had worked on over 2 years ago. I want this surgery to heal up before I agree to more surgery. I had a friend that had both hips replaced at the same time, he had polio as a child. I think hip replacements were new at the time, I don't think they would do both hips together now, to hard to do PT. Denice

I clean up and reorganize between projects, I started cleaning my studio before I hand my hand surgery. I go out their and move a few things around but my hand doctor wants me to take it easy. He even cut back on my physical therapy to once a day. I will see him again in a couple of weeks I hope I am ready to get back to work. Denice

It's a bummer when pots get stolen as they unload the kiln, this was a problem when I was in college. They would unload the big gas kiln at night and place everything on a big cement table. In the morning half of the work would be gone. The teachers started grading the work before it was glazed. I always like to spend a little time checking out what went right and wrong on a pot before I set it free. Denice

I made a big batch of meatloaf last night, served it green beans and homemade macaroni and cheese. The rest of went into the freezer for future meals. Love cooking big batches of food. Denice

The first time I worked with clay I was 12 years old, the teacher told us we could make anything we wanted with the ball of clay she had given us. I made a small Egyptian Cat pendant while the other kids smashed out ash trays. My teacher hung my necklace in the schools trophy display for the rest of the year. When she did that I knew that clay was magical, I could make anything I wanted with it. I couldn't wait until I got to high school and take ceramic classes. Denice

I will have to pretend I have never heard of Ghost movie next time someone mentions it to me. Sounds like a blast. Denice

I would think twice about red mud being tracked through the house, the plain old mud my dog drags in on his big feet is bad enough. I throw the clay across the street, the ditch is in a flood plain area. Our back yard is fenced in to keep the dog from wandering away or getting hit by a car. I can't believe that a garbage man would call the police without even running his finger across the red spot. I would switch garbage companies, I switched once because the recycle man would cuss and holler the whole time he was in the neighborhood. I would have my windows open in my studio and could here him sorting and cussing at each house. I finally decided after several months of it I shouldn't have to tolerate it, when I change companies they also changed his route. Denice

You can't throw out your clay slop on the ground? I keep my clay and glaze slop separate, I dump the heavy clay slop at the edge of my road and a ditch. I find areas where the dirt is washing away from the side of the road and fill them. So far the road isn't cracking and sliding into the ditch where I have been filling it with clay, the rest of my street is. I dry my glaze slop and take it to the hazardous waste facility. Denice

I am sure I have the same habits other potters have but I do use my slab roller a lot. Whenever I have a nice warm day with very little wind I will take my canvas for red clay and the one for white out side to hose down on the driveway. I leave the canvas out in the sun to dry and them roll them up . This method keeps them nice and flat with no wrinkles. Denice

Early 70's I had first glaze class in my first year of college, no one wore masks or gloves. I was working with red lead glazes, I believe there was one mask for people who were mixing clay in the bread dough type mixers. I wasn't able to finish my degree had to get a job. I continued to work with clay at home. I was able to go back to school in the 90's. Safety protocol had really changed, gloves and masks had to be worn in the glaze mixing room. Hazardous materials were marked and pouring water and stirring was done in a open area. Dust storms have silica in them, silica is everywhere. I have been working with clay since 1968, I'm still here no lung problems. Denice

Icicles are hanging from my work bench, just kidding. I'll check tomorrow just to make sure there isn't any, it is suppose to be 12 below. Denice

I have reached out to a couple of local high schools to donate 48 Ceramic Monthly magazines . Both pottery teachers indicated that they were to busy to drop by my studio and pick them up. It is almost impossible to donate at the school, they would probably call the bomb squad if had boxes in the car. I tried for six months and the quit trying when Covid blew up reality. I use to donate magazines to high schools, unless you have a child or grandchild in the school donating is impossible. Denice

Marcia Selsor