JohnnyK
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Everything posted by JohnnyK
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"Happy Cat Pottery" is the new name for my fledgling pottery business...
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are you going to ask for a cat drawing to use as a logo? that might be fun, even if the suggestions are ridiculous and you never use one of them. i can see an oblivious cat slinking along with paw prints behind her in freshly made plates.
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Interesting thought, but I do have a happy cat with a smiley face on the first rendering of the business card...
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Hey, Pres, How 'bout this for QOTW: How do you see yourself in clay?
One of the things about taking college level Ceramics courses it the challenges you are presented with. In the last course I took on Raku the professor had a thing for Xian warriors...the terracotta army unearthed in China. One of our assignments was to sculpt a version of one of these figures...with a twist. We had to incorporate some aspect of our current life situation into the sculpture. I don't consider myself a sculptor, but I wanted to give it my best shot. Since my primary interests at this point in my life are ceramics, farming, and photography but none of the statues were suitable for the pottery or photography aspects, I chose the farmer idea. It was a real challenge, but a productive one. Here is a photo of my Raku "John Warrior" self-portrait. , and the challenge..."How do you see yourself in Clay".
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"Having grown up on the mean streets of NYC, I had never seen a potter's wheel, never touched clay" until I was 43 for seeing a potter's wheel and about 61 for the clay touching. I am seriously surprised that literally most of the people that I talk to, when they hear that I'm a potter, tell me that they took a ceramics class in high school, including many of you. I guess it's a West Coast thing... I've never been asked about or heard a comment about "Ghost". I guess I just associate with a different group of people or I just haven't been doing this long enough to get the winks and nods that a few of you have. I didn't realize that this would set off such a firestorm of comments. It's been a fun ride... For those who are interested and haven't seen the clip you can go to YouTube, search: Ghost pottery scene Hold Me Close. You're supposed to focus on the clay... JohnnyK
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The pottery scene from "Ghost"...I was fascinated by what she was doing with the clay on the tall vase, and when it collapsed, the total sensuousness of handling the wet clay... At that point I said to my wife, "Someday I'm going to do that" That was 28 years ago. I was 43, Having grown up on the mean streets of NYC, I had never seen a potter's wheel, never touched clay. Then about 10 years ago, I was remodeling a bathroom for an 87 year old ceramist. She was still holding classes and teach 4H kids how to pour, fire and finish molded pieces. We got to talking about ceramics and she showed me the first mug she had ever made more than 50 years prior. As we continued the conversations over the week that I had worked for her, she encouraged me to take a Learning Exchange class at our local ceramics supplier, Alpha Fired Arts in Sacramento. She also gave me an, old, tired kiln (she had another newer kiln) that she wanted to get out of her workspace. I took that class and got hooked. Since then I've taken Ceramics 1, 2, and Raku classes at a local JC, was given my CI wheel by a friend who found it in a barn on a piece of property he just bought; Bought a newer used ^10 kiln which will never see ^10; sold the old kiln; remodeled a studio apartment I own into my own studio and have finally been making a little money to support my habit. I would say that what interested me most about ceramics is the malleability of clay and the myriad forms it can be shaped into. The possibilities are endless and I feel that I am just starting my journey... JohnnyK
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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From the album: JohnnyK's Glaze FX
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Started to glaze the bowls but got an order for a dozen medium, tri-tube bud vases too...the first job for the extruder...
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Pics please when you finish.
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Pix of the latest glaze run...the customer bought 13 instead of 10 bowls. 18-54,55 2nd is the same glaze pattern after removal of a defect in each bowl and firing again. All are Amaco PC glazes layered for effects. In some cases Duncan's RG704 Shino Cream was banded to create the white edge runs...
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Clever use of glaze: creates visual interest. Well done!
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Got an order for 10 medium bowls for Christmas gifts...when asked about color, the customer said "Just work your glaze magic!", sooo...pix in about a week or so.
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As part of a Raku class that I took last fall, we were required to study the pottery and sculptures of a half dozen ancient cultures and incorporate their methods and techniques in our own work, with a twist...have it relate to our own current life and experiences. In this way we were able to interpret the ancients in a modernistic way. Were we stealing the culture of others? I think not! In fact, I think we were enhancing their cultures and bringing them into the modern world with a different interpretation...just saying... JohnnyK
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Daylight savings time is going away this weekend which means less time in the yard and on the farm and more time in the studio,,,YAAYYY!
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I like having light, when I wake up in the morning, and get ready for work. But I DO NOT like it, when the sun, seemingly, goes down at 4 in the afternoon!...
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It ends my drying time outside as the sun has lost its power to dry my pots outside . That means I have the heater going in studio and its hot in there and you learn to work in the heat.T -shirt weather always until x-mas production is done.Shop was over 80 yesterday to dry pots before todays bisque load.
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Mark, how long does it, to dry pots, this time of year, in your toasty studio?
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It all started at a 6 week Learning Exchange class at Alpha Fired Arts, my local ceramics supplier. In the beginning of the class, which met formally for 3 hours each Thursday evening, the instructor said he expected us to produce at least 4 pieces. They could be bowls, mugs, cups... I did the regular classes as well as Saturday mornings when the classroom was available and at the end of the 6 weeks I had 22 glazed pieces, which was the most he had ever seen produced in one of his classes. I was hooked. Here I am 10 years later, with 3 college classes under my belt, and I feel that I am still learning to throw. My pieces are more consistent and accurate and I still have the occasional failure, but every session at the wheel is a learning experience and I love it! With the short days and long evenings ahead. I'll be spending a lot more time in the studio...learning to throw. JohnnyK
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I like the combo of glazes...are you mixing your own or are they commercial glazes? -
What is your favorite glaze effect? No matter how intricate or simple your piece is I feel that it is the glaze that makes it what it is. As such I am continually experimenting with various effects and getting a good response to what I am producing whether it is a bowl or horsehair Raku pot. What's in your bag of tricks?
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My fave is a yunomi that I made because I wanted to work without handles. The glaze effect is such that I marvel at it every day and will be reproducing it or a variation of it in the future... JohnnyK
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A great auction! KVIE sold the trio of pots for $350...way more than the retail of $120!
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YAY!
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wonderful! (do you know that this forum says you do not accept personal messages? if that is your choice, i respect that but i wonder if you know about it)
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I did not know that...how do I change that? Thanks !
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Without formal education I wouldn't be where I am now in my skill level and vision with regard to Ceramics. I have completed 3 courses at Sierra College and aced all 3 leaving me with a 4.0 average. The stuff that I learned in these courses has brought me to a place where I am doing custom orders as well as being able to donate to my local PBS station KVIE/ juried Art Auction
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Big weekend coming up as my trio of Horsehair Raku jars goes on the auction block at the local PBS KVIE station's annual Art Auction. At the preview Gala on Monday it already had an early bid of $150 against an asking price of $120. My segment of the auction will air in the 1PM hour on Saturday...
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Wait, if it's made out of horse hair, wouldn't that be considered weaving?!... I kid.
Great work, for a great cause.
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Citrus Heights is one of my old home towns, nice to see a CAD person doing the neighborhood some good. I lived in one of the apt blocks on the east side of sunrise mall when Alexander Calder stabiles and sunlight sculptures were still part of the mall's architecture, before it's makeover anyway, many hours spent at the movies and hanging out.
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WOW...where do I start? At this point I can't say that I have a favorite...actually, I think the splash pan is the fave since it keeps the throwing mess to a minimum... I've built a heavy duty extruder and use 1/4" Lexan salvaged from a Sub-Zero refrigerator door to make the dies, a half dozen or more hacksaw blade trimming tools, a chattering tool from a piece of 1" heavy duty steel banding from a lumber yard, scratch tool from a piece of 5/16" brake line tubing, various cut-off wires, various bamboo/squirrel tail brushes, splash pan from the bottom of a plastic trash barrel, 3 banding wheels made from recycled ceiling fans...and these are just what comes to mind. I think my next BIG project will be to get an old trash masher and use the motor and screw drive to convert my extruder. As I spend more time in the studio with winter coming on, I'm sure there will be more things to fabricate to make my clay work easier. I'll soon be posting a video showing how I made my last banding wheel from a ceiling fan. I'll also post pix to my gallery album of some of the afore mentioned tools. JohnnyK
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This thread has been around for awhile and I'd like to add my 3 cents... I got my CI-MP wheel from a friend who found it in a barn on a property he had just purchased and, knowing that I had just gotten into pottery making, offered to "loan" it to me on what turned out to be permanent basis. It was a mess, covered in dirt and spider webs (with a few Black Widows thrown in), but it ran, so I cleaned it up. That was about 8 years ago. When I got it there was no splash pan and he said there wasn't any other parts in the barn. Sooo, being mechanically adept, I designed and fabricated my own pan using the bottom of a plastic trash can. Since the wheel base was designed to get wet (it has a drain hole and plug), I made a device that would serve the purpose. Here is a picture of the pan installed. You can go to my gallery and see additional pix in the album. Last year I got a Giffen Grip and made a riser out of another trash bucket, using the top this time. For those interested, I can provide additional info and answer any questions regarding the fabrication. JohnnyK
