LawPots

I think my problem is that industrial pottery often doesn’t do functional better. They make cheap. They make identical. They make shiny. They make inoffensive. They make boring. It’s like, why eat at a locally-owned restaurant? Friday’s has a good selection of food. There’s one 20 minutes away from everywhere. It’s consistent, cheaper, often faster, and clean. But, it’s also pretty much aimed at the inoffensive middle of taste in every dish. Life is more than that. In pottery, I want variety, visual interest, consideration of the user’s comfort, pleasing design, na

I don’t right now, but I’ve used a standup powered wheel I liked. The wheel head was at bellybutton height. It was comfortable without a backrest, and I braced my arms on the splash pan. Folk potters in the Southern U.S. almost all worked standing up at kick, treadle, and powered wheels that had “backrest” that they braced against to help center. I’ve read that one of these potters insisted that it was a terribly bad habit to even learn to throw sitting down.

You might try carving into leather-hard and then tear.

I use amaco velvet underglaze two different ways: on leather hard clay for sgraffito, and on bisque to bring out the lines of intaglio. Both work at Cone 6. They also fire ok to Cone 10 in salt and wood.

You could always make your own. http://jeffcampana.com/clay-body-revisited/

One if my fav techniques. No substitute really, except you can try to brush or slip trail into the groove and wipe excess. But, it really is different when you wipe glaze off the whole pot, because some small amount of glaze stays behind on the raised areas.

I end up using mugs I recently made the most often. I also try to make mugs I'd like to use, so I end up using ones I make. I do have a mug from Matt Hylek I like a lot (really great handle and lip) and I've made mugs that my wife likes to use that I don't. I made the pictured mug as a decoration and glaze test. It is at my parents house, and my wife or I tend to seek it out and drink from it all day. It holds about 30 oz.

I've been on Pinterest for a long time. I don't use Pinterest to sell, but I'm not sure how you could value it's impact on your business. I suspect it's probably better to use Pinterest to drive people to your website or online shop: pin from your website rather than upload, and see if people will click through. Pinterest requires really great quality pics that you want people to share. You need to update often so that your followers will see new things periodically. It's kind of a rummage sale though, with most new pins getting very small re-pins. Really striking pieces get shared around

I have used spray shellac and hairspray to fix glaze in place to move pots. I have not noticed negative effects. Glaze fire gets so hot that the organic material burns away long before the glaze actually starts to melt. I do know that there is one glaze that might be affected by this treatment: carbon trapping shino. Not because of the contents of the hairspray, but because of the movement of soluables in that particular glaze.

I am no expert in lead, and I certainly wouldn't put it on any of the functional work that I do. Its just not worth thinking about from a liability standpoint, and the lawyer in me says "Who knows what some kid would do, even with a sculpture?" That said, I have read some older ceramics books that contained extensive discussion on using lead in glaze. At some point I read The Potter's Craft by C.F. Binns, and I recall that he discusses in detail the chemical formulas and differences in red lead and white lead. I believe he had a variety of recipes for lead glazes. You can get electronic c

You didn't include any pictures on the inside of your shop. I visited your website and I was particularly impressed with the displays inside. You experience in retail really shows in all aspects of your operation.

I'd like to echo Mea in a way. I am a student of hers, but I also fit the demographic that Mea sells to - craft fair enthusiasts with upper middle income. I happen to go to the types of shows she participates in. I went to many of them before she started doing them, like the Smithsonian show. I've paid up to $60 for a mug. I bought a mug from Sang Joon Park for over $40 at ACC Baltimore, broke it a week later, and bought a second mug from him at the Smithsonian show. The reason I'm estimating his price? I can't remember it. I didn't really care how much it was. So, were there cheap

It has some resemblance. Here is the site for John Arnold Taylor which shows the somewhat more subdued surface he is using. http://www.johnarnoldtaylor.com/Gallery.asp?GalleryID=62296&AKey=4J924LSX But the bowls you have shown are interesting. Thanks any more info you have collected? I have been reading what can promote crackle surface from Robin Hopper`s books and including reticulated glazes and black slips (underneath the glaze). Also very interesting. John Brit also has crackle slip in his publication on high fire glazes (page 62). I'm pretty much a beginner. My teacher reco

I have a similar question; is the surface on the pots like these? http://www.rob-barnard.com/whiteware/rb_whitewareList.php?image=rb_whiteBowls1_pop