clay lover

I get along very well with Tucker's MCS, very white good for throwing and handbuilding. nice bright glazes.

what about developing yur own chart, based on how you throw now. When I get a new form the size and shape I want, I record in a binder the weight of clay used, the size I open to and the wall and finished rim size. then when I want to go back to it it's way easier. When I started I wrote the size clay I had used on the bats of the freshly thrown pieces, then measured after they were glazed. I developed from there.v

Weeeeellll, took a box of ikibana bowls to gallery today that had been in my car over night with 19* temps. 2 of them had there pin frogs rolling loose around in the bowl. So, I guess freezing is the answer. durn. Never had that happen be fore.

have any of you had any success in UNgluing something from a pottery piece that is glued on with e6000? I have 4 broken ikibana bowls that I would like to get the large pin frogs out of to reuse.

I watched the Clay Olympics at the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival this past Friday. The competed in groups of 4. I noticed one of the wheels they had put out in the gravel parking lot was rockin and rollin while the potter worked.. However, in the final group the largest tallest pot was thrown on that wobbly wheel. 17" ,4" wide at base and top, from 8 lbs of clay. I also got to meet Neil!!!!

Chilly, I also had a lot of trouble with straight sided rigid forms. Things got much easier when I used Vasaline or shea butter, thick rather sticky mediums, for release agents in those straight sided forms. I rubbed it on like I was greasing a baking dish, all around. Pieces came right out as soon as they cooled., with very clean smooth side walls.

I had MAJOR trouble when I used Pam for a release on a straight sided glass form. I got much easier results with vasaline.

sounds like you are dancing up the Yellow Brick Road!

I often see forms I like and wonder if I can make them, it's a way to challenge myself to keep growing. By the time I am done with a piece, it rarely looks like what set me thinking in the first place.

Steven, yes, they were fine. Chilly, it was just poured into some junque store cassarol dishes that had pretty straight sides, thus making getting them out tricker. Nothing special. I think I will now try adding 2nd layer to increase depth of hump mold options. Book says, make some deep scratches in the plaster first, them add fresh pour on top of it. we will see. I WILL use better release agent this time!

on the topic of keeping cleaner as you work, I throw with slip more than water. When I want a tool, I always end up reaching for it with clay covered hands and spreading the slip all over the tools in my storage jar, looking for the one I want. I'm thinking I need a 2nd small bucket of CLEAN water for hands before I reach for a the tools. I am trying to redefine what 'clean ' means in my studio.. recently I got a sheet of that thin board from Lowes that you might use for lining cheap shower stalls, slick, WHITE and water resistant. I covered my main work table that the wheel sit beside and where I put the blls of clay I will be throwing, used tools , towels etc. Now, I can't pretend I have cleaned up, the white surface screams 'No, you didn't" no excuses now,

You have NOTHING in these photos to be ashamed of. They look tidy, well balanced and well glazed. You are in a great starting place. as to the event being for beginners, you can stand out in a crowd through presentation. keep at it. I agree with the posted who said only take what you feel good about, so that when some people don't chose your work you can say, "It wasn't their taste" instead of feeling that work isn't good enough.

your buyers will never see you work like you do. Pieces that I really don't like are often the first to sell. I don't do a 2nd s table, I think it looks cheezy. if they are 2nds, I hammer them. that said, your buyers mostly know NOTHING about pottery and don't know what a 2nd is. Something obvious, like a crack or glaze craters, I would not offer it for sale in the the first place, maybe give away to studio visitors, or experiments in reglazing, but never for sale. Ditch the colored table drapes, go to Lowe's and get painters drapes in neutral muslim, or white flat bed sheets, but no color. Pack in plastic if at all possible, rain will make cardboard fall apart, even if you just sit it down on wet ground. be ready to explain what 'hand made' means and just smile , no matter what anyone says. They probably have never made a pot. and don't realize how foolish they sound. If you cover your expenses, consider it a good day and learn from it. have plenty of change, take a cooler for food, a good sale is one where there is no time to go get anything to eat, or to eat it! take a picture of your final set up before show opens, to learn from for next time, there will be a next time!

VICTORY! as Marcia suggested, I heated them, by putting them in a skillet with boiling water around them, until the plaster was hot. After removing them from the water bath, they would not budge, so I figure I would start this morning on trying to chip the plaster out and start over. I had drilled holes and set screws nto the plaster earlier, trying to pull the form out, unsucessfully. this morning, I pulled on the screws in the now cooled plater and both of them released.!! thanks for all the suggestions. Now to pour more , with better release agent

Thanks, cold, freezer, did nothing.