Roberta12

My husband is starting his fourth year of retirement and I think everything that could go wrong did.  He had health problems right away,  in the middle of his colon surgery his mother was brought by a ambulance to the same hospital.   We spent two years handling things for his mom,  she died last November,  still settling the will a year later.  In middle of all this  Covid shutdown,  I had both wrists and a finger operated on and I have arthritis in my fingers.   I haven't given up,  I am reorganizing my shop this week,  even hanging new blinds.   I started on a alternative plan to keep me in my studio ten years ago.  I started growing gourds,  I know they are not clay but they are shaped like pots and are light weight.  There are many ways to get designs on them with light weight tools.  If you not into growing them you can buy them in bulk on-line.   I have seen finished pieces in galleries and have bought a dozed pieces for inspiration. I bought one that was from a gallery on 5th avenue at a estate sale.  My big project this winter is 3'x4' mural.   I guess I'd better get to work.   Denice

This. My thumbs and a couple of my fingers have started to be painful in the joints, sometimes to the point that they throb for a couple of days after heavy use. I'm seeing my hand doctor and wearing a brace on one thumb at night, and I've seen some improvement, so that's good. I could always do the cinnamon roll tendon surgery on my thumbs if needed, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. I just want to make sure my hands won't limit my activities in retirement when I'll have time to do some of the other things I enjoy doing like woodworking and fishing.

Yup, I’m considering this possibility too. I’m taking a couple of months off after the holidays, and will spend this time testing several options. Or, if my current clay supplier recovers from its current issues, I may end up sticking with the current clay. Just need to have a plan in case they don’t. 

Thanks everybody! I went looking for more information about my current clay, and there it was right in the description “granular manganese.” I also found some good tips about adding it to clay on DigitalFire. Time to buy some and do some tests. 
Sometimes the speckles in my current clay are unreasonably huge. I’ve even put some pots in the seconds pile because of weirdly large speckle splotches. So it might be nice improvement to have some control over the particle size now. 

Late this week, or early next week folks, but no new questions in the QotW pool, so I will pose another question.
When I started glazing in college, I had usually about 8 different cone 9-10 glazes to choose from in a studio that had a gas burning kiln that I believe may have been around 30 cu ft. The glazing was done with dipping, pouring and brushing with some splattering, but not much else.  I continued much with this form of glazing while teaching, but added some atomizers to the work especially when working with ^6 in the HS I taught at. I still used the other techiques at PSU when doing grad school work. Then when I started my own studio at home with the purchase of a kiln and a motorized kick wheel I did much more glazing with the atomizer over a base matt white glaze and finished with calligraphic brush work. These pieces were one offs, and worked well with a few base glazes, and underglazes used as inglaze. However I changed direction as the glaze I used for a base proved to be unstable in my firings, and I found the zinc often dulled much of the color. I moved to a glaze with tin as an opacifier, and played with tin/chromium flashing for a while. Somewhere along the way I lost the feel for the previous work, as the glossy glazes moved too much and the colors were not the same. Of late I have been moving towards more texture in the piece allowing the glaze to break the thin and thicken as it breaks over the clay textured surface. I still am not happy with the results, but everything is a work in progress. The atomizer has been replaced by a spray gun, the inglaze replaced by glaze colors over the base glaze that is buttery white with the addition of 1-3% rutile. All of my firing for the last 30 years have been electric oxidation  at ^6.
QothW: What is your favorite technique of glazing and decorating? Does texture of the piece play into your choice of glazing and decorating? What atmosphere and cone do you fire to?
 
best,
Pres

Specifically for pottery, yes.  I have had people work with me to improve, I have taken a few private lessons, and as soon as my schedule and bank account would allow, I started taking workshops.  Like most others have responded, I study, read, watch, rinse and repeat.  More recently I have taken online classes and rented teaching videos @GEP being a person I have watched in order to learn specific skills.  
I love the classroom format and have taken classes over the years for anything that I really wanted to know more about.  
Roberta

Specifically for pottery, yes.  I have had people work with me to improve, I have taken a few private lessons, and as soon as my schedule and bank account would allow, I started taking workshops.  Like most others have responded, I study, read, watch, rinse and repeat.  More recently I have taken online classes and rented teaching videos @GEP being a person I have watched in order to learn specific skills.  
I love the classroom format and have taken classes over the years for anything that I really wanted to know more about.  
Roberta

Specifically for pottery, yes.  I have had people work with me to improve, I have taken a few private lessons, and as soon as my schedule and bank account would allow, I started taking workshops.  Like most others have responded, I study, read, watch, rinse and repeat.  More recently I have taken online classes and rented teaching videos @GEP being a person I have watched in order to learn specific skills.  
I love the classroom format and have taken classes over the years for anything that I really wanted to know more about.  
Roberta

Mugs are my best sellers-I make 5 sizes and 3 kinds-regular -soup-motion.
Spoon rests -sell them by the hundreds-sponge holders -also sell a zillion
from there its an assortment of glasses -half glasses pie plates chip and dips
candle holders cereal bowls and miso bowls -as well as all size serving bowls (very popular) and huge bowls )no one makes them much anymore
 utensil holders-baking dishes a few sizes platers round and oval in many sizes -vases- canister sets
I make 35 forms and soon will be narrowing it down as shows are going to an end for me in next  few years
Teapots -flatware are near the bottom as slow sellers
These two photos are my 2 shows I did this year-Aug and Oct-I have my 43rd annual xmas show (private in a local shopping center) left to do
shows sell all forms other outlets sell a limited variety of forms like my galleries or supermarkets-much more limited selection than a show
 

Best selling lower price point item for the amount of work involved would be my little tubs (with black walnut spoon). Mugs always sell well. Higher price point best seller are my swirl serving dishes. 
Edit: I don't get the opportunity to soda fire very often but when I do anything that comes out of the kiln fairly decent sells quickly.
  

So maybe some of you already know about the app Trello if you’ve had to work on projects in a more corporate setting in the last couple of years. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it, because every time I heard it mentioned, it seemed like more software than I needed. But a booth neighbour friend and I were talking about workflow stuff this summer, and she showed me how she used it to track the various stages of work in progress. 
The plan was to try it out and report back after show season was done, but it’s been so effective in the last couple of weeks that I thought I’d write about it now!
If you’re not familiar, Trello is sort of like an online Kanban board, or one of those setups where you have the stages of progress for a project written at the top of a white board, and you take a bunch of sticky notes with individual tasks that need to be done and move them along the line as they get completed. In Trello, multiple people can log into the board from wherever they’re working from, and you don’t have problems with sticky notes falling off the board and getting lost. It’s more visually oriented than a spreadsheet, because you can drag and drop items (cards) from one list to the next.
You do need to sign up for an account, but Trello is free for the version that would be needed by most potters or other small makers, and includes a LOT of handy features. Paid versions are designed with large organizations with more employees and outside contractors in mind. 
You want to start off by creating a workspace once you’re signed up and have your account confirmed. Within the workspace, you can create up to 10 boards on the free version.  You could organize these boards as production lists for individual shows, but I’ve got mine set up for quarterly production, and to track items that have been ordered by people. You could also make boards for things like planning your assorted marketing efforts, but I haven’t got that set up yet.
Inside my board for my quarterly production, I made lists that include Needed, Clay Prepped, Thrown, Decorated and Drying, Bisqued, Glazed, and Finished. I then created cards within those lists of the items I want to have made for the start of show season. Cards can hold a significant amount of information, including links, photos and notes, but for my production list I keep it very simple. Each card is just a quantity of an item that I would make in a day, or that I need in grand total. As each item card gets dragged and dropped through the production stages, I have a clear idea of what’s done, what’s in what stage of progress and what still needs to be started. 
For instance, I know I want to have 12 berry bowls made for the season. So the card starts out saying 12 berry bowls while it’s under the “needed” section. I would typically prep the clay and make all those bowls at once, but if they don’t all fit in the bisque, I can make separate cards indicating that I have 8 that have been fired and glazed, and 4 still waiting in the dried state. Depending on the quantity of an item you need to make, you could either make notes within the card of how many of what glaze job you want, or you could make separate cards for the different styles. After they’re all moved onto the “Finished” list, you can admire how much you accomplished!
It’s also very handy for tracking special orders. If a customer has ordered a piece, I can keep their name, order particulars and contact info on one card, and track its progress as above. Once the piece is made, I can attach photos to the card, and move it to the “Notified” list after I’ve emailed the customer. In the event the piece is shipped, I can add the tracking number to the card. That way if I need to process a claim, I’m not sifting through all my Canada Post receipts. 
I’m finding it a lot faster to update than a spreadsheet or a written list. I do recommend it!
 

Even with low production I may need to check it out. I used my white board  like that, divided into rectangles w/lists & check-offs & notes. Now I use it to keep my muscles toned. See pics LOL.

I mostly use the programmed schedules that came with the L&L but I did come up with my own schedule for slumping bottles when I first got my kiln.  That took a lot of trial and error.  A lot.  The program that came with the kiln simply did not work to achieve a great product.  I never intended to slump bottles but the material was free, and I sold a lot of bottles for a few years while the fad was strong.  Now I just do one or two loads a year as a request from customers.  Also I was able to program a schedule for roasting Alberta slip and Ravenscrag.  #4 on the Vary fire!  But mostly I use the hold or not or preheat or not to get what I need. 
Roberta

I got the same cease and desist letter from the trademark holders.  I call them French butter dishes now on the website.  I think it's a bit ridiculous that a company can trademark a name that's been in common usage for a long long time, but such is the world we find ourselves in.  It would appear that they have someone on staff whose job it is to scour the web for trademark infringers. 
Interestingly, while on a tour through the Rhine region of Germany a few years back, I spotted a local pottery shop and of course had to stop in and meet the potter and look at her work.  In her shop they were called Swiss butter bells.

I have an L&L EZ Fire and would be lost without the wonderful selection of pre-programs that are clearly described and explained in the manual. If I were doing more than I am or different items I would set custom schedules but I simply have no need to at this time. I've found the pre-sets to be accurate and consistent, and still with some flexibility (hold times, fast or slow glaze, for example). The computerization really makes my life easier and keeps things simple. 
 

My challenge is to be more attentive to constructing an intentional palette in the first place. I gravitate to favorite combos and then sometimes just get spontaneous with whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. I make plans to develop a couple of palette schemes, and cut out glaze swatches from catalogues or print them out from web sites and tack them up on my inspiration board...and usually never look at them again. 

Well, Primal came out looking less exciting than I hoped so I am going for a refire. Not Broken broke a little bit again and did not get the super colorful treatment I'd planned---I decided to keep it simple. Here is the finished wall piece. 

When doing lighting, go LED, brighter, less shadows, easier to pay attention to detail.
 
best,
Pres

Very good advice. Thank you @Pres @Russ @oldlady @LeeU. 
@Callie Beller Diesel that is a big one. It is good to read it, as I am here reading the forum, delaying a little going to practice at the wheel, with fear that nothing will work today. Going there right now! Thank you.

Make sure you have enough lighting, everything looks good in the dark.    Denice

Show up. Especially when you’re scared, or vulnerable, or avoiding it.

I am so tempted to just write "Run, Forest, run".    Long silent pause.    But, OK, I'll play. 
1. Unless you have zero debt and zero money concerns, determine a realistic budget strictly for the studio and it's operations.
2. Include all things ceramic, such as related travel, major & minor supplies, overhead, fees for participation in exhibits/craft fairs/conferences/local potters guild etc.  
3. Set the financial projections up for about 3 years--it will take that long to see what the real expense  is for your mode of claywork is going to cost you.  
4. If by now you're saying to yourself but it's "just a hobby", run, Forest, run.
5. Stick to the budget and if it is not working, don't delay making the necessary adjustments. I check my budget monthly to see if I'm on track, and I enter expenses when they occur--not 3 weeks later when I can't remember what I got or what I paid, and I've lost the receipt (which should be in a file but sometimes isn't).  

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

A friend of mine is having a rough day today, and wanted me to pass on some information that might not be as widely known as it ought to be.
She sells a round, dome style butter dish as part of her regular offerings on Etsy. This morning she was given a trademark infringement notice and had the listing pulled because she had tagged it as a butter bell.
A little research turned up that the name “Butter Bell” is trademarked, and if I’m reading things right, has been since the late 90’s. It got renewed in the last couple of years. They even sued Paula Deen in 2010 for intellectual property infringement when both entities were selling on QVC. It’s a trademark name, not a patent, so it doesn’t appear to apply to a specific form, although Butter Bell sells what I would have called a French butter dish under that name. The upside down kind you’re supposed to put the water in. The ads in my browser for this search showed similar forms from assorted retailers and Etsy, but all called “butter keepers” or some other name.
So if anyone has similar listing names or tags on websites or online marketplaces, you might want to edit your names to save yourself this hassle. This company is obviously willing to use a lawyer. Any of us selling in person might want to educate our customers on the names if there’s the opportunity, because I’m sure lots of people are using butter bell as a search term online.

No.  I have fired for friends but they are interrogated and vetted fully.  I have to know exactly what clay and glaze they are using.  No exceptions.  Everyone will get in a pinch at times and I am glad to help, but the maintenance and upkeep on a kiln is expensive.  And as mentioned if something doesn't turn out or if someone doesn't know the difference between low fire and mid fire, disaster could ensue.  
Roberta