Denice

Interesting subject,   I sold my most interesting cup a year ago to a customer who broke one of a set.   I made them for valentines day.   The top was heart shaped,  to create that shape one side had deep crease down it.   For some reason people ignored the heart shape and liked the crease area calling it a butt mug.   Just for fun I put a tattoo on the bottom of the cup,  so the person sitting across from you gets a glimpse.  Conversation starter.   They didn't sell well because they were a 6oz coffee cup size,  the people who did like them were into very strong and very hot coffee.  They told me that the curve of the cup helped keep it hot and it was small enough that to refill frequently with hot coffee.   I am not much of a coffee drinker I didn't realize that people wanted to buy large mugs.     Denice

Interesting subject,   I sold my most interesting cup a year ago to a customer who broke one of a set.   I made them for valentines day.   The top was heart shaped,  to create that shape one side had deep crease down it.   For some reason people ignored the heart shape and liked the crease area calling it a butt mug.   Just for fun I put a tattoo on the bottom of the cup,  so the person sitting across from you gets a glimpse.  Conversation starter.   They didn't sell well because they were a 6oz coffee cup size,  the people who did like them were into very strong and very hot coffee.  They told me that the curve of the cup helped keep it hot and it was small enough that to refill frequently with hot coffee.   I am not much of a coffee drinker I didn't realize that people wanted to buy large mugs.     Denice

For me it is the bottom of a plastic trash bucket that I cut and modified as a splash pan for my CI wheel, which was literally a "barn find" that I got from a friend. Another is the top of a plastic trash bucket that I use as a trimming shield for my Giffen Grip...another is an old ceiling fan that I turned into a banding wheel...

My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice

I’ve been humming and hawing over this question, was going to pass on making a comment out of respect to those amongst us who live a single life and might be having a difficult time reading these tales of love and understanding. 
I am one of the fortunate people who has a sympathetic and understanding life partner. The respect and considerate nature we have for each other and what we do with our chosen paths isn’t something that is limited to how we spend our days make a living. We started off with student debts and stretching out the pay checks to make ends meet then as time went by found ourselves with a mortgage and 4 daughters.  Just to make things more complicated I left my well paying job to make a go of selling pots.
Being supportive isn’t just restricted to a tolerance or a shallow understanding of the trials and tribulations of working at making a living with clay and all that it involves. Does it still require an understanding and at times boatloads of patience? Hell yes! Could I do this without an understanding partner? Yup, I’m sure I could but it would be more difficult. I have deep and profound respect for people who make a go of working a lifetime in clay, especially those who do it singlehandedly.

My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice

My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice

My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice

The kiln should be vented for both fumes and heat. That could mean an overhead hood, a ceiling vent that's sized for the kiln and room size, or either of those in combination with a downdraft vent.

What type of bricks are you wanting to make?    Some type of bricks you will find  gravel size rocks in it,   you probably just add some ball clay to it to adjust for the sand.   How do you plan to fire them?  Have you  tested it and see how it holds together?    Denice

My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice

The scumming I had problems with was more of a white smear on the glaze,  it didn't scrub off and I couldn't get all of it to disappear refiring it.   I did figure out what was causing it.  I have always gave my bisque ware a good washing the day before I glazed.   When I started working in my current studio,  I started having problems with scumming.  I did a little research  and decided it was my bisque or the water.  After a couple of test I was positive it was the water,  I use a microfiber  towel now or distilled water to clean my bisque ware, no more scumming.    Denice    

I trim like Min but I have never tried Griffin Grip or neoprene,  the neoprene sounds interesting.  I think I will give it a try next time I go on a throwing jag.  Right now I hold my pots down with clay.  When I had my kick wheel I liked to kick backwards when I was trimming,  I always felt like I had more control.   Denice

The scumming I had problems with was more of a white smear on the glaze,  it didn't scrub off and I couldn't get all of it to disappear refiring it.   I did figure out what was causing it.  I have always gave my bisque ware a good washing the day before I glazed.   When I started working in my current studio,  I started having problems with scumming.  I did a little research  and decided it was my bisque or the water.  After a couple of test I was positive it was the water,  I use a microfiber  towel now or distilled water to clean my bisque ware, no more scumming.    Denice    

I trim like Min but I have never tried Griffin Grip or neoprene,  the neoprene sounds interesting.  I think I will give it a try next time I go on a throwing jag.  Right now I hold my pots down with clay.  When I had my kick wheel I liked to kick backwards when I was trimming,  I always felt like I had more control.   Denice

I trim like Min but I have never tried Griffin Grip or neoprene,  the neoprene sounds interesting.  I think I will give it a try next time I go on a throwing jag.  Right now I hold my pots down with clay.  When I had my kick wheel I liked to kick backwards when I was trimming,  I always felt like I had more control.   Denice

I keep only C6 clay in my studio,  I don't want any low fire or high fire causing me headaches.   I have seen a couple of firings where someone put some low fire work in a high fire kiln,  the low fire clay melted all over the other pots.   I am currently finishing a mural that I am using six different clay's  for there different colors,  speckling and texture,  They are all C6 with the same shrinkage rate.    Denice

How much of the clay do you have?   I would use it for working on your throwing techniques and not worry about firing it.   My throwing class in college we spent most of our time throwing and then cutting it in half to check the thickness of the walls.  We could fire three pieces  to keep,  you can also use a odd  clay in mold making.   I throw away any clay that is around plaster.  if the plaster gets in your clay you can have explosive results when fired.   When you buy new clay make sure that it is in the same firing cone that your  glaze is,  there is some clay's out there that has a long firing range.    This can cause trouble with your glaze fit.     Denice

How much of the clay do you have?   I would use it for working on your throwing techniques and not worry about firing it.   My throwing class in college we spent most of our time throwing and then cutting it in half to check the thickness of the walls.  We could fire three pieces  to keep,  you can also use a odd  clay in mold making.   I throw away any clay that is around plaster.  if the plaster gets in your clay you can have explosive results when fired.   When you buy new clay make sure that it is in the same firing cone that your  glaze is,  there is some clay's out there that has a long firing range.    This can cause trouble with your glaze fit.     Denice

I used a dual Skutt  digital pyrometer  to do my soaks.   I would be near by at the end of the firing so I could hear the click of the bar dropping down.   I would take a pencil like stick and raise the bar back up,  push the button back in and gently lower the bar.  I had my  pyrometers  in a pair of peek hole plugs,  I was firing a large Skutt so I need two pyrometers.   Skutt's peep hole plugs are hollow so it is easy to cut the end off.   The thermocouple sticks out into the kiln about 5 inches so you have to leave space for it when you load the kiln.  Once you have the kiln at the temperature you want you can keep it at that temperature by adjust the knobs.   I start out by turning the upper knob to medium.   I fire to C6,   the glazes aren't that different than C10,   more premade glazes and formula's available  and your wiring will last longer.  I think the Knight kiln  could be 50 years old,  I threw away a Paragon that age a few years ago.   When I took the metal jacket off the brick turned into a pile of sand,  my kiln guy had told me it was to old to be worked on.  The condition of your kiln makes a big difference.    Denice

I used a dual Skutt  digital pyrometer  to do my soaks.   I would be near by at the end of the firing so I could hear the click of the bar dropping down.   I would take a pencil like stick and raise the bar back up,  push the button back in and gently lower the bar.  I had my  pyrometers  in a pair of peek hole plugs,  I was firing a large Skutt so I need two pyrometers.   Skutt's peep hole plugs are hollow so it is easy to cut the end off.   The thermocouple sticks out into the kiln about 5 inches so you have to leave space for it when you load the kiln.  Once you have the kiln at the temperature you want you can keep it at that temperature by adjust the knobs.   I start out by turning the upper knob to medium.   I fire to C6,   the glazes aren't that different than C10,   more premade glazes and formula's available  and your wiring will last longer.  I think the Knight kiln  could be 50 years old,  I threw away a Paragon that age a few years ago.   When I took the metal jacket off the brick turned into a pile of sand,  my kiln guy had told me it was to old to be worked on.  The condition of your kiln makes a big difference.    Denice

Lee I change eye doctors last year because the last one kept trying to up sell me on different new test that weren't covered by insurance.  I asked my new doctor about them and he said that my eyes were healthy  he didn't know why he would do all of those test.  My old doctor said I had fast moving cataracts,  my new doctor said they were mild and nothing to be concern with for now.    I guess I'll wait and fix them when I can't see the side of the road.    Denice

My son  made a wedding band for his bride,  it was a silver quarter that he made into a band.  He told me he found the directions on the internet.   She loved it.  she is a very small person you might need a silver half dollar for a normal sized person.    Denice

When I purchased my Brent Wheel I didn't have a stool for it.   I had lots of wooden stools around,  so I padded a seat  and shorten the front legs on one to where you sat at the right angle to throw.   After using it for a while I figured out I need a  swivel stool,  I bought a garage shop stool and shortened the front legs.  It works great and is very stable.  So I have this old stool sitting around,  after using it a few times I found that it is comfortable and easy on your knees when you stand up.  The other day my husband was painting a car his childhood friend came over to give his advice  and encouragement.   His friend was a mail carrier and is in pretty bad physical shape,  he was about to grab a garage stool  so I got the old padded stool out of my studio and  said you get to use the magic stool.  He sat on it and said it was very comfortable,  I told him to stand and he said wow that was easy.  He thanked me at the end of day and said it made his day very comfortable.     Denice

When I purchased my Brent Wheel I didn't have a stool for it.   I had lots of wooden stools around,  so I padded a seat  and shorten the front legs on one to where you sat at the right angle to throw.   After using it for a while I figured out I need a  swivel stool,  I bought a garage shop stool and shortened the front legs.  It works great and is very stable.  So I have this old stool sitting around,  after using it a few times I found that it is comfortable and easy on your knees when you stand up.  The other day my husband was painting a car his childhood friend came over to give his advice  and encouragement.   His friend was a mail carrier and is in pretty bad physical shape,  he was about to grab a garage stool  so I got the old padded stool out of my studio and  said you get to use the magic stool.  He sat on it and said it was very comfortable,  I told him to stand and he said wow that was easy.  He thanked me at the end of day and said it made his day very comfortable.     Denice