PotsbyChar

I bought my Clay Boss 2 years ago and it has been in daily use ever since. It has never given me a moment of trouble. Runs quiet, handles 100 lbs of clay...providing I could lift that much lol. I bought mine because it was low priced, but now that I have owned one for 2 years...even when I can afford the more expensive wheels I would still buy the Clay Boss. The control is so much better on it than on the Brents we have at the University. I honestly can't say enough good things about my wheel...

The internet is a phenomenal resource for those who know how to use it. I don't claim to be one of those but I have stumbled across some really awesome ideas for funding art projects recently. Kickstarter.com is one such site which allows artists to post their projects in need of funding. I am trying it out and will let you know how successful it will be. Indiegogo is another fundraising site to check out. It is a generalized site though and not just for artists or creative people. You can check out the projects which I have posted to these sites by going to the fundraising page on my website at www.potsbychar.com. Let me know what you think. It seems to me this could be another creative marketing technique.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there....can't hardly wait...counting the minutes now....

Hi Buckeye, my name is Charlotte and I am 68 years young. I began my journey with clay a year and a half ago when I took a ceramics class at Texas A&M University-Commerce as part of my curriculum for my BFA. Midway through the class I was so in love with clay that I switched my major focus from painting to ceramics and I have not looked back since. I am very fortunate to be studying under renowned ceramist, Barbara Frey. I love throwing on the wheel, hand-building and sculpting in clay. I have been fortunate to be able to attend the last 2 NCECA conferences and am looking forward to attending my third in Seattle this Spring. If you have the opportunity to attend I highly recommend the experience. When I graduate in May 2013 I plan on opening a small studio at my home in SE Oklahoma. Charlotte

Yes I am quite a fan of Marilyn Levine. Her work is truly amazing. However, I have not seen any evidence of actual tooling on the clay in her work. Her leather pieces are mostly of soft leather products. What I am wondering about is whether anyone has done or is doing tooling of the kind you find on hard leather such as belts, wallets, handbags, and saddles. I used to do tooling years ago and am thinking about digging out my old leather working tools and experimenting on clay. Thanks for the tip about the saran wrap. I can see where that might be very helpful. I will let everyone know how this turns out when I have something finished. At least it will be fun to see what happens.

I am relatively new to clay having started my journey with Ceramics in the Spring of 2010. I have notice that there is a great similarity between what is termed "leather hard" clay and actual tooling leather. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to tool clay the way that leather is tooled?

Thanks so very much John that was very informative. I now know a lot more about what I am trying to achieve here. For the time being I will be using a commercial glaze but will be looking into mixing my own someday. Thank you again. Charlotte

Just unloaded the kiln and the pieces came out beautiful. They are a very soft cream color. All of the discoloration present in the greenware as is dried has disappeared. I have started glazing some of the pieces that they are taking the glaze very nicely. Now to see how they turn out after the glaze firing....still keeping my fingers crossed. However, I am very pleased with this clay. It throws extremely well and handbuilds just as well.

I understand what you are saying Chris. With that in mind do you have a clear cone 05 glaze recipe? I would really appreciate one if you do. Thank you so much Charlotte

Well lots of people have looked at this thread but none have answered so I am assuming there are no "good recipes for food safe o5 clear glaze" out there to be had. I thank you all for reading my requests. Charlotte

I am working with a cone 05 clay body this summer and now I am looking for a good recipe for a food safe, cone 05 clear glaze. If anyone has one they would be willing to share I would be very appreciative. Thank you all in advance. Charlotte

Thanks so much for the replies. I will be firing some pieces this coming weekend so will let you all know how they come out. I am so pleased with everything else about this clay. I really hope this discoloration is just temporary for the bone dry stage and will disappear in the firing. This clay has worked excellently for carving and piercing also. In fact it has performed well in all the forming techniques which I have tried. I am anxious to see how it performs in the kiln.

recently I made up a batch of low fire clay using a recipe from John Britt. WHITE VITREOUS Body Cone 05 12.00 Tile #6 Clay 20.00 EPK Kaolin 26.00 C and C Ball Clay 10.00 Nepheline Syenite. 28.00 Ferro 3124 2.00 Gerstley Borate 2.00 Bentonite I did not have enough tile 6 clay to make 12% so I substituted EPK Kaolin to make up the difference. I absolutely love this clay body for handbuilding and throwing. So far it has done everything I have asked of it. There is only one small problem. The clay starts out a kind of pearl grey in the wet form but as it dries it turns a kind of cream color. However, in places where my hands have touched it or I have used water on it to smooth it out it turns a kind of golden yellow color when it dries out. I have not fired any of the pieces yet but I am hoping that when I do fire them the color will be white. Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this? Was it the substitution of Kaolin for tile 6? Or is it some other reason causing the discoloration in the clay. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much Marcia...will give this a try.