LeeU

since a kiln is really only a brick box that contains heat,  ask evenheat how you could convert it to fire to cone 8, higher than cone 6 to allow for long term use at cone 6.  you will use it for years.
 one of our members,  Neil  Estrick,  sells and repairs kilns and can explain how it can be done if evenheats MANAGER  (not just whoever answers the phone) cannot take it back.   do not talk to anyone without the authority to make a reasonable adjustment to a general rule.   that is why Managers make the big bucks.
send Neil a private message since he has not seen this yet.

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

For inventory, I use a spreadsheet. I head the columns to tell me what I want to know  and use separate worksheets for each broad category (ex. Bowls and Trays)   I use alpha codes for types of ware (ex. BW = bowl, TR=tray) and then a number (BW13; TR11). I take a pic of the piece & insert a tiny thumbnail in the sheet row for that piece. I write the code (Item No.) on masking tape & put that on the bottom of the piece.  I make columns for the other things I want to know, like glaze/clay body info, size, type of fire, price, physical location (in storage/box4,  or at Lisa's Boutique, etc. , whether it's on my webpage,  plus status: sold-NFS- gifted, whatever I want to keep track of. Always have a col. for Notes (like TR11 is in storage, but needs refire)

On my IPad, the facebook “add a comment box” is right in the middle of the page, obscuring text. The dropdown menu also tends to not want to disappear automatically: I don’t know if this is part of the template code, or if it’s something you are able to adjust on that platform.
I don’t know if you need every click within your website to open a new tab in the browser. It’s a good idea to use that setting if you’re sending people to outbound links, but it clogs up a browser unnecessarily when navigating “in house.” 
The formatting on your blog page appears to have a spot that’s supposed to hold a thumbnail image or a logo next to your name. It’s showing as a question mark.
Other than that, it functions like it ought to, as far as I can see. The format doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary negative space and everything is legible.
 
Other suggestions, which you can take or leave as you see fit:
Navigation-wise, I’d suggest clarifying for yourself what you want the website to do for you and how you want to structure your online presence. Right now you have a combo of casual/personal stuff that I’d expect to speak to an audience you’ve personally cultivated, and some more formal elements we learned in art school but aren’t super relevant outside of what I’d call an institutional art audience. (Gallery system, academia, etc.)I would suggest tailoring your website to whichever of those groups interacts with and buys from you the most. It makes it easier to write website copy and make design choices.
If that audience is mostly institutional folks, tidying the bio and statement to be more in line with those expectation and moving your more casual stuff exclusively to social media. If your audience is more a group you’ve personally cultivated, consider removing the larger bio and statement, and leaning into the story you have in the Flower and Ash section currently. You can still incorporate your credentials into that writing, but I think that’s the piece that will land best with the wider public. It’s a lovely bit of storytelling. 
I also noticed a mention on your blog that you thought you should be blogging once a month as opposed to posting more frequently on FB.  While blogs have a bunch of pros over social media, I think you should do whichever one you can make consistent. If a more casual FB post gets made every week or every couple of days, that’s better than a spotty blog you do because “that’s what real artists do.” 
Whichever audience you choose:
-I’d pick one font for the whole website and using it throughout. It’s a small detail, but it’ll tidy things up a surprising amount. Right now the home page has 2 fonts, and the sans serif header and sub header are outweighed by the serif text font. There’s no emphasis on one piece of info as more important than the other.
-The header image on the home page wasn’t taken with incorporated text in mind. If you don’t have an image you can crop to have 2/3-3/4 negative space in those dimensions so the text is the focus, it’s worth taking one for the purpose. Or changing some layout choices on that page.
-The one place everyone should be really UN-creative is with your menu names. They should be as clear and concise as possible. Eg, Miss Elainie is a great name for a jewelry line…or maybe your cat, who might be instagram famous as your cheeky studio sidekick. While I 100% support a studio pet picture gallery if it brings everyone joy, if I’m new to your page or on a mission for something, the lack of clarity is a barrier to me finding what I want. The dropdown title should be Jewelry, and the subtitle on the page can be “Miss Elainie Jewelry Line” with a 2-3  sentence blurb. And of course, images. 
In that vein:
-Studio is a bit too broad: I suggest retitling it “gallery” with listings of “Jewelry” “wood and raku” “new work” (when it’s ready), and consider combining “Before and After” into “Studio Shots” for a look at the artist in her environment.
-Consider using the same format for all the gallery pages. Right now you have a slideshow for wood and raku, but all the rest are stationary gallery pages. Some of the transitions in that template are odd. 
-Under About, I love that you actually put your face on there! Not enough folks do. I don’t love the picture you’ve chosen though. You’ve depersonalized it by using a shot of your own computer screen. Please consider enlisting a friend to help take a bio pic during the golden hour. You’re such a vibrant person, and that image seems colder thanu the Lee we know here. 
-Unless you’re talking mostly to a Fine Art/gallery clientele, the expanded bio under About isn’t necessary. You can talk about some of your background in blogs or on social.
-Your artist statement is extremely well written and should be on your home page, not buried under About. It doesn’t need to be formally titled as your artist statement if you do this. 
-Again about heading clarity, I’d retitle Flower and Ash in the dropdown to “Philosophy” or “Background on the Work” and have the Flower and Ash be the title of the page. 
-I think shop policies should be easy to get to, but not the first thing you see when you arrive on a website. Having their own header listing suggests you’re anticipating a bunch of problems right out of the gate. A lot of people have a footer menu now, with things like shop policies, an FAQ list and social links. If you don’t want to create a footer menu, put a “shop” header title in the policies spot for your eventual update, and put the policies under that. 
 
 
 

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

Perhaps mom would understand, once the "technical" issues are explained to her, if you simply/honestly said you need to sell it in order to get the right equipment. Since it is new, it shouldn't loose  monetary value, and you can still affirm your delight in the receiving of the gift,  which will just morph into a different object.

@Jodie Parry, every once in a while we get posts like yours that are asking members of the forum questions for their research or product development. I've yet to see one where the OP comes back and shares the results of their questions. This might be why you are getting few responses, in addition to the request from Marilyn for some clarification of what "digital element" would mean.

WOW-thank you SO much for the time & effort you put into the feedback. I will be going over the details it in depth as I carry on! One bit of confusion is the facebook comment thing--I deliberately kept links to social media out of it, so I have no idea what that coud be-it does not appear on my laptop.  I especially appreciate the "choose your audience" perspective-that confirms some things that have been bubbling up into my consciousness lately. Thanks again, this is so helpful. Oh-and that indictor for a missing "something"  by blog author is a glitch in the code on their end-I'm trying to get  IT to deal with it...it's been very frustrating-they may lose me over that alone! 

WOW-thank you SO much for the time & effort you put into the feedback. I will be going over the details it in depth as I carry on! One bit of confusion is the facebook comment thing--I deliberately kept links to social media out of it, so I have no idea what that coud be-it does not appear on my laptop.  I especially appreciate the "choose your audience" perspective-that confirms some things that have been bubbling up into my consciousness lately. Thanks again, this is so helpful. Oh-and that indictor for a missing "something"  by blog author is a glitch in the code on their end-I'm trying to get  IT to deal with it...it's been very frustrating-they may lose me over that alone! 

I've done a "first pass" at resurrecting my WIX website. Mostly to learn the changes to the editing functions & output presentation--still really don't like them, so am likely to switch venders. In any event, if anyone would care to take a look and offer some feedback, I'd appreciate it. This is half-baked, so keep that in mind. One problem I have is that due to certain conditions I must use a large monitor & a mouse. That means I have a hard time finding out how my design looks on a phone, a tablet, and a laptop. I have a phone (Android), so I can see it, but I have not mastered how to change things in the editor on my monitor to look better on the phone, even with the "mobile optimization", it's a lot of trial & error. So feedback specific to tablets/phones/laptops is also appreciated. Just FYI, the pieces are all pretty old and do not reflect the new direction, new palette, that I am moving toward. I won't activate the new site until I have some new inventory. BTW-this image is a screen shot from my large monitor, so unless you ave a huge screen I'm sure it will look different...like all the white space between the bottom red text and the footer probably does not appear on smaller screens. (but I don't know !!! - so you tell me LOL)
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
leeuceramics.com 

What he said (Hulk). Except I don't touch anything until the whole load has been spread out on my work table for a couple of days. I might go in and pet them, but no finishing-if any is needed-until I've spent a day or so getting over-oh, I hate that, or oh, that's not what I wanted, or any other form of oh, throw it out. Inevitably that is usually premature and even the uglies may be redeemed w/a refire. So I let it perk a bit until I can be more objective. As w/Hulk's dispatching of the not-A- work,  I do the same, and pitch most into the Meet Mr. Hammer bin.

Hi
I have made a  Torsional Viscometer 
 
I wanted something where I could measure the viscosity using a laboratory instrument as with anything like this t.ype of equipment can be very expensive I decided to use my 3D printer to make a fully working  Torsional viscometer. The viscometer is very accurate and every part can be replaced and upgraded.   Parts not printed consist of :-   Purchased from eBay   1. Stainless steel shaft. 1. Perspex tube. 1. Flywheel Top stainless Stainless steel disc.  1. Sample cup  small stainless steel disc. 1. Small disc in the base.    Thumb screws  bolts. (Brass - stainless steel)   1. 30swg torsion viscometer wire (This has been made in house   - wire ends are designed to be reused)             Printed parts:-   2. Support brackets .....................      (Hold the Perspex wire guard tube) 1. Scale gauge bracket ................     (Hold the printed vinyl scale) 1. Sample holder bracket .............     (Allows the sample to be held in position) 1. Sample stop ..............................     (This stop allows you to set the sample bracket height) 1. Main base ..................................     (The main base has 3 micro adjustable levelling)   1.wire holder ..................................    (Special wire holder bracket with micro adjustment) 1.Adapter ring ................................    (This was added so you could use a commercial spring wire) 1.Sliding centring wire guard ........    (This allows you to slide section of the wire guard to assist in levelling) 1.Flywheel ......................................    (Customisable can add stainless steel weight discs, brass locking screw for securing bobs) 1.Flywheel locking mechanism ......  (Fully adjustable indicator pointer locking holder)   2.Accessory trays ..........................   (designed to locate on the side of the main base to store any Allen keys and also bobs   1.Waterproof vinyl gauge............... (can also be used with removable logging dial)           I decided to build a 3D printed Torsion Viscometer to do some experiments with my hobby pottery glazes. I designed each part in Design Spark Mechanical CAD software . For the vertical frame. I used copper tubing as I had this lying around in a scrap bin. (This has  been replaced with a stainless steel round bar       
 

What he said (Hulk). Except I don't touch anything until the whole load has been spread out on my work table for a couple of days. I might go in and pet them, but no finishing-if any is needed-until I've spent a day or so getting over-oh, I hate that, or oh, that's not what I wanted, or any other form of oh, throw it out. Inevitably that is usually premature and even the uglies may be redeemed w/a refire. So I let it perk a bit until I can be more objective. As w/Hulk's dispatching of the not-A- work,  I do the same, and pitch most into the Meet Mr. Hammer bin.

What he said (Hulk). Except I don't touch anything until the whole load has been spread out on my work table for a couple of days. I might go in and pet them, but no finishing-if any is needed-until I've spent a day or so getting over-oh, I hate that, or oh, that's not what I wanted, or any other form of oh, throw it out. Inevitably that is usually premature and even the uglies may be redeemed w/a refire. So I let it perk a bit until I can be more objective. As w/Hulk's dispatching of the not-A- work,  I do the same, and pitch most into the Meet Mr. Hammer bin.

What he said (Hulk). Except I don't touch anything until the whole load has been spread out on my work table for a couple of days. I might go in and pet them, but no finishing-if any is needed-until I've spent a day or so getting over-oh, I hate that, or oh, that's not what I wanted, or any other form of oh, throw it out. Inevitably that is usually premature and even the uglies may be redeemed w/a refire. So I let it perk a bit until I can be more objective. As w/Hulk's dispatching of the not-A- work,  I do the same, and pitch most into the Meet Mr. Hammer bin.

As a consumer as well as a seller I prefer including the cost of shipping in the price of the items. In a policies section I state that the price includes the shipping fee, at cost (UPS or whatever method). Keeps life simple and it stings less on the buyers end when going to check out. I often think twice when I see the shipping cost, because some of the rates just really irk me--I'm happier not having it shoved in my face.  It's just easier to swallow and if I do comparative shopping on the item, I can do the math and tell right away that the inclusive price is not an inflated price. I also prefer "shipping included" to "free shipping"-no such thing!

cannot say enough good things about AMOCA.   there were so many of the pieces in the many books i have read over the years that i was stunned to turn the corner and see them.   the couple who lent them for this exhibit were photographed with some of the collection not on display.  unbelievable.    books are great but to actually see a pot that is huge and perfect had an impact that measurements printed under a photo cannot.  could have stayed all day.   the contemporary crafts location was not close enough for a visit.
there is a craft fair that is apparently year round in laguna beach.  the "tents" are permanent buildings and have many different types of work.  a glass blower sits inside a cage about 20x20 feet that keeps the public safe but able to see everything being done.  potters are close to the entrance and numerous.   great place for visiting.  named Sawdust
 
thanks for the suggestions.

Good question!
I feel and think (both!) that I'm just starting out with trying and choosing clay bodies ...I've found three, err, four clays that I like, three of which a nearby* supplier carries.
I still like periodically rotating from white to red to buff/brown.
All the factors Pres listed apply for me, excepting "word from others..."
For white and buff stoneware, I like low absorption (less than 1% preferred, else 1.5%), almost never has "gassy bits**" and tolerates a cone or more overfiring without issue.
For red stoneware a bit higher absorption is ok (unless/until I find something better), almost never has gassy bits, tolerates just over a half cone or so overfiring.
My low COE liner glaze has to fit Very Well, and my colored glazes have to fit well.
The clays I've tried and won't go back to have one or more of these characteristics: expensive, high rate of gassy bits failure, my low COE liner glaze doesn't fit (crazing), misbehaves horribly when overfired a wee tiny bit (fizzing, bubbling, turns purble, melts/slumps), absorbs water too quickly while working (giant globs of absorbent grog in there), is just too sandy/lumpy and or the sand is sharp (is there any good reason for sharp sand in clay?), varies considerably/intolerably batch to batch.
When next buying clay (almost certainly the same three clays I'm using now), I'll want to know if the recipe has changed since last purchase.
There's the talc change thing, and I've already had a "this is Totally Different Clay" experience with another vendor's product. Even if assured it is same, I will test! !!
Likely I'll also get a fifty-pound box of something to try, which is how I discovered the speckled buff that I really (really) like.
I prefer the clay right out of the bag to be a bit softer/wetter than I want to work with, which is easily remedied by a turn on the wedging board.
Somewhat related, I don't want clay right out of the store to be "old" already - fresh, please; nor do I want clay that's too stiff/dry for my taste.
Stacking the boxes together in a shady and cool spot, then covering tightly with a tarp seems to help keep the clays "young' ...now I wrap the boxes with moving wrap before stacking them up, seems to help. The moving wrap is like a gigantic version of the cling wrap used to wrap food.
 
*the nearby vendor is just under 100 miles away, IMCO in Sacramento. They make a white and red that I like, and they carry a Laguna product that I've tried and like. Another California clay vendor has a white and red stoneware I like, but they are further away, and I like the nearer vendor's clays a bit better, not Just because they are cheaper, no, the white is more consistent, and the red has better working properties, tolerates overfiring better, and is less absorbent ...and their clays are less expensive.
**where there's a large pit/hole in the glaze, which I'm guessing is due to a large piece/chunk/bit of something that off-gassed enough to create a volcano-like effect that's too big to heal over. I'm willing to tolerate this when it doesn't happen very often, at all, like one of twenty wares - not so much one of seven.

Added: That Dragon Fruit clay has been whisperin' to me!
 

The look of the fired unglazed clay is my essential criteria. Unless I'm checking out a new-to-me black/gray, I go to great lengths to avoid staining - usually go for whitest/lightest bodies, but they can't be soft/slippery. I usually get somethign with a bit of tooth/grog/sand, recommended for handbuilding. I don't care about absorbsion  or shrinkage for what I do.  Suppliers tend to have helpful, knowledgable, customer service people who have never steered me wrong. At the moment I am in love with Dragon Fruit, from International Clay & Mnerals Co. ICMC   Very light gray with fine speckles and feels like stone...makes for some interesting contrast with glazes (but not for total coverage-that just wastes it's beauty). 

I hope this is an okay place to post this, if not please let me know.

Hello All,

My studio setup is a bit stymied right now so I'm looking to fill some time between October and November with a road trip around the western United States. I'm looking to visit potters and studios as much as possible! If you are open to a visit to talk pots or receive some free grunt labor (I have professional skills with software engineering, intermediate skills building/fixing/maintaining pottery equipment, and am not above helping wedge, reclaim, or make clay and glazes). Currently I plan to stop by Archie Bray, Cobb Mountain, and Cider Creek Pottery. If you have recommendations for any other programs or places that I can reach out to please let me know.

Take Care,
Brandon Blaylock

OH  !      re Min's comment, I am going to take some time while I fiddle w/WIX and definately check out Hostinger.  My domain is through GoDaddy and I'm fine w/that...plus I know it's really not that hard to move it around. I'd been so stagnant for so long that this little shake-up w/WIX & the new learning curve is actually good for me! I'm going in a new direction in terms of forms & palette, so I'm finally getting jazzed a bit.

OH  !      re Min's comment, I am going to take some time while I fiddle w/WIX and definately check out Hostinger.  My domain is through GoDaddy and I'm fine w/that...plus I know it's really not that hard to move it around. I'd been so stagnant for so long that this little shake-up w/WIX & the new learning curve is actually good for me! I'm going in a new direction in terms of forms & palette, so I'm finally getting jazzed a bit.