Denice

The lights I created were made out of C6 stoneware clay ran through a slab roller, ribbed and then draped on some plaster forms. Denice

About 15 years ago I made a wall lantern and hanging light shade with this technique. My first lantern didn't allow enough light out so I thinned the clay around the cut outs and then used white glaze inside the second one. When I was carving the hanging shade I decided to using thinner clay and larger cut outs. It had a bell shade just as I got to the middle I realized I didn't have any support. I left about two inches uncarved in the middle and carved a pattern around the bottom edge. I found several minor stress crack inside that didn't show up on the surface, they told me it had twisted a little when was firing. If you are doing some testing you could try putting separator around the edge or take a damp Q-tip around the edge to clean the glaze. To get the deeper pull back on the glaze. Denice

When I make a plaster mold I smooth up the out side edges of the mold and check for and under cuts that might need to be blended in. I give it a thorough wash and set it in front of a fan to dry. I would throw away your clay used in test pressing, a small piece of plaster will contaminate your clay. You could have cracks and small blow outs from plaster in the clay during a firing. Larger molds I pour the plaster outside where I don't have to worry about splatters of plaster. I can control the mess of smaller molds in my studio. It is starting to cool here so I need to check my plaster slabs and wash my slab roller canvas's. Cleaning them on the driveway and letting them dry there keeps them from getting creases. My husbands loves to play with water so he will take on this job claiming that he just wants to help me. Denice

I got hooked on clay when I was 11 years old, the art teacher gave us a ball of clay. I made a Egyptian cat pendant, I realized that clay was magic and I could make anything with it. I took every ceramics class in high school and later got a degree in fine arts with a ceramics focus. My husband knew I was addicted to clay, instead of buying a couch for our first house we bought a kiln. My first studio was a fold down table, three tools, bucket and the kiln. I have been working with clay for 55 years and each studio has gotten bigger and better. When I started producing a lot of work I made my own clay, packaged premade clay was expensive. I am lucky to have a ceramic supply store in town, I buy all of my tools and supplies there. Working from your own studio you miss being around other potters that you can bounce ideas around and get critiques. The only digital element I use is a app for my Genisis controllers on my kilns. Denice

I do more hand building than throwing so I don't have any inventive ways of creating a foot. Your number 4 is the way I would trim for a runny glaze, number 2 I would use this for quickly made cups. I made bisque molds for recycled glass casing I had to break the molds off of the fired glass, I had seventy of them to make. Number 7 is the look I like to trim on more elegant well balanced pot. Denice

You get some impurities that come to the surface of the glaze with that low of bisque. White earthenware may not be that bad but red terracotta needs long C04 bisque it has lots of impurities. You have C4 clay none of there temperatures you are firing it to will work. The pots will be very fragile and leak, if you want to keep working in the low fire range you need to buy a bag of low fire earthenware clay. Denice

I used bags that the newspaper came in, I no longer take the paper so I just put the clay directly in it. My extruder is homemade so I think it has more areas for the clay to hide in. When I am finished with it I take it apart and let it soak for a day before I clean it. Denice

I never noticed the fumes migrating upstairs, I could barely smell them in the studio next door. I thought I should play it safe and leave the area, my house was built in 1929. We had to move I was having trouble climbing the 4 flights of stairs. I was diagnosed with MS after we moved, the only stairs we have now go to the basement to hide from tornado's. Denice

I am working on a sunset that is at the top of a mural. I have been testing and found that if I apply a yellow underglaze on the tile it is much easier to brush a another color of underglaze on top of it and keep a straight line. The Mayco Glaze I am using suggests Cone C06 for this application. Denice

I fired a big Skutt in a basement like that for 13 years, I had some ventilation but not enough, you have windows so you could probably run a vent hose out it. My ceiling was tongue and groove boards and my floor and walls were cement. You could always put up some cement board if the ceiling worries you. The Skutt was in the same area as the breaker box, I had a electrician put in the correct breaker, wire and outlet. It was a old house and some of it still had knob and tube wiring. Make sure you buy a kiln that comes in sections, much easier to move. On days the kiln was fuming more than my ventilation set up could handle I would stay out of the basement. I don't think there is a system that removes all of the fumes. My kilns are in a separate room with a Skutt dual vent system, a window and a ceiling exhaust. Sometimes I can still smell fumes, I can shut the door or leave the room. Denice

I don't vent either of my test kilns, I think they are too small. I have put a piece of shelving under the edge of the lid during a bisque firing. My old AIM kiln had a large peep hole that the fumes could get out. My new Paragon is sealed up, no peep holes. I remove the piece of shelf when the fumes are gone. a window is behind the test kiln. I have a small manual kiln that I can easily fill and do a bisque firing so I try to stick to glaze firings in the test kilns. Denice

I vacuum out a kiln when the bottom starts to gets speckled looking or a pot shatters in a bisque firing. I sieve my glazes before I use them if they have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. I tend to jump around on glazes so I probably sieve them every time I use them. Maybe you got a piece clay stuck on your sleeve and it fell off when you were loading. Denice

I bought a new Paragon Caldera XL last year. My old test AIM test kiln was in need of repair, I was wanting to jump into the world of computerized firing. It has a Genisis controller and very tightly built with three inch bricks. The three inch brick is very important, my AIM had two inch brick that cooled down way to fast. I would try to slow it down manually, it was very difficult to do. I never felt like my test were totally accurate, the glazes always looked different when they came out of a large firing. The Genisis controller is also easy to use, I believe the Caldera takes a 15amp outlet. You could fire two mugs in it. You may have to find a smaller test kiln with thick walls for a 120v outlet Firing a test glaze fast could produce different results than a big standard firing. The Genisis glaze program is hours slower than the program I fired manually. My L&L has the same controller so I just let it do it thing. Denice

I have been working with clay for 55 years and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. You have set up a studio but you still need to take some ceramic classes. Check out several different ones, find a teacher that will let you help load and unload and fire kilns. When I was getting my degree we had to make clay for the beginners, sometimes helped load kilns and definitely unload them. We are talking about big gas kilns that you could stand in. Once a week we had to give the main work area a good scrubbing, one day each semester was grinding and coating kiln shelves day. You finally get to the level where you make general glaze for the classes. A master student hands you a drill mixer, 5 gal bucket and formulas and tells you to start mixing. If you decide to get your masters degree you are suddenly a teacher. They were short a hand building teacher and tried to talk me into teaching a class even before I got my BA. You probably won't run into a program like they have at college, just make sure you find someone that is willing to share their knowledge and not just stick you behind a wheel. I would find a evening class to take now to meet other potters and share ideas. I haven't done it lately I end up helping to teach the class because they don't have enough teachers. Denice

I started out wanting to be a art teacher, I didn't get to attend college until I was older. I decided to concentrate on clay instead of teaching. I had my studio for 15 years when I went back to finish my degree. I taught some art classes in my son's school, sold some pots and did portraiture sculpture during that time period. When I graduated from college I closed my decorating business that I had for 20 years to concentrate on my work. I had my mother, father, niece and other relatives die that year, my husband and I decided that life is too short and I should be in the studio working. I started selling my work at galleries before I graduated, so I at least had money for supplies. I haven't sold any work since Covid, most of the galleries around here closed and didn't reopen. I don't care about selling work anymore, I will let my son deal with it when I am gone. Right now I am headed out to my studio, I have a mural to finish before I head into a new direction with my work. Yesterday I picked up a 25lb bag of clay off the floor and ran it thru the slab roller. I flipped it over after I laid sheet rock on it and cut the tiles. I am a 70 year old woman who has Multiple Sclerosis, working with clay makes you STRONG. At this stage of my life strength is more important than money. Denice

Does anyone out there have baseboard heaters. I have seen them in homes but not in workshops. Kansas has had some extremely cold winters lately, I bought a new electric radiator heater last year. I thought my studio was so cold because my old heater wasn't working well. It is colder now with the new heater, need to come up with a new idea. Denice

I have the windows with a view and my outlets are four feet off the floor, I could use more outlets also. I don't have a floor drain. wanted to put one in when I built the studio but we couldn't get the county inspectors to grasp the idea. They thought I would be polluting the near by creek. Doubling my space would be nice but I probably would fill it with stuff I should get rid of. My husband is on a bright lights rampage, he put new LED tube lights in my studio that are so bright you need sunglasses. Fortunately they are dimmable. Denice

I would devote more space to the kiln room. My new L&L takes up more space than my old big Skutt, my husband put it on some big casters and I roll it out to the middle of the room to fire it. I could load a kiln on the other side of the room before while the Skutt was firing, now I have to wait until the L&L is cool. Not a big deal, I am retired and have plenty of time. I would put a separate heating/aircondition unit, often it is too hot or cold to work. Getting rid of a work table that is barely used and installing more shelves, I have 3 work tables and a large slab roller table. Install a drawer unit in my sink area, the only lower cabinet I have doesn't even have shelves, I end up putting misc stuff in it. I could probably add another upper cabinet, we bought a couple of closeout cabinets for cheap when we put in the sink. Denice

You can turn it down to medium, if there is any damage from firing too hot and fast it has probably already happened. Good luck Denice

Over the years I have had two different clay's that I loved discontinued. I dislike a clay like B-Mix it feels like cream cheese. I like one with enough body that I can throw and handbuild with it, I switch back and forth with red speckled and white and dapple with a tan now and then. Denice

I have purchased two new kilns this year, I have fired manual kilns a Skutt and a Paragon for 50 years. I decided to jump into the world of computer controlled kilns, the first one was a Paragon Caldera XL test kiln with a Genisis controller on it. I found it easy to use, several months later I noticed that L&L was having a sale I also added a Genisis controller to it. My Skutt still had great firings but I needed a shorter kiln in my old age. I sold it to a new potter, my test kiln just needed new elements but I was wanting a more modern one. Both of the new kilns have heavy metal components and thick dense fire brick that is tightly fitted together. The L&L had a bigger diameter than my old Skutt so my husband put some nice roller wheels on it. I roll it out of the corner to the center of my kiln room and fire it there and roll it back when it is cool and unloaded. I have two kilns that use the same outlet and the test kiln has a separate 20 amp outlet. Good luck

I have also used a few volume glazes, but I was trained using weights. I don't think I would change methods after all of these years. Denice

I bought Corederlite shelves for my new L&L kiln, I was told then that they had fixed the warping problem. I don't have enough firings on them to know if they warp. I will tell you that I was disappointed that they were heavier than I expected. You shouldn't have too much trouble lifting the regular 15 inch shelves. You could buy a Corederlite shelf to use as your bottom shelf, that is always the hardest one for me to pick up of the 20 inch shelves. You can always work with half shelves, some kiln loading instructions recommend using only half shelves. I bought the lighter shelves because I am 70 years old and thinking of my future kiln loading and unloading. Denice

Shelves for my new kiln, I could use at least two more. I make a lot of tile you can't have enough shelves. The last two I bought were $50 each and $50 shipping and handling. $150 would cover the cost nicely. Denice