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LeeU

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  1. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Hulk in QotW:How many pieces do you work on at a time during your normal workflow?   
    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).
  2. Like
    LeeU reacted to Chilly in QotW:How many pieces do you work on at a time during your normal workflow?   
    I have physical projects and virtual projects.
    I can have anything between 1 and 10 physical pieces of clay on the go at any time.
    Virtual projects live in the privacy of my own head, and I don't know how to count them, but there are lots.  Most are totally unachievable with my skillset, but I love to look at something, and think I could make that with a differnt shape here, or a different colour there or ....
  3. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from rox54 in QotW: Do you have any pets or other animal visitors to your shop?   
    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

  4. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Min in QotW: Do you have any pets or other animal visitors to your shop?   
    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

  5. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Callie Beller Diesel in QotW: Do you have any pets or other animal visitors to your shop?   
    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

  6. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Hulk in Forums page layout   
    Yep--thanks. My cognition has fits and starts these days-as soon as you described it, I  "got it"-dunno why I didn't see it in the 1st place. Oh well---that's the kind of thing I'm learning to get used to-could be worse! 
  7. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Hulk in QotW: Do you have any pets or other animal visitors to your shop?   
    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

  8. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Pres in QotW: Do you have any pets or other animal visitors to your shop?   
    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

  9. Like
    LeeU reacted to Hulk in Forums page layout   
    I'm seeing two columns on the Forum/Browse page, where the first column is the subforums, the second column has the Topics and Recent Updates.
    That wide subforum column lists each subforum where the entries include the name, a description, the Moderator, post count, and a link to the most recently updated thread.
    Is it the links (red arrow) that you are referring to Lee?

     
  10. Like
    LeeU reacted to Joseph Fireborn in Turning your hobby into a business   
    I totally agree here, but not everyone is capable of doing this physically day in and out. I wasn't and it is one of the main reasons I decided to stop. I kept trying but my body wouldn't let me due to health issues from the past. Your statement alone that it takes decades to develop your body into the machine required basically sums it up. At some point you have to make pots to sell pots, and if you cannot make pots you cannot make money. That is a drastically limiting business model for someone who might face health adversity; this is basically all I was stating, the OP was asking what things limit turning a hobby into a business. Physical requirements are one of them. On top of this, you cannot turn it over to someone else if you go through a health crisis. If you make the pots, decorate the pots, fire the pots, etc. No one person can replace you. It is a delicate business plan that requires you front and center every single day.
    I don't understand why anyone would make that comment, but I often find myself not understanding people. If I somehow made that comment in my post, I apologize I had no intentions of that meaning. If anything I admire people who can succeed as a full-time potter with no other support, it is impressive.
  11. Like
    LeeU reacted to High Bridge Pottery in Forums page layout   
    I think it looks a lot better, less cluttered and better formatted giving you the 5 most recently updated topics instead of 5 newest posts which could all be in the same topic.
  12. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Chilly in Once Firing   
    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. 
     
  13. Like
    LeeU reacted to JohnnyK in QotW: What would you tell yourself about pottery, if you could speak to yourself when you were in your early adult years.    
    I would have told myself to get involved sooner rather than waiting until I almost retired...
  14. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from GEP in QotW: What would you tell yourself about pottery, if you could speak to yourself when you were in your early adult years.    
    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. 
  15. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Pres in QotW: What would you tell yourself about pottery, if you could speak to yourself when you were in your early adult years.    
    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. 
  16. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Rae Reich in QotW: What would you tell yourself about pottery, if you could speak to yourself when you were in your early adult years.    
    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. 
  17. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Pyewackette in Haptic Ceramics   
    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.
     
     
  18. Like
    LeeU reacted to Denice in Haptic Ceramics   
    Our local art museum would have a exhibit for children with impaired sight,   they could pick up and touch the art work.   I  thought it would be great if they had  a permanent exhibit for all children to enjoy touching the art work.   I would be happy to donate pots to it.     I love to observe  and touch  pottery,  it gives me a feeling of being grounded to the earth.    Denice
  19. Like
    LeeU reacted to Pres in QotW: What is your go to for quick information on a Ceramic subject, and the deep dive for information?   
    I guess my focus is to try to include the community as much as possible, that goes for having the pool for questions to encourage the community to ask questions, and also for my need to be broad focused enough to try to pose questions that would be of interest to the greater part of the community. It is a tough balance that I attempt, and finding fresh material to ask about is getting more difficult. I guess I'll just muddle on!!!
    best,
    Pres
  20. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Callie Beller Diesel in Once Firing   
    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.
  21. Like
    LeeU reacted to oldlady in Once Firing   
    i am one of the folks happy to be  once firing.   i have not had any problems that could not be attributed to my own errors.   very few over many years,  maybe once a year one piece .   i am absolutely NOT adjusting any firing.   i have an L&L programmable kiln that i only fire to the standard cone 6 slow glaze.  i do not know more than the manufacturer so i stick to simple.  it works.   i have one  wonderful white clay, highwater little loafers that works on the wheel and as my favorite, slab serving pieces.    
    my own errors have been twice i did not fully dry a piece that had an overlap.   the design was new and i was just too impatient.  so one thing blew up.  it did hit a few other pieces but everything else survived.
    i never wedge, clay straight out of the bag is much more compacted than anything these old hands could wedge.   to make a slab, i smash the slice of clay on the floor stretching it and compressing it at the same time.   no bubbles and i never make anything as thick as the 1/4 inch beginners are told is necessary.   why?
    i have refired pieces for changing  a color or adding a second color detail and to adjust some pieces that did not get a deep enough sprayed layer.   in any load there might be newly made greenware,   totally dry.   a piece that is glazed and has gone to cone 6 with insufficient color,  or a glazed piece whose test on a smaller piece made it seem good color that i recovered in something else.
    have used many different glazes without problems.   maybe being self taught has freed my head of the restrictions some people think are necessary and i have never considered myself an ARTIST so i don't look for DIFFERENT.
    try it, you might like it.
  22. Like
    LeeU reacted to Joseph Fireborn in Turning your hobby into a business   
    I always find the discussions of success interesting. Success is such a hard word to pin down, what some people consider success to others might be laughable.
    A potter making 50K a year in profits(not revenue) might be wildly successful to themselves, but someone else might consider that awful with the amount of manual labor it took for a person to do that in most cases. Making pots as an individual is really hard work no matter what techniques you use.
    Success is really up to the individual, if you are happy making 10K a year in profits and are securing your lively hood through another manner, congrats you are happy and successful!
    Pottery as a business is probably one of the most challenging forms of art type business you can take on. The equipment is large, the materials are heavy, the ingredients are a hazard and the time and manual labor that goes into each piece is usually under valued.  If you sell in person, you have to haul tons of stuff to a fair or show. If you sell online, you have to package and ship materials that are fragile and cannot be easily replaced. Neither of those things are optimal. It really is one of the most challenging sole owner businesses out there. Which probably explains why there are not a lot of individual million dollar potters, but plenty rich in livelihood, joy and a good bit of money.
    I had a fundamental problem with pottery and turning it into a business, it doesn't scale very well. At some point you are going to cap out on the amount of shows you can do, pots you can make, and boxes you can pack. If you want to push into 6 figures you have to be really smart with what you do and be savvy in time management. It isn't easy to do and as others have shown it definitely is possible to do; but other types of businesses can scale so much easier with a single person and modern machinery.
    I really like making pots and I like selling them too. Knowing someone is drinking out of my cups year after year experiencing joy is a nice feeling. It is one of the best reasons to be a potter. Not many forms of art are used daily in such an important thing as nourishment of our bodies.  I still think being rich in joy is way better than being rich in money. Unfortunately you need both!
    I think I agree with GEP on this subject of instagram. Those people with millions of followers are wildly successful at getting likes and follows, but really they are earning way more money for instagram than themselves. That being said I know that instagram can add to your sales and get visibility to your shop, but I think the potters who utilize it the best are not the ones who have the quarterly flash sales, it is the potters who have a constant online shop available for the impulse buys. When someone is scrolling through their feed and the algorithm places one of your pots on their feed, they click through, click to your website and convert. That conversion can be a newsletter signup, clicking your show dates, or buying a pot from your shop. If you don't have any thing like this available and you are on instagram, then you need to make an adjustment.
  23. Like
    LeeU reacted to Min in Pin marks on pottery?   
    Crazing, crawling and pinholes all on one pot.  Beautiful. Glaze marries with the pot to fit in harmony. In the case of the rabbit do the pinholes add or detract?
    Shino Tea Ceremony Bowl by Suzuki Tomio

     
  24. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Hulk in View from the studio.   
    I hate wedging, but this makes it tolerable. Fresh snowfall last night.


  25. Like
    LeeU got a reaction from Hulk in View from the studio.   
    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. 

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