[QotW: what item that you use in your studio came to you free, almost free or as a gift?]

I'm taking some liberty with the "free" part.  The gift that I use is not "in" my studio, it "is" my studio. The gift was me making it to retirement and having enough coin to install the studio & everything in it, in the larger bedroom of my trailor, & the kiln, which is on the formally open back porch, which I was able to enclose with restaurant patio-grade vinyl, essential for New Hampshire winters. Beyond that, my studio has a fair amount of useful things attained by "curb shopping". One find that I love is a green wire shelving unit, close to 5'x3' w/5 shelves,  that I scored from a convenience store (OK, that one was actual dumpster diving). It holds an amazing quantity of tools etc., many of which I also scrounged from here & there. 

 

[QotW: What is your latest background "noise" in the studio?]

Roberta asked me to post the fired piece that I showed in my studio background music comment. Of all things, some of the Korean  (according to Netflix) series soundtrack music generated an energy vibe that helped to facilitate a breakthrough from my morass (which, BTW, is not the same thing as depression, just FYI). That new-to-me music was instrumental to lifting my spirits. I hadn't done any meaningful (to me) clay work in the last 2 years. It took me 5 months to finally have enough to fill the kiln, which  I fired & unloaded a few days ago. Here is the piece:  the Aries Bowl. The other piece I finally finished, over a year later, thanks to the serendipity of my K-Mix playlists is an addition to my Hidden Mask Series, HMS No. 7 Primal. I talked about my thought process & have a pic of the initial form in the Aesthetics/Philsophy Forum (May 2021) under What Was I thinking. (I feel compelled to add that I liked the greenware bowl better than the glazed one and am going to do a close duplicate unglazed using Dover white, a smooth clay,  and a close duplicate with clear glaze on Dragon Fruit, a groggy speckled body (fr. Industrial Minerals Co.).

[QotW: What is your latest background "noise" in the studio?]

And just for fun, you really should check this out, which, astounding to me,  is the SAME vocalist Ha Hyun Woo https://youtu.be/xgkDAEdSVeg  Also a great series (Stranger 2).  I made this bowl a bit ago, listening to Korean rap & hip hop, & glazed it w/Coyote's Aries.  This last piece fills my kiln, literally my first firing in a year--finally broke through the morass.  For some odd reason the K-films & music has been significantly instrumental in lifting my spirits. Update-just for fun, here is the finished bowl. It too is lifting my spirit! 

 

[QotW: What is your latest background "noise" in the studio?]

I have a number of playlists I made just for various studio vibes. My current addiction is music from the soundtracks of Korea according to Netflix. I loved the series Itaewon Class - here's my favorite track: https://youtu.be/U1Fxt5wCqAg    If you have a short attention span  after a bit of the beginning, pick it up again around 2:30 .   The song is known as Stone Block and is also known as Diamond (there is no literal translation from the Korean).STONE BLOCK.pdf

 

 

 

 

[Ways to sign pieces AFTER they’ve been glazed?]

A brown Sharpie looks just like brown underglaze.

[QOTW: What tips do you have to make cleaning up your studio easier or more time efficient?]

I have no tricks, tips,  tools, or time frames that are  not already mentioned. The only thing I will add is just a reinforcement, a repeat, of what 

5 hours ago, Hulk said:

Keep it clean - a few minutes before and after each session - becomes a habit.

I clean as I go along, almost fanatically-as long as it doesn't disrupt the technical production process and/or my creative flow. I subscribe to the "a place for everything and everything in its place" mantra of my dad, even when that "place" is a jumble of "everything" in a bin or a basket--at least I know where it is and it is contained. Cleaning up when done and then revisiting it yet again the next time I enter the studio,before I get to to work, is well worth the double-check. 

[Quick glaze stirring and mixing]

For small containers (pts/qts) I use a large or small manual spinner  that I got from American Science and Surplus (thanks to Pres for turning us on to that source for great gadgets!) It works like a hand blender, which I also use sometimes (carefully positioning it re controlling where the glaze goes/cleaning it off the tool back into the bucket). I also use a metal paint  stirrer on my drill, when called for.

[Doc says to stop throwing!]

Maybe a high quality banding wheel and the fun of handbuilding wiould be worth exploring. For many reasons, hands not the least of it, I rarely throw anymore-but I love my heavy Shimpo for all kinds of rounding operations.

[Neil Estrick's video - grab some popcorn]

hey-do you sell the Tee? nice shirt! 

[Cone 5 firing is a bust!]

I like black or real dark clays with just a clear glaze, same with gray vishon.

 

[Best clay for coasters?]

3 hours ago, Bill Kielb said:

Maybe just glaze the bottoms and sides, texture the top. Fire up side down.  Nice!

Now you've got me thinking I could use some coasters for myself! I have a nice groggy clay in mind.  I like the idea of glazing the bottom/side and having a nice recessed texture on top (perfect for good wood stamps).  I would design the glazed "bottom" so that I could glue on some very small furniture-protective rounds, and they would fit in with the design.  Thx for the motivation-boost.

[Home studio set up]

All of the above, plus be hyper well-organized, plan ahead for work flow activity stations, be very space conscious (you will need more than you think), and get as many furnishings with wheels, as possible. One of my most useful space savers are those wheeled 2-3 shelf plastic units that are only 8" wide, 30" H & 24" long & hold tons of stuff.  A Smart Speaker mounted up toward the ceiling (away from clay) to crank out your personally curated Studio Playlist and favorite podcasts is fun, too. 

[Can underglazes/glazes be reconstituted after drying out?]

I hate rehydrating glaze or reclaiming dried clay. If I catch it early before it accumulates, I'm OK with doing it in small doses--but once the dried glaze/clay began to pile up, I donated it to a ceramics student & a hobby potter who don't mind doing the work to bring it back to life.  I lost the money but considered it a small donation for a good cause and then bought fresh. 

[Firing Clays and Glazes]

Depends on the individal glaze and the individual clay body. Like much in ceramics, "it depends". Others with more knowledge can answer you better, but as a generality, it is very iffy. Just because  they can be "safely" fired to the higher cone also does not mean that they will hold their color and look good. The color changes can be undesirable. I fired some  05 glaze on a cone 5 body fired to ^5.  With several colors I got transparent instead of opaque and brown instead of the original  color. In a few cases the color stayed true, but I didn't want to take a chance of other problems emerging  on the pieces, over time, regarding the integrity of the glaze fit on the body, so I trashed it all. and then got myslef some low fire clay to do it right.

[Copyright]

I deleted my previous comment here becasue as GEP has clarified directly below, my 2-cents worth was not a good suggestion.  (I had thought doing an alteration of the original & the absence of a makers mark would be OK).  I was wrong!

[QothW: How would you help out beginners stuck working alone with their processes?]

I can not find it in me to be encouraging of a beginner who is wanting to work in clay to attempt it alone and isolated from other people making ceramic objects. Just the other day an acquaintence said she wants to pay to support her adult daughter (who has ADHD and a short span for the latest interest) to "make mugs and sell them at craft fairs".  Asked me if I think should she buy her that (joke of a used crappy small) kiln on eBay? Daughter has watched some videos, has never had her hands on clay.  Thinks it "looks like fun" and she "can do it at home".  No, mom, do not buy her that kiln; pay for some classes--and I will help you locate the better ones in decent traveling distance in her area. 

[Qotw: Participants Question Pool For Future Qotw's]

This is in the vein of "what were you thinking", which I ask myself often. My inquiry for a possible QotW subject is this: how do Forum clay artists, potters, sculptors woking in clay, hobbyists, professional gallery exhibiters, instructors, production ceramacists,  etc. come to their ideas? I'm curious about whether ceramicists do, or do not, or can not, articulate in advance formative ideas. Are there identifiable/describable processes that indivduals use, which they consciously recognize and employ as a route to generating ideas for their work? I think a "sampler" of such approaches and techinques would be really interesting!

[QothW: Which intrigues you and motivates you most when working with or looking at pots: Form or Surface?]

I had to reconsider my response-I was deceiving myself!  I do consider glaze as surface.  I came to that realization the other day after making a form, with lots of texture, and immediately started imagining how I would treat it with various glazes--to create an even more interesting form & surface! 

On 5/23/2022 at 2:07 PM, LeeU said:

(I don't think of glaze as surface, only the clay body)

 

[My replacement policy just bit me in the @$$]

Maybe I am missing something, but it looks to me like a simple incised & twisted handle application, so why would it be impossible to (very closely) replicate the style on a new mug? Just curious.

[Thermal-Light Shelves]

Not sure what is meant by heating up "too" fast, but with my L&L EZ fire, I can use all the preset settings w/no problem. I'd check w/a Baily tech and/or your kiln-maker's tech for direct feedback.

[QotW: Do you have a favorite tool for throwing or hanbuilding that you can not do without?]

Two bamboo chopsticks: one is squared with a flat top and a long-ish very pointed tip; the other is rounded with a rounded top and short-ish blunted rounded tip. I can play slap & tickle and get  at least 12 different basic initial imprints,  carvings, and holes  with these two sticks.  I also have larger similar shapes made from regular wood sticks, used "as is" or altered to get the rounded/pointy etc. features/unctions.

[QotW: Do you have any pottery secrets that you do not share? If so how has your outlook on sharing with others changed over the years?]

The only secrets I don't share are the ones where I'm breaking the rules-or common best craft practices-or ignoring the science-AND the situation is one in which I am looking to avoid the snarky assumptions that I don't know what I am doing or am "violating" someone's sensibilities in some way that I certainly cannot be responsible for. 

[Thermal-Light Shelves]

I am not a production potter nor do I generate much volume---so I my experience w/the shelves is as a clay artist of limited output. I have a 4.4 CF L&L 23-S EZ fire, in terms of the space I need to fill  for each fire. I also need the shorter kiln depth in order to get my work onto the bottom layer without straining (I'm 5.4). The standard heavy-heavy-did I mention heavy? and awkward, and nasty to clean regular shelves were a nightmare, especially as my body began to lose strength to aging, despite best efforts to keep up strength training, chiropractic, and mood adjustments to not get too bummed out when I dropped one, again, on my foot. I absolutely love the Thermal-Lites. Worth every penny-made my life instantly 1000 % better for ease of use & less burden on the back, wrists, maintenance etc. Easy to store & a breeze to clean if ever needed. They will outlast me, no doubt about it.

[QothW: Which intrigues you and motivates you most when working with or looking at pots: Form or Surface?]

My so-called "Artist Statement" is WYSIWYG: It's Intentional. 

For me, the aesthetic decisions that comprise making work are:  some external or internal sight/sound/thought that generates some spark that--often unbidden--presents itself as having something to do with creative expression; conscious reflection/idea exploration;  maybe a dose of nostalgia (anything from the warm & comforting "happy-happy" to the icy fire of the worst of the worst);  hopefully some well-reasoned discernment and, then; physically & mentally attending to form and surface (I don't think of glaze as surface, only the clay body),  and finally;  anything applied on top of the clay, including glaze and any after-fire embellishments.

[Is my glaze foodsafe]

I largely avoid ever doing anything based on I "heard this" or "heard that". Research, research, research, from sources that have satisfied you (by doing more research!) that they are credible, valid and proven to be accurate/reliable.