Colby Charpentier

Making the work of others is a great way to learn. You don't want that stuff getting out of the studio, though. Think of it as an exercise. Have you spent time with Don's work? His stuff has a great sense of volume, weight, and energy in the walls. You have similar moves visually, but it's not "there." That might improve over the series. Focus on why the skirt is there, and get the volumes and the base sorted out. Really do something to the clay. Maybe drawing and working on even smaller models is a good way to work at that too. If you can spend time with the work, even better! (Seeing you're from AZ, it's pretty likely you have). Just make sure you move on to your work too. Chasing Don's or anybody else's pots will only get you so far. And be aware, a lot of people were affected by Don. Work like this is really sensitive.

https://cfileonline.org/crystal-tile-london-contemporary-ceramic-art/

Plaster and bisque molds are great for slab work. Even dry clay works great for temporary forms. For bisque molds, work solid and hollow out the form. A bit of extra thickness in the mold form allows for better release. You could also build forms from other materials like wood, plastic, anything, and cast in plaster. For a hammock type shape, I would throw a form on the wheel and slice it in half to start..

Also, for reference, a 50% increase in graduate students majoring in Ceramics is an increase of about 2 students for RISD. This had better be an unintended error.

Yes. He is arguing that the NY Times as an entity, wholly ignores American studio ceramics. When McKeough locks onto these "romantic" tales of the white collar businessman finding ceramics, it sells the story, not necessarily good work. In the Fashion and Style section, one can see Clark has an expectation of critical design writing, not inspirational story-telling. His anger is well-placed in this sense. What I do find objectionable is the exclusionary attitude of American studio ceramics. You can read this into Clark's writing, but this attitude underpins most avenues of dissemination for contemporary American studio ceramics (e.g. buddy-buddy deals, mis-guided gallery curation, and the incestuous nature of certain pedigrees). This is too much to discuss on this board, but is fair to acknowledge as a counterpoint to Clark's stance. It is also fair to note Garth Clark's personal stake in defending his position as an expert on American Ceramics verses "amateur hour" (Tim McKeough). The comparison that Clark draws is a direct result of his frustration with the lack of promotion for his favorite brand of American studio ceramics (and perhaps design editors encroaching on his area of expertise). But, the NY Times made its choice, and Clark's comparison is necessary to expression of his frustration. Your suggestion that Alleghany Meadows and Forrest Lewinger exist on different planes is probably true. They likely don't have to compete at all for their sales audience. However, they do have to compete for the NY Times endorsement. Which is one hell of a sales engine. It's a responsibility too. The question becomes whether the NY Times Style and Fashion section should be selling the best of contemporary American ceramics, or romantic "pipe dreams" of the white collar worker. It's easy to read my preference, but that's an editorial decision (subject to the agenda of the editor). Clark might as well argue that the NY Times is a trash newspaper. Which might be true. Bill Rogers' attempt to diffuse Clark's article, represents incongruence in the direction of Cfile. And at some point, one has to realize that there's not big enough of an audience to publish decent critical discourse on ceramics in America. For now, just enjoy the half-baked opinions of any publication covering American Ceramics. Any energy wasted on this discussion would be far better used in pursuit of making better work. The comedy in all of this, is that the theses in both the Tim McKeough and Garth Clark articles are the promotion of ceramics. It gets muddy because McKeough is heavy handed and has no familiarity with the industry to which he's throwing the proverbial bone. In return, Clark is ego-driven and tries to throw down with the vigor of a pubescent boy on the playground. The crucial mistake here is that the divide should not be drawn between establishment and new-comer, but on the basis of quality of work. I'll add that Garth Clark isn't wrong, he just gives up too much ground through the cheap shots he took at McKeough and the NY Times. And it is a critical error to appear guilty of such when defaming romantic writing.

The Soldner Mixer is great for mixing clay, not so much for crushing fired clay. Jaw or plate mills are used to crush the aggregate prior to mixing.

Large scale ceramic sculptures can be fired in place, usually with wood or gas. Steel and fiberfrax structures are built around the work. http://www.ninahole.com/ Some educational and private facilities have much larger kilns custom built for their larger work. Modular and sectional building methods are possible, but not always ideal for the work. The temporary frax kilns are by far the most cost effective short term solution, assuming you've exhausted local university and artist resources.

2-3 coats of shellac and a light application of universal mold release should serve you well. Remember to brush the UMR into the detail after spraying for proper application.

UV glue needs clear glass to permit light transmition for the curing process. It also tends to require polished surfaces to create a strong bond. If you can take care of those obstacles, UV is workable. Most epoxies aren't great for the long term, but will hold up so long as they're not in direct sunlight. Opaque expoxies tend to fare better in sunlight.

The official vods won't play for a non-UK ip address (including vpns). Any work around or different source?

To add to Diesel's explanation, the quality of gloss vs matte in a glaze is a NOT a matter of melt in properly formulated glazes. It is a matter of glass vs crystal molecular structure. That being said, if you added enough kaolin, the glaze would devitrify, and the trend would support your hypothesis of adding refractory material causing a glaze to lose its gloss.

For goblets, use diamond hand pads, or a dremel for the big defects. Everybody seems to have different ideas about what a ceramic goblet is, but for anything on an interior surface, dremel/hand pads.

Try looking for it under the name Floating Blue. There are other members, more familiar with commercial glazes that may be able to better direct you...

Generally homemade climbing holds are made from cast resin with sand aggregate. If you do them in clay, the best way to ensure a proper hole is to drill post fire using diamond core bits as mentioned above, this requires a lot of patience, time, water, and expense for the bits and water hose attachments for the press, and drainage basin set up. if you're comfortable making molds of any type, cast resin is a really nice option, with not much fear of chipping or breakage. With resin, you can use cheap acrylic paint as a colorant, and end up with some really nice holds. There's a lot of DIY guides available online for the resin holds too. Good luck with either material.