LeeU

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!

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. 

spot on. denice!    IFa beginner has found this forum, they have at least found a lot of information that is in the very first section.   start with the glossary.   learn the proper terms for what you want to ask about.   learning to read starts with the alphabet, the glossary has that alphabet for you.   get some old books, the 70s was a time publishers did a good job with what became textbooks.   yes, things they made might not be what you want to make but the basics is what you need and that is covered.
there are posts on here about " What is on your bookshelf?"   if you can find that original question, you will have quite a good list to start with.   see how things are DONE!  ignore the final results that would be something you would never make..     remember you are learning a skill.     do you think those fabulous figure skaters started out throwing or being thrown many feet in the air without seeing a description of how it is done?
and do not ever mistake cone 06 for cone 6!!!   now, go to the glossary and look up what a cone is.
 

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! 
 

@preeta the first set of cups were made by Dawn Candy, who is actually from my neck of the woods. She’s @littlesisterpottery on IG if you want to check her out. Those particular models look like some of her older work.  Her whole process is to draw with a slip trailer and underglazes (I have no idea what brand), and then she layers glazes that run over top. 
The second set are Sean O’connel’s, and he actually has a video here on CLAYflicks on his decorating process. These cups are part of it. 

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.

Been thinking (on an' off) 'bout this one, and although I'd like to proclaim that form is first, Min's chicken/egg is where I fall back to, particularly when looking at pots. That the form is first in fact - temporally - well, there's that; for working with pots, form is first for me.
There is, often, something compelling about an oops pot that makes it special, hearty agreement there.
Just over four years ago, found this forum (looking for wheel, then kiln reviews and info); am still finding the topics, posts, personalities ...interesting, thought provoking, informative, compelling.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

I think designing and making a surface decorations that goes with that form is the most important part of the process for me.   I make a lot of coiled and slab type pieces and for some reason after they are fired they don't look as well balanced as they did in the green ware stage.   A good design on it distracts from many imperfections, I am usually the only one who notices them or cares.  Some people call me a perfectionist,  I have gotten better at tolerating imperfection.   I use to go through my shop and throw away all of my work and start anew on a regular basis.  Denice

I am in the (try to be) super clean camp. I can't stand to have clay-coated tools, dried glaze wash in cups, crud in the throwing pan, grit on the workbench, residue on molds, dirty cloths, muddy sponges, supplies not put back where they belong (i.e. the one place where I know where to find them, given increasing memory deficits), clay dust on the floor (or windows, shelves etc.). So I make myself clean the same day after work, or the next day before work (or both as needed). It's just not worth it to me to let it go--even a few days build up drives me nuts and provokes me to avoid the studio.    

Thank you very much for your kind words, all of you.  I got Lyme Disease and also T-boned on my motorcycle so my art studio was closed for about a decade while I dealt with everything.  Had to learn how to walk again, long term treatments for Lyme, etc.  It really derailed me.  We also lost our home and everything was put into storage for many years.  Now I have a studio again (a corner in our basement) I have been slowly getting things back up and rolling the past couple of years.  I've had to replace a lot of equipment I used to have for casting resins and ceramics but everything is slowly progressing.  It's good to be back in the saddle so to speak. 
The last major thing I'm working on getting back on top of now is molding and casting my own sculptures.  I was doing that years ago before everything got derailed but I have to relearn some of the skills I haven't used in a decade.  My originals are usually oil clay over wire but I am also learning how to use Zbrush and have a 3D printer so things are apt to get very interesting once I get a handle on the tech.
Lastly, I have researched heavily into ceramics 3d printers.  Form Labs had one I was keenly interested in that uses a porcelain resin that you can 3D print in extremely fine detail and then fire in the kiln.  But then they discontinued that model!  ARG!    It was affordable compared to some high end 3D printers and alas, most 3D printers for ceramics are far from suitable.  No detail, all ropey coil built extruders - but the tech is slowly getting there.  As I get older and hefting 50 lb plaster molds gets harder to do, I sure will be glad when I can skip that and just print out and assemble my greenware sculptures to fire.  Bye bye plaster molds when that day comes!  So I'm keeping a close eye on ceramics 3D printer tech as it evolves.  

And here are the final photos of the mini 'Hadrian' custom glazed equine ceramic to a rich carmel dark palomino with satin glaze.  I think his owner will be very pleased with how well this commission came out.  She picks him up this weekend!  Thanks for following along and I hope it wasn't too boring.  I'll probably play with these final photos a bit more to brighten them up since they are a touch dark.
 

And finally, for now, here is another shot of the same piece with the first layer of overglaze (china paints) freshly airbrushed on.  This is a darker brown-gold to give him a nice rich coat color and push the darks.  Once this layer is cleaned up, using first a dry brush and then a fine pointed damp brush tip to clean the whites especially well, I then put him back into my kiln tonight to fire again.  This time at cone 017.  Once this layer is set, I will go back and airbrush another overglaze layer of smokey black-brown very softly in some locations.  I'll wipe some of that off to bring back some of the dappling stronger, adding yet more depth and value.  
I fire pieces over and over again building in subtle changes and many details.  When this piece is completed, I would normally sell him for about a grand.  But as this is a custom order commision for a client, I keep her up to date with step by step photos for her input so I can be sure to make him just exactly what she ordered.  I'll post more photos as this piece gets completed.  
And yes, I DO take many health precautions when airbrushing underglazes, glazes, or overglazes.  I wear a respirator, have ventilation set up, and wipe all surfaces down carefully with a wet sponge so that there is no build up of harmful dust.  My kilns are also ventilated and I'll even pick up the small one to fire outside if I am concerned about gases.

After the underglaze layers are all completed and I have applied the clear satin and gloss glazes and fired them on, he then looked like this next photo - but not nearly as dark a sooty chocolate palomino nor as richly colored as I want him to be to match my client's reference image of a real horse she sent to me to copy his color from.  So the next steps will be overglazes in the form of china paints.  I could push the darks in the underglaze before clear glaze was applied but I knew it wouldn't have the subtle depth and color richness I'm aiming for so patience and layers are worth taking the time to get him as perfect as I am able.
Here you can also see that I have worked in a hint of the coat's texture that follows along the hair pattern.  I have also added the first hint of a silvery sheen with china paints to the mane, tail and back of the feathers by the time I took this photo.

Once I got that layer set how I wanted it, I fired it in my smallest kiln to cone 04 to set the underglaze.  Then I went back and hand painted some of the details such s the eyes, hooves, and a few other things, then fired him again.  This second photo shows the tiny little horse wetted so I can better see the subtle differences in the underglaze before I finish up more details and clear glaze him at cone 06 on a ramped, slow cooling cycle so he won't get too glossy.  I use a high gloss for the eyes and hooves.
 

So, I do a lot of fine art equine ceramics.  As I await the arrival of a few more pieces of equipment and supplies to fire up my mold making and casting of my own sculpture this summer, I am custom glazing some other artist's sculptures as custom orders for clients from all over the world.  I thought some of you here might be curious what I do for a living.
This first piece is very much in progress so I'll add more photos as he nears completion.  This is a small earthenware sculpture called 'Hadrian'.  This mini was sculpted as a Dales Pony by Sarah Rose and produced in earthenware bisque by Pour Horse Pottery.  Some of the pieces were custom glazed at that pottery, some were produced in an original finish edition, and some were sold unglazed.  I got a few of these in unglazed bisque.  He stands about 3 inches tall or slightly less. 
The first photo I am attaching is the bisque with raw underglaze airbrushed on.  Here I am using soft tools to remove some of the underglaze to add dappling to the palomino coat pattern.  The white markings were masked with latex then removed and cleaned up using an exacto type craft knife.
 

It's 2022, and no business should be complaining about credit card fees at this point, or adding to the price IMO. Fees have been steady at roughly 3% for years and years, so I don't know why they're suddenly having a fit about it. It's a given at this point that the vast majority of one's customers are going to pay by credit card, so you set your prices with that in mind. If someone pays cash, great, you make any extra 3% on that sale. Nearly every kiln I sell to anyone other than a school is paid for by credit cards, which means up to $200 in credit card fees with each kiln. Any discounts I give take that into consideration. I sold a large kiln last year that had over $500 in credit card fees, so that greatly affected the discounts I could give. It's a cost of doing business in the modern world, no different than the cost of shipping, packing materials, overhead, etc.
The better option to encourage cash sales is to raise your prices to cover the credit card fees and then offer a 3% discount for cash. People respond better to rewards than punishments.

I think there’s nothing wrong with increasing your prices to reflect increased business costs, which credit card fees definitely are. But from a customer service standpoint, and even a general professionalism one, I think it’s better to just roll it in.
1) I don’t want to put myself or an employee in a position that sets up angry “what the heck is this extra fee? Are you trying to scam me?!” conversations. There is a segment of the population that just wants to fight with retail workers, and I have no patience for being on the receiving end of it anymore. It’s best to prevent as many scenarios like this as possible. 
2) An itemized list of all of my expenses is really none of my customer’s business. They don’t need the gory details.

I don't do volume sales and I like to keep my life simple, including the math.  Sales tax is easy to do in NH--we don't have any! As a customer, I usually prefer the various fees to be rolled (at cost) into the price of the item. Shipping costs are so all over the place I would rather deal with a much higher price on the product than deal with the visual sticker shock of a through-the-roof shipping charge that might even exceed the cost of the item.   

I don't do volume sales and I like to keep my life simple, including the math.  Sales tax is easy to do in NH--we don't have any! As a customer, I usually prefer the various fees to be rolled (at cost) into the price of the item. Shipping costs are so all over the place I would rather deal with a much higher price on the product than deal with the visual sticker shock of a through-the-roof shipping charge that might even exceed the cost of the item.   

Well, I hope this topic is not morphing into "all about me" (ha ha). Here is a initial green face planting of HMS No. 9 "I'm Still Here".  Hidden Mask Series--another "survivor" piece. I plan two glaze firings for it and have applied the first round of glazes. I have nothing else ready for the kiln and it absolutely will take forever to crank out enough items to fill it, but I'll update "eventually". In the meantime----what were you, or are you,  thinking (about your own work)?

Some days, there ain't much view at all!