Rae Reich

After fifty-some years, I’m still not done looking at clay - pots, sculpture, earthworks, whatever else and I think I do judge aesthetically, based on my accumulated tastes and skills; those criteria have changed as I have. Archeology is always turning up ways that clay has been made pleasing to see and hold; as new creators reflect their unique selves, still. Being a hand-to-mouth potter, my personal collection is made up of friends’ works and craft fair purchases. I like to encourage those creators with my limited funds. Having said that, I fall in love regularly with lovely things I’ll never own.

Congratulations on the positive reception your work has received! I think you should share your news with the studio. Potters are not notoriously jealous of each other and they may surprise you with their pleasure at your recognition. They will probably be able to advise you on how to practically encourage your admirers while you increase your skills and production capabilities.

Sharper is better. Make several little mugs into cream pitchers and explore differences in your technique. You can push in with your outside fingers while holding the inside finger in line with the rest of the rim, then sharpen the lip as you draw out your finger.

@HenryBurlingame, is your studio floor perfectly smooth and free from obstructions? With a very heavy table with storage shelves, you would need various places to move it to, and you probably would want to unload it for moving. Rolling a table loaded with pots from glazing area to kiln, for example, would be hazardous, even with clear pathways. Is that practical for you? Is there another reason you want it movable? Cleaning or access to the wall behind? I think you might be asking too much of one table.

More cool inspiration! Thanks and good luck!

Paper seems to be the filler of choice because it will burn out the most cleanly, can shrink or compact as the clay shrinks, and will dry along with the clay. No plastics, foam or styrofoam if it will go into a kiln. Nothing that will not shrink with the clay as it dries. As to what I have seen for terminology, ‘padding’ if it is on an armature, ‘filler’ if not. Generally, try to make the clay walls thick enough to be self-supporting as it dries. The sculpture can be cut apart when leather hard to remove excess clay.

You might consider using other glazes besides clear that act/appear differently over the two different clays. I made some pieces of porcelain and dark red stoneware that I glazed with a rutile ‘pink’ (applied thinly because it gets runny) that went dark blue on the stoneware and rosy on the porcelain. Celadons will give you contrasts, too. Experiment! Test!

Congrats!

I like your coffee drip filter holder design.

I think you should fire them separately and attach as you described. That will ensure the curve stays as you arranged. Put it on a waster slab with some silica sand beneath it so it can slide a bit while shrinking in the firing. It IS a cute monkey! Good luck!

Could it be that the artist was referring to separate firings for underglaze and glaze?

I agree that stacks of test tiles can get fiddly and overwhelming but tests are so useful! I’ve made simple reference pots for my stain tests using bisque, straight-sided mugs, cups or bowls of the preferred clay, one for each base glaze, and as many small deli cups as you have stains to test. Dip the pot almost halfway into the glaze and let dry. Mix 1/8 tsp of stain into 1T of base glaze in each carefully marked deli cup and stir up, add a little water to make it brushable, if needed. Paint 1/2” wide vertical stripes of each color from top to bottom, over the dipped glaze and over the bare clay. Dip the bare end of the pot almost halfway into the base glaze, covering the stripes, and let dry. There will be a space between dips to show you what the stain in a bit of base looks like on bare clay - handy for white clays. After the firing, use a sharpie to label the stain stripes with the stain numbers. Make notes if you want to try different proportions in a future test. I use these little deli cups to decorate from, mixing more as needed (stains are expensive!) and letting them dry up between uses, adding water by drops to rehydrate. NOTE: be sure you make note on the pot of which end is Glaze Over and which is Glaze Under. It won’t always be obvious

Think about mounting the motor outside of the booth to avoid these issues.

Rub ink into the crackles and say, “I meant to do that”?

Oil might help your foot pedal and governor to work smoothly, but not advisable to have it on surfaces that come into contact with your clay. #0000 Steel wool should smooth out the wheelhead surface. Lubricate with a little water while rubbing out irregularities, rinse well.