JohnnyK

Yesterday Iused my homemade extruder for the first time and squeezed about 4 lbs of clay to get 30 test tiles. Today I'm going to make those trestle type feet to go under flower pots and then...

Just got the Call for Artists for the local PBS art auction in October...I think more Horsehair Raku and maybe regular Raku will be in the offing this year since the Horsehair went over so well last year...

Finished the tri-tube bud vases and will be gifting them this week...

Farming season is over...I get to spend more time in the studio!

Opening the veggie stand today. Will also be selling pottery...

Just completed a Raku course at Sierra College in Rocklin, CA...What a semester! Completed with an "A"!

Major fail, but lessons learned...see Forum entry.

Opened the kiln yesterday after running a "break-in" ^6 firing after installing new Euclids coils. Looking forward to my first bisque firing later this week and then on to glaze firing a few moonshine jugs for a customer!

Just wanted to say that I like the increase in the # of Topics!

Just got a jar of Amaco's Honey Flux and am looking forward to seeing what kind of great layering effects I can come up with.

Been doing all my previous glaze firings with Potters Choice at ^6. Just made a bunch of test tiles and will be running tests with my usual layered PC glaze combos at ^5 just to see how they turn out. Main reason for this is that I've got a bunch of black clay pots that have to be fired at ^5 and I don't want any surprised with the glaze combos...

Opened my kiln yesterday and was gratified with the products. Check out the album photo below for a sample .

Just finished a bag of Laguna B-3 Brown ^5 which is supposed to fire black...we'll see...and thanks for all the input on not firing above ^5...

Yesterday was the last day for the veggie stand this season, so it's time to get back in the studio and start producing for my foray into a local farmer's market this fall as a craftsman...

Going through a "black" phase where the next glaze firing will contain all pots with Amaco's  C-1 Obsidian as the base glaze with a number of different colors layered over it...Results to follow...

Sometime ago I made a bowl using 5" crown molding to shape the profile and was asked to post the results. Please check my album or look at the images at the bottom of the page for the results with raw and finished glazes.

Waiting for my bisque firing of 30+ bowls, jars, cups, sponge holders and jewelry to cool so I can start the glazing processes. Biggest run since Christmas!

Wow!!! Just over 1" of rain in the last 18 hours. The first rain we've gotten since the middle of April...a truly welcome sight...and the snow in the high Sierra measured in feet! It's a start!

Out of the studio and into the field for awhile to plant my hobby farm...

Just got back from 2 weeks in the Big Apple. I did manage to visit the Clay Arts Center, a gallery and training center in Port Chester, NY and was definitely inspired by some of the work I had seen there, the least of which were simple pinch pots on a windowsill that contained succulents. Looking forward to getting into the studio with the cool, rainy season starting after the long, hot summer here in the Sacramento Valley!

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".

Just started a Raku class at Sierra College. Can't wait to start burning things!

Will be bisque firing all those bowls along with a bunch of other stuff today...glazing will start this weekend...pix to follow...

Just completed a bisque firing of 25 bowls... waiting for the cool down so I can get to glazing. Will be running a glaze test tomorrow or Friday to come up with some ideas for glazing these Christmas presents...using Amaco's Potters Choice for layering...

Met Mark today at the UC Davis Whole Earth Festival and had an in depth conversation about his product,( which were outstanding}, and his general philosophy of product pricing and customer interaction. Thanks for the insights, Mark!