Denice
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Everything posted by Denice
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I have a utility cabinet that I bought as a drying cabinet. It works great it dries very slowly, if I want more moisture I put a bucket of water on the bottom. I will wrap or bag anything to keep them wetter. Denice
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Books about Japanese or Korean throwing techniques?
Denice replied to Sullie's topic in Studio Operations and Making Work
The only reason I sold my kickwheel is because I was 68 at the time and was having trouble kicking up the wheel fast enough. I also had my knee separate on vacation, a doctor took a x-ray of it and wrap it up. He told me that I had extremely strong bones in that leg and asked how I did it. I told him it was my kicking leg I used on my wheel for throwing. I used that wheel for forty years and it has gone to a new home. I think a potter should use the wheel of their choice, to me a wheel is personable. Denice -
Advice on Wiring and Venting a new Studio
Denice replied to ForagerPotter's topic in Equipment Use and Repair
On the subject of venting is your kiln going to be located near a outside wall. In my kiln room I have a dual Skutt exhaust system that works on two kilns and exhaust through the wall. My test kiln and doesn't need one. It is located close to a window, I also have a exhaust fan in the ceiling to clear out some heat that is vented outside. Even with all of these exhaust features I usually keep the door open to my studio to let some heat escape. Sometimes you can still get some odor from the firing but having a room reduces the odor. This may be important because of the apartment in the same area. I connected kiln duct work to a dryer vent in a basement years ago, It had a baffle on it to close off the dryer vent when the kiln was running. It only had a 3ft run from the baffle to the house. Denice -
If you don't care about the tray you could melt it off. I believe it is lacquer or paint thinner, you find the info on the internet. Denice
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In the late 60's my ceramics class did a Japanese Raku tea ceremony. We didn't have a charcoal fire, we used a small kiln. The cups were made by hand with Raku clay just as they were in the ceremony in the 1500's. They were taken out of the kiln red hot. They sat and cooled down to the point they could be dunked in a bucket of water. We didn't glaze them with a lead glaze like the original ceremony. They all survived even though everything was rushed, it was only a hour class. Denice
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The REAL thing. Wonderful.
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My work doesn't require large amounts on one glaze, I make up a gallon batch. I have been making murals that have a lot of different color and texture glaze. I keep my clay in 5 gal buckets and roll them around on casters. I bought a bunch of them at Menard's lumber store last spring, only $3.00 each on sale. I am really impressed with the casters, heavy duty and handles a full bucket of clay easily. When my husbands runs out of automotive casters in his garage he steals some of mine. If you have a Menard's in your area check the spring sales. Denice
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My ceramics supply store fix kilns, you had to haul your kiln to the store and then wait 3 to 6 months. You could probably stretch your repair schedule out a little, your customers will wait. I didn't feel confident working on the kiln myself, my husband had no interest in working on my kilns. When he retired he decided to give it a try and decided it was easy. It would be easy for him, he wrote operation and repair books for a living. Denice
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I need to do some more testing before I know what direction I am going. My first test firing had miserable results so I an going to try a different clay. I was going to work on it this week but I just got scheduled for some radiation treatment on some facial skin cancer. I have to get treatment for five days, the doctor said it might make me tired. Caught it early so its no big deal. Denice
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I was the same way, I decided to quit looking at other peoples work, magazines and shows were cut. I also decided to work strictly with C6 clay. If I need to remake something in a low fire clay I will use up the clay immediately and throw away any scraps. That way I don't have to worry about contamination of the C6 clay. It has been 10 years and still working with Cone 6 clay, I am tempted to look at magazines when I am at my ceramics supplier but manage to control myself. Denice
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Lesson time limit and pottery time
Denice replied to Francesco's topic in Studio Operations and Making Work
It really depends on the humidity level where you live. I live in Kansas very hot, windy and can be humid or dry. I took a summer throwing class, we would take a freshly thrown piece outside and place it in the sun. The wind was always blowing, we would take breaks and turn the pot until it was stiff enough to cut off the bat. Trim the pot and start the drying with bottom up, by the time class was over they were almost totally dry. A humid day took much longer. Denice -
Hobbies can keep your mind and body active. Growing gourds is preparing for my next hobby, one of these years my MS will prevent me from working with clay. Gourds can be the shape of pots and are light weight. You can varnish, paint, dremel, stain and cut designs out, I already have 3 big lawn bags filled with a nice variety of dried gourds. I have started a small collection of gourd art for inspiration, two of them are from Peru and one is from a gift shop on 5th avenue. Denice
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We lose our power about once a month fifteen minutes to a hour. The controller takes over and finishes the firing when the electricity comes back on. We lost our power for two days when a tornado was close to us. We were having some ceiling work done recently and the sheet rocker told us he could see daylight from the roof. We had a roofer out and he said that our tile roof had been lifted and dropped by the tornado, we probably need a new roof. Finding a roofer is another problem, there was 1000 buildings damaged or destroyed in that tornado. The roofer never came back to fix the holes, we had a handyman do it. Denice
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Not much into sports, but I can walk around in my house and from my car to the scooters in the store. I know this doesn't sound like much activity but my neuro is surprised I can still walk. Most of our remodeling is finished and my sewing room has almost all of the junk stored in it gone. I have already finished up some work and thinking about another project. I am more of a upholstery seamstress than clothing. I am planning on planting some gourds this summer for qourd art. Clay is my main focus, I am starting to feel a little anxious I haven't been out in my studio for three weeks because of bad weather. Denice
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I am also glad I bought my new kilns with the Genisis controllers. I have fired the Paragon test kiln twice as much as the L&L I am so happy to have controllers that manage the firing. I don't have to worry about brain fog and forgetting to turn knobs and change the temp. When I first decided to get new kilns I wondered if someone my age should spend that kind of money on kilns. After I started using them I decided that is exactly what someone my age should do. I have automated my house as much as I can, why not the studio. Denice
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I have never looked into ICAN, I haven't subscribed to CM for 10 years. I had quit reading them because I would see some new technique and drop what I was working on. The unread magazines were piling up while I delved deep into my work. I did subscribe off and on for 40 years and donated them to art programs. I try to come up with questions for the forum but they are usually pretty lame. Like how many people have the first pot they hand built or thrown and why did you keep it. My brain is starting to slow down, maybe some of the younger potters can come up with some questions. Denice
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Oil Clay Sculpting for Slip Casting Molds
Denice replied to Hyn Patty's topic in Studio Operations and Making Work
I think resin work can be very intense and deep with color but I will have to pass on it. I have MS and my immune system thinks it is protecting me when I am around unusual smells, it actually shuts down my lungs. It can be anything from a strong cleaner, bug spray, spray paint, mold, cat dander ect. I carry a EPI pen with me but I usually just try to avoid situations that causes me problems. I will have to check my bag of clay and see what brand I have, it was my sculpture partner favorite clay. He was from a nearby tribe and mostly did southwestern sculptures a lot of eagles and cowboy and horses. The slip I used was called a C5 Porcelain slip, my supplier had it in black and white, it was new on the market. I'll have to look around and see what is new at my ceramics store these days. Denice -
Oil Clay Sculpting for Slip Casting Molds
Denice replied to Hyn Patty's topic in Studio Operations and Making Work
I have been watching the progress on your medallion, can't wait to see your finished medallion. I worked with oil clay when I belonged to a sculpture group. I made plaster molds off my pieces. My son was into medieval times so I made him a chess set that was as close to medieval characters as my research revealed. I use Cone 5 black and white slip to pour my molds with. The only problem I had was that they broke easily, I don't know if I poured them too thin or it wasn't a good clay for a seven year old boys chess set. I still have the set and the molds, I ought to dig them out and make a new set. I have a block of oil clay in my studio, I split a order with the man who was the featured at Silver Dollar City sculpture cabin every summer. I enjoyed working with the oil clay, my only problem was that the clay would get soft from my hands holding the chess pieces while I worked. When they got sticky I would put them in the refrigerator and work on a different cooled piece. I am happy you are back to sculpting, I should probably look around for victim and sculpt a bust of them. Denice -
I tested different types of glass I could find for several months, I wanted to make the medallions for my mural out of recycled glass. I only found two types of glass that would totally melt, one was window glass the other was a cheap crummy glasses that have thick edges. Wine, beer bottles, vase,carafes, and nice glasses are tempered and only soften. I wanted to find a use for recycled glass, the window glass was a nice blue green when melted into a inch thick medallion. The cheap thick edged glasses and vases fire to a nice clear. Denice
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I was told that the beautiful Chinese pots were very heavy, the potters were more interested in the shape and design than the weight. Denice
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I checked my local dealer and he hasn't carried them for years. I looked around on-line and couldn't find it, I did find a bead tree that looked like it might work. I also found a pad that you could put nails made out of ceramic shelf clay in different holes depending on your pot. It was really interesting, something a potter should have around in there kiln supplies. I found it on Amazon in kiln accessories, I would look around for the bead tree, the one I found was pretty expensive. Porcelain slip doesn't have a lot of memory. Denice
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I have used busted up kiln elements on cone 5 bisque poured slip porcelain with a low fire celadon glaze. I put less glaze on the areas that sat on the elements. I used a porcelain nichrome support rod with center tower for any pieces that stuck out away from the body. The 12 pieces came out perfect but you need to test before you fire them. Denice
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Does this piece have a flat bottom and glazed. What temperature are you firing too?
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wholesale Is this a scam?
Denice replied to New Potter's topic in Business, Marketing, and Accounting
I get a scam almost daily on my e-mail, yesterday the e-mail was from supposedly SiriusRX . It said my radio subscription had expired and all I had to do was click and I would get another year for the same great price. I got on-line with Sirius, they told me that they never send anything like that our and it is months before I need to renew. Denice -
Thought I would let you know I found a doctor in my town, only one doctor in a town of half of million that does SRT-IG radiation treatment. All the other doctors want to slice open a flap and then do facial repair later. I am to old for that and I don't heal well. Insurance won't cover it but we can afford to pay for it. Right now stuck at home too cold and icy to go out, it is suppose to get down to -3 later this week. Denice
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Glad you found someone to do the treatment you want to be done. I wish you all the best! Keep in touch.
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