Marcia Selsor

We have postponed my workshop until Sept 20-26, 2020 for Soluble Salts at La Meridiana. Here ia a description. They are very busy this week altering the course schedule for this year. https://lameridiana.fi.it/product/23-2020-marcia-selsor-soluble-salts-in-low-fire-saggars/

This is a good demo of how they are made and how they work. Even though it starts out looking at a fuddling jug , this one is a puzzle jug. Marcia

My fireplace surround was in PMI a decade or so ago. These are corbels. I used a right angle jig to construct them. My friend Stephani Stephenson and I taught an architectural workshop in Italy in 2012. Here is her website. Her business is Revival Tile. http://www.revivaltileworks.com For corbels I built a right angle jig also in another PMI and in a book on contemporary sculptural techniques.. Marcia

The Archie Bray is 280 miles from Red Lodge. 560 round trip. I prefer to go up the Musselshell river valley and down Deep creek to Towsend avoiding much of the interstate. It can be done in a day and the drive is beautiful .I am convinced I live in Paradise but Sue Tirrell really lives in Paradise Valley! -not to mention visiting the Bray and looking at the gallery, classes and studios. I do sometimes ship my clay with others to Billings and pick it up there. Marcia

The current issue has an article that includes my work in soluble salts. It is on my website link if you scroll down the page. https://www.marciaselsorstudio.com/ceramic-saggar-and-soluble-salts.html

I finally found the recording discussion of our presentation at NCECA last year. Anyone interested in low fire alternative processes, there are 10 being discussed; two each . Paul Andrew Wandless, Russel Fouts, Judith Motzkin, Ken Turner, and myself. It is an hour long presentation with questions. just click on the picture. The images were on a loop and don't correspond to the discussion going on.

I use coils and use them repeatedly.I extrude 1/4" coils through a steel mesh I put in my extruder. From leather hard to after bisque my clay shrinks 5% and another 6-7% at ^6 Marcia

I had a doctor in my classes when I was teaching. He said when" I make a mistake in clay, nobody dies." Marcia

Mark, I haven't had anymore problems with my wrists except from breaking a bone when I tripped over someone's legs sticking out of the wood kiln taking photos. That was 2 years ago. I think lifting kiln shelves and loading so many kilns per week affected the pain developed in back, shoulders, hips, and thighs.I feel the same about sometimes it keeps me fit and sometimes it is killing me. Gave up bricking up doors 40 years ago. I'm 71 now. Enjoying throwing big pots "effortlessly" with 50+ years of skill to do it. I like not struggling with the clay although if I push one too far and it starts to clapse, I'll hang it upside down and let it reshape itself and continue to throw when it is ready. No fear there and maybe no fear anywhere when you've explored so much and keep pushing the envelope. That makes me feel like it is keeping me fit. At the moment I am working on a batch pots for sagger firing soluble salts and at the same time engaged in carving porcelain for a celedon glaze just because I want to do it. Got a request from a friend from CAD for advice and critique of her work. Discussed glazes, slips, forms and firing schedules. I enjoyed sharing what I could.She'll let me know if it helped. Working with the Community (pop. 2200) efforts on a STEM program turned to STE-A(for the arts)M and developing programs for artists to communicate how they incorporate STEM in producing their work. I feel potters are really involved with that. I work in the studio every day. Maybe because I feel there aren't that any days left or maybe because I am slowing down. My husband will be home for good Sept. 1 when he retires. We want to hang out together stay home since we both have travelled a lot. He wants to play music and write books , and I can hang out with him but still work in clay. We got almost 6 ft. ( 5'10") of snow in Feb. but love living here. Really happy to be back in Montana. This is from a friend of mine from college who taught me to throw. She was the director of Pilchuck for 10 years. She has a hobby after retirement: scuba diving. She was the first woman President of NCECA, among many other things. Good video from the Seattle Art Community. There is room for everyone to enjoy their passion for clay. Marcia

My HS English Teacher quoted that often . We read a lot of Thoreau. Marcia Marcia

I retired from teaching University level ceramics 20 years ago when I was 50. And Old Lady, my salary was $50K in 2000 after 25 years and my benefits are based on that.I had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery in 1980 from bricking up kiln doors and unbricking them; 1600 pounds per load 4 loads per week.. I built a car kiln and a hinged door kiln when we moved to a hew building in 1980. My body was failing by 2000. My sleep was interrupted by pain 23 times per minute (results from a sleep test and wired body) and was getting shots of ladacane monthly on hips , shoulders and back.. I was told if I took disability I would be not be allowed to make pots. I had zero assistants and tuition rising meant students were working 1 to 2 part time jobs and we weren't able to help much with loading and firing kilns for a ceramics program of 60+ students. So, at 25 years I quit. I never competed with full -time potters when I was teaching and still don't. I worked as a full -time potter before I got my teaching job and I know how demanding it is. When I retired I wanted to do a residency every few years to keep in touch with others in the field. I have enjoyed my studio time since retirement and continue exploring this amazing medium we work with. My sales are strictly with galleries. In Montana my sales are better than in Texas and they help supplement my income by 20%. I am enjoying my time and still learning. I have written technical articles in journals from Studio Potter (1973) to British Archeological Reports, to Ceramics Technical, Pottery Making Illustrated, and Ceramics Monthly.I like being able to contribute what I can. Marcia

I have had mine for about 20 years. I use one to slow dry large ceramic slabs. the rigid width is 26" and the boards can over hang the front of the frame which is 22"I wrapped it wit a large drop cloth. I use sheetrock on top of the plywood. My smaller one is 17" rigid width and the depth is 27". I got mine both at a recycling center for scrap price. Marcia

Hi Hopscotch and welcome to the ceramics world. you brought up many good points. I am in a thread discussing early studio potters on the Facebook page "Studio pottery Appreciation and Identification. Many there post about their thrift store finds and ask others for help identifying the potters. This current thread refers to early studio potters around the Arts and Crafts Movement 1900. The annual Nat'l Council on Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA) (US based) always has about 100-200 exhibitions, demonstrations , lectures, and materials for sale in an exhibition hall along with non-profits. I have been attending as an educator since 1971. I enjoy the lectures by Ceramic Art Historians. Market Value can be established by exhibition records, collectors' enthusiasm, museum collections, etc. All that is difficult to nail down. Mostly "art is in the eye of the beholder" . A good piece of pottery may depend on the buyers' response, how it fits the hand, how it feels to the lip, how is balances, and the aesthetic design appeal to the individual. There are many good potters here. And there are many asking for help from the others. It is a sharing community. Pottery is a complex medium and everyone advances by sharing. There is a Facebook group of South African potters. There is the International Academy of Ceramics with many international members. There is lots of information out there. As for determining who makes the judgement calls, it depends on what is trending. Right now figurative ceramics is on the rise. Social commentary comes and goes. Roberto Lugo gave a very powerful emerging Artist presentation at NCECA a few years ago and he is currently a very hot ceramic artist with shows at the best museums and venues. Marcia

Frances Senska always fired at ^7. She used a lot of local ingredients in her glazes. ^7 is a good temperature for a stoneware as long as it vitrifies. I converted to ^6 reduction when I was teaching at MSUB. I fired to a flat ^6 from 1980 to 2000 at MSUB and lated at UT Brownsville. FYI Frances Senska taught at MSU Bozeman and was the teacher of Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio who became the first resident artists at Archie bray in 1951. Calcium Carbonate or Whiting will harden a glaze surface from scratching. Marcia

I submitted the article in Nov. to PMI. we edited it. now waiting for the appropriate grouping of articles for an issue. Here is a picture of my larger raku kiln after firing. Marcia

I don't think "time" is part of it except that the switch is timed for 1 as low increments when it is on, 2 is more, 3 is more, etc. and Max is on full. I would question why there are few tiles under the kiln sitting pin a wood floor. You need to have it raised away from combustibles. Set it on a few cinderblocks and 18" or 46 cm away combustible walls. If it is in your living space, it should be vented. That nitch is too closed in to be safe. Marcia

My computerized kilns are in an unheated shed in red lodge Montana. Last year, when I was concerned there might be condensation in the controller, I went out there with a hair dryer and blow-dried the board from the bottom and top vents. We had 32 days without begetting above zero Fahrenheit. I have not had any trouble with them. I fire them when it is 10 degrees. No problem. It is fairly dry mountain air. Marcia

Admire your work, Kristen. Welcome to the forum. Great article in CM. I need to review my costs to do workshops Haven't raised the rate in years Much food for thought there Neil also has an article in the recent issue on transporting work Good article, Neil! Marcia

Another consideration may be the type pf weekend workshop. For example . 35 years ago, Ruday Autio who was very famous, had a minimum of $1000 per day for demo only. He was a wonderful entertainer while he worked and could easily fill a room of 50-100 attendees. Aside from compensation, does anyone have opinions on demo only type of workshops compared to hands on? I have done both. When I taught for Potter Council events it was usually 4-5 artists demonstrating. Individual sessions held 30-50 people and were repetitive so one could try to schedule all the demos over 2 days. I usually do hands on when teaching alternative firing processes because people bring work to fire. Just interested to hear people's opinions. Marcia

I get a variety of teaching fees. usually I get travel, lodging and food . I am encouraged to bring pieces for sale to help enhance my fees. Get $500/day for a 2 day workshop. If that is too difficult for a struggling group, I can negotiate. I am about to teach a workshop in San Antonio and have been prepping for it for two weeks, wrote a very specific handout so they bring pieces ready to fire in 4 different processes. For a week long class it can also be 1000 for the week. It really depends on what the workshop entails, food and lodging, etc. Marcia

I try not to keep it around but I do stock pile in my finished work basement where my photo setup is located. I have about 5 galleries that I keep stocked. I am having a show with a wood turner next December so I keep a piece for that every so often. The wood turners pots look so much like my clay pots I had to take a close look at one after thinking it looked like mine from across the room.The wood turner came to see me demonstrating last summer at Art in the Beartooth because he saw that our work looks alike. It was an interesting experience. Marcia

I have considered buying Liquid Quatz for my soluble salts pots because I always worry someone will want to pout flowers in them. They claim liquid quartz is food safe and there is a restaurant using saggar fired ware with liquid quartz for their tableware. Which makes me think it would be interesting to fire it and see what it does. I am not sure you can cover Liquid Quartz with a glaze and fire it. You might be able to fire it without a new glaze. Do a test on a raku piece sealed with liquid quartz and see what happens. It could be a glaze, Marcia