Callie Beller Diesel

My furry companion passed a couple of weeks ago, and everything is so quiet without her.

Hmmm. I have a simplified kit for outdoor shows, and a few more added items for indoor ones. (You'd think it'd be the other way around!) Mostly my outdoor work is a weekly farmer's markets, and the odd night market. Indoor shows here are more the norm. The outdoor stuff is mostly street festivals here. The simplified kit has: business cards, an assortment of writing implements including chalk for some display signs, price stickers (mugs mostly), Square chip reader, backup swiper, credit card payment signs, note paper, email sign up forms, duct tape, packing tape, dressmaker's T pins for tablecloths, scissors, utility knife, multi tool, string, wire, sandpaper and a Kemper stone, business card holder, tissues, lip balm, gum, pocket container of Advil, 2-3 band aids, hand warmers and 2 vitamin c powder envelopes, 3-4 cough candies and a cash apron with float. All this fits in a train case that I found at a thrift store. I have another box for table risers and sandbags to prop bowls on so people can see inside, 2 sizes of paper bags and tissue, my main table cloth and a sign. For indoor shows, there's more boxes of booth accoutrements, like my lighting setup including extension cords, power bars and Velcro ties (moving away from zip ties because I only need them for cord control), additional risers and sandbags, additional table cloths, curtains, s hooks to hang curtains from pipe and drape.... I think that's it.

I don't get a whole lot of glaze drips, and I hate post glaze cleanup so I put more effort into prevention. Most feet get a light polish with a little red rib in the leather hard stage, which is all my clay needs for the most part. My issues tend to involve the clay picking up a tiny bit of kiln wash, or lids sticking. I wet sand any galleries in the bisque stage because I find it's less elbow grease. For the odd thing that slips by, I use 220 wet/dry sandpaper (always used wet), or a Kemper stone. I have a large throwing stick that was poorly made that makes an excellent mallet to gently tap apart any lids that stick. Packing items for shows are just newspaper and Rubbermaid bins. For mailing things out, I opt for small bubble wrap, the cornstarch packing peanuts and I purchase boxes from a company called Shipper's Supply. Online orders are packed with a business card with some care instructions on it, and for larger or special orders, a quick thank you note.

I've never actually owned a garment that required dry cleaning. I just went into the shop and asked if they could give me a handful of bags. I've held work for 2 weeks under dry cleaner plastic, and my climate is classified as semi arid. You have to make sure you have plastic under your ware board if you need it to last that long. Eg, lay one piece of plastic on the shelf, place bats or boards with pieces on shelf, curve excess bottom plastic inwards and gently lay bag over top of ware.

Am I the only dork left using dry cleaner plastic?

Just a gentle reminder folks: This entire conversation at its heart is meant to be about showing each other compassion and respect. No name calling, and remember this is all in the service of learning . If someone who knows better tells you you’re doing it wrong, it’s worth listening to them if you want to expand yourself. Admitting you’re doing something wrong or hurting someone inadvertently is uncomfortable, but necessary for healing and growth.

https://makikohastings.blogspot.com/2019/05/naming-does-matter-my-thought-on.html?m=1 I’ve come across about 5 references to this blog post today, despite spending a total of 20 minutes on social media. So after finally reading it, I feel very strongly it belongs in this conversation right here. It’s written by a Japanese artist who has spent half her adult life in the UK, and tells of her frustrations in watching words and concepts that are deeply held and respected within the Japanese culture used and abused by many from the west in order to sell things. She speaks about wanting to encourage those who are curious about and inspired by her (and other) cultures to investigate them, and learn. Learn so you actually DO honour what you are learning to love, and so that you don’t accidentally insult it. Most importantly, she has a reference for westerners that she recommends on the topic of Wabi Sabi, which is a term frequently misused and abused by potters who have an incomplete and often wrong. understanding of the concept.

@liambesaw @Pres Yep, it's wax resist brushwork on a red clay body, and a white glaze. My NCECA loot included a lot of new brushes.

I made a thing.

Just slip with mason stain.

I made some new stuff for spring.

Good lessons all, Hulk. Some right nice things in there!

So I know this is my kitchen counter, but the light on my workbench turns most photos very yellow. This medicine set will be my own entry to the mug portion of the “Bonspiel: Canadians and Their Love of Winter Sport” show at NCECA this year. After some adventures I had with my kids and ear infections last month, I feel like avoiding illness is a winter sport! If you’re coming this year, check out the show. We’re on the Minneapolis Picks bus tour and shuttle route on Wednesday.

I think a good follow up question to "when do you stop glaze testing" is how often do you introduce new forms, and does that change throughout your career? How many new designs do you come up with in a year, and what's that work cycle like?

I like her philosophy too. I *love* the hammer as a pottery tool.

I can't speak for others, but throwing took me a long time to learn. I do remember selling a few (worthy, competent) small items around year 3. They were my best pieces at the time, and not produced in any sort of volume. I agree that year numbers are a bit arbitrary, and intensive study matters. I needed every minute of those 10,000 hours to make things that, even if I can do better now, I'm not ashamed of.

I have to say that people, and then later the forums and other websites were the most helpful things, in that order. I went to every Ceramic workshop from as many people as I could. I had much of my basic technical education before YouTube was a really useful thing for pottery. Edited to add: YouTube was there, it was just a lot more about cat videos.

I have a 12x12 room and I don’t slab build a whole lot, so in my case it’s a hard pass. I have to be pretty deliberate about what I have in that space, and it’s part of the reason I’m such a fan of low tech soloutions for most things. I got no room to get complicated!

If you really want to do a stress test for freeze/thaw, the best time to do it is in the fall when things are beginning to freeze but the days are still nice, or at the first hint of spring when you have warm days but nights are still below freezing. You want a nice temperature vasilation between -3 and +3 C. I’ve killed more terra cotta pots by not covering them up soon enough.....

To elaborate on the post above, this particular part of the forum is concerned with business models, tips, tricks, business related tools, and recent or past experiences that pertain to running a pottery business. All discussions of full time, part time, hobby or professional, online or in person commercial operations is welcome. Running a pottery business presents a unique set of challenges, and since there don't appear to be any textbooks on the subject, as a community it's important to share information. We encourage people at all levels of involvement in clay to share their experiences and ask questions. As of this writing, we don't allow people to solicit for, buy, sell, trade or exchange any clay studio related items, wether on behalf of yourself or another party. This includes any clay or other raw or prepared materials, new or used studio equipment, bricks, kilns, wheels, or parts for any of those things. Currently we recommend people seek out resources such as The Potter's Attic on Facebook for these types of transactions. Those wishing to advertise services of all kinds and new equipment should most definitely take advantage of the classified link above.

Speed control is definitely a thing. I have a Brent C which was the largest capacity wheel from that company that didn't need to be rewired to cross the border at the time. I had a friend in college who got the CXC, and it never did work quite as it should after being brought up to code. The C is strong enough and variable enough for my purposes: 75 lbs is still a pretty big pot if I wanted to really max it out. I tried out a number of wheels while I could at school, and I found that kick and treadle wheels were hard on the body: you're not supposed to have back problems at 22. The pedals on the shimpos at the time weren't nearly as sensitive. I'm sure there are better things on the market now, but I bought this sucker 15 years ago and I have no reason to replace it.