LeeU
-
Posts
2,099 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Posts posted by LeeU
-
-
On 4/24/2023 at 2:16 PM, Rae Reich said:
I really do enjoy handling my pieces and pots as I’m working with them. After all, we only have them for a short time
and there’s often something to learn.
This sums it up for me--I'd have said it if Rae didn't express it so well first!
I have only very rarely dropped any, and I'm sure I over-handle every piece. I touch-touch-touch, because the textile aspect is an imperative. I shut my eyes and feel 'em up, from all sides, inside & out, to find and later remove any sharp edges or bits. I also handle many times from wet to dried, to assess and maniputate, if needed, the heft and weight. How many times per piece? I don't count--safe to say it's basically a lot. Today I handled a lidded box, textured & not yet leather hard, very heavy/chunky (4 lbs), probably 10 times (from taking off the plastic to returning to the ware board when done) just to fine-tune the shape & lid fit (which is via a free form cut & then the top & bottom excavated. Once dry, it'll get a lot more handling to tweak the excavations, the stamping, lid fit, surface (burrs removed) etc.
-
42 minutes ago, Hulk said:
*Here's some extra lids
Candle holders! Sell them with the candle included.
-
Slabs are easy and fun--they can drape thin circles over upturned cans/bowls to make free-from bowl shapes (flatten an area on the bottom while still soft). They could make pendants, either free-form or using cutter-shapes (I don't suggest the key fobs tho--that was a bad idea LOL). Large free-form spoon rests and shallow catchall dishes are also fun. Stamping the slabs 1st before forming makes them look more dramatic when glazed. Also tea light holders are easy-just need to be flat on top, don't even need a well (top left in the spoon rest pic). If there's no time to get good clay stamps, Home Depot has plenty of drawer knobs that work well.
- Hulk, Babs and Pyewackette
-
3
-
I am totally biased, based on personal experience. I love the Brent wheels---quality, longevity/endurance, nice company to do business with/communicate with. Others may have some input based on the budget limit....like is a used high quality wheel a better bet than a newer lower quality unit for the same price (ie. the best wheels ain't cheap!) Also what is the projected intended use--heavy volume, building a business, hobby potter, no need for a reversable head etc.?
-
5 hours ago, Earl said:
Is there a place on here for people new to pottery ?
Welcome--there is a place here for everyone and the levels of training, experience, output, styles, etc. etc. are quite varied. Members are very helpful with using/learning correct terminology, chemistry/science of clay & glazes, properties of various clay bodies, formulating glazes, using commercial glazes, different types of kilns & fuels-the forums pretty much cover it all, including the business aspect, studio set-ups etc. etc. For some questions/discussion, it helps to post pics along with questions/details of the issue.
-
When I first retired from the state I used my vacay/sick leave payout (I rarely took either) to set up my studio, complete w/wheel and a large kiln . Roughly six 12" x 24" shelves of greenware will fill that kiln, tight or loose, depending. When work flow actually flowed I would fill & fire maybe 6 times + or - anually. I was also putting a fair amount of work in invitational wood & raku firings, through the NH Potters Guild. As my health took a dive & the pandemic hit, and my local retail dried up, the flow slowed to a trickle--maybe filling/firing 4 times a year. I have not fired the kiln at all yet this year, tho I have 6 shelves of work sitting ready. I rarely use the wheel cuz I can hardly throw anymore & the kiln is too large to fill any faster. I've shifted gears to a different type of work & much of what I do is now provided to selected local non-profits to use for their fundraising. As far as flow goes, I now take my sweet time and maybe create a shelf-worth within a couple of weeks, but then take forever to glaze. I've got 2 shelves ready to glaze, for the next fire after this one pending. I'm just waiting for the snow to go away & for it to stop being so dang cold (really LOL).
- Kelly in AK and Hulk
-
2
-
5 hours ago, Mark C. said:
Lets see if it works
THANK YOU!!!! It not only works here, I was able to share it on FB and it opens to the article there too.
-
What clay body & glazes & type of fire will you be doing--and how many people? And wheel work or slab/other handbuilding?
-
-
I'm not allowed to have pets in my rented mobile home, which contains my studio. Broke the rule once with a pet python named George, who was nice and quiet and kept to himself. George declined to consume a Dumbo rat I had gotten him (wrong type for sustenance), so I kept the rat and named him Lunch. The landlord finally said it was either me or the snake-one had to go (he was severely phobic). George was re-housed with a friend, but I kept Lunch. He was a wonderful pet, but he croaked a few years ago. Now I have tropical fish, but they do nothing for me in the studio. I guess I have gone off track regarding pets & studio, but I like to contribute LOL
-
I'm confused. What is the 2nd column from the left? It has no heading.
-
I would not tell myself to change anything--my perspectives, relationship with clay, and sense of "making" what I make are essentially the same as then. Not about pottery/clay per se, but the one thing I would tell my young adult self would be to rachet back the wild child behavior and pay more attention to protecting my future.
-
Much of my work I make while "blind" (voluntarily-I am sighted) so that the tactile experience comes to the forefront and the piece can have an delibertly expressive "feel" regardless of whether or not anyone can see the coloration.
- Babs and Pyewackette
-
2
-
2 hours ago, Kaitlyn Miller said:
paint the clay
Just one little picky thing---please don't teach kids--or anyone, really-- that they are "painting" on clay. They are using glaze, not paint; they are glazing, not painting. There is a difference--a big difference--and it doesn't serve them well to leave the experience without knowing the difference and learning correct terminology.
-
-
Oldlady-you turned me on to single fire (thank you) and I did my homework (beginning w/Stephen Hill) and that's all I do now-never bisque. I also have an L&L EZ & usually program slow glaze & often slow cool (depending). In my library I have a copy of Fran Tristram's Single Firing book that I got--signed--from Marcia Selsor...that was fun! I try to avoid wedging also and use the cut & slam method most of the time. Never any glaze problems-I use commercial ones. I am enjoying doing calculated/deliberate refires, to get "artistically different" final surface treatments. I have used clear glaze on B-Mix in single fire, but I just wasn't a fan of the B-Mix compared to some other bodies--but the glaze looked great.
-
10 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
a banding wheel can be an upgrade
Yep yep yep--I got a good quality Shimpo banding wheel--use it all the time for so many different things/handbuilding.
-
5 hours ago, Pres said:
Spiral or rams head while watching the Winter weather go by?
I use both, pretty much based on the mood of the moment, generally with smaller poundage of clay. Anything hefty and I use "cut and slam", which I really like and it seems to save some wear & tear on my wrists.
-
What an odd --and inadequate--comment from the potter. That's not even an explanation. I'm curious whether you had any comment yourself, or any further discussion with the potter? Unless the "holes" are deliberate, for some intentional stylistic, or philosophical/aesthetic statement (which should be able to be explained), I don't see why the potter would be OK with having what is essentially a defect be in circulation under their "well known" name.
-
Prez--I have a strong hunch that you ought to just accept the fact that you "are" the QotW guy & only rarely will the rest of us rise to the occassion with a pile of questions just waiting to be posted . LOL
I have a core library (Branfman, Pitelka, Rhodes, Mills, Clark, Lawrence, Nelson, Tristram) and a few others of special interest, but I don't need to reference stuff that often anymore. I only do commercial clay & glazes, mid-fire electric, programmable kiln, and I work to keep it all real, real simple-not even wheeling it anymore. Members here, incl. those with websites, are invaluable. A couple of the FB private groups are useful-I like Coyote's group & Potters Network. I also get input/advice from friends I made when I was a member of the NH Potters Guild. Most of the time all I need is some quick info-not much need for deep dives.
-
-
I used to make bird bath bases about the dimensions you mentioned-a little higher-and some were used as pedestals to put thick round glass tops on to make patio tables. Never had any issues with the weight on top. Sounds like a fun project-hope you come back w/pics of the finished table.
-
Generally, whiteware means it fires...surprise---white or off white. The term can be used for many different types of clay that fires white/off white, whether low/mid/high fire.
-
On 2/14/2023 at 9:09 PM, scottiebie said:
19 wheels - 25 students
Well, clearly a schedule can be worked out, but to me, the whole thing about inadequate wheels is just wrong, wrong, wrong. However the college tries to justify cheating the students like that, and regardless of whether students are paying or getting credit. It's just plain wrong. I can't even fathom walking into a wheel-throwing class and students not having full access to a wheel--whether I was the student or the teacher! Maybe it's time to make some noise!
- Pres and Pyewackette
-
2
and there’s often something to learn. 
Microwaved Wedding band
in Studio Operations and Making Work
Posted · Edited by LeeU
My 2 cents worth is if you can't find a kiln to fire them in, maybe consider a polymer clay such as Sculpey Premo, which has some durability and is used for jewelry, and then treat with good quality luster/enamels. Hi Roanoke-I lived on Howbert Ave for years-my grandfather built the house, my sister lives there there now. I miss the city a lot-could see the Mill Mt. star from the front porch.