Rae Reich

And how about that pot that throws itself??? Also, the apparent drips of throwing slip that weren't obsessively cleaned off made nice surface interest.

Thanks for finding the YouTube, @Magnolia Mud Research. And thanks to @Chilly for the delightful look into the past. @liambesaw, the potter at 25min demonstrates what I was trying to describe about leaving the rim thick - 100 yrs ago! Watching the pots being made, I recognized the turned-up rim as a basket, but the turned-down rim was a puzzler. Until the final shot - an object of almost zero relevance for Americans today, except maybe Roger Stone! I want to be a pottery archeologist in my next life!

@Slipperman, to get back to your question, my fellow potters have some built-in resistance to production slipware, but I think there still may be a limited market, if the molds are old enough (stuff that people's grandmas had) or standardized dinnerware forms, or dragons. I noticed last Christmas that nostalgia for all the slipcast stuff we usually mock - Christmas trees, Santas, nativities - was resurging in social media. So, older holiday-related forms could still be viable, in season. I'm 70, so older, for me, is 40's and 50's, but millennials probably think older is the 70's - 90's. Standard dinnerware forms are still fairly useful. Dragon aficionados never die. As far as the short lifespan of plaster molds, if you find forms that you want to produce a lot of, cast a perfect one in porcelain then make a silicone mold .

The technique I described is intended to get the height you want without the extra compensation for wobble that occurs when raising a wall with a thin, weak rim. Not suggesting that you form the fat rim first, just leave the top of the wall with the same or a little more thickness as the wall with each pass, and compressed. After you've got your height, you can shape any style of rim you want.

@Gabby, she could change it to Bacon Dress and have fun glazing different costumes!

@LeeU. Nice piggy! I've taken many to-be- bisqued molds. For areas that don't impress as well as others, I work from the back. My favorite "roller" is a 2" blue sports ball (handball?). A little practice with gentle pressure, not moving the clay sideways, but firmly down, with straight or circular motions as it suits you. This fills in detail better than a cylindrical brayer. Of course, you could instead hand-carve more definition where you want it. What are you using for release?

Good job on similarities! How big will these end up? I appreciate your sharing as you're learning, especially since you made a clear, steady unfussy short useful video. Please make another to demonstrate the gobble-slowing feature! Suggestion: If you release outside pressure about 1/2" before the top on each of your raising passes, especially the first- see where it tapers sharply?- and lightly rest a finger on the rim as you finish each raise, you'll end up with a thicker rim that needs less adjustment.

@hitchmss, doesn't the copper remain in the glaze whether or not it reduces to red? I have refired improperly reduced disappointing not-reds and achieved red the second time without reapplication of glaze. I think you left the impression that the copper burns out - "so if you dont achieve reduction at the proper temp, you will burn off the copper needed to produce the red colors," when actually the firing went past the necessary reduction period without having been reduced, leaving the copper unchanged.

Nice video, @Hulk ! Dang, why did I never think of using a ladle to pour glaze inside vessels? It can hang out in the bucket, too, not like my dipping mug that accrues drippy rings on a nearby bench. Never too old to learn!

Always annoying to have great test tiles that don't match the finished pieces. Several variables, though, to account for the differences: Vertical vs horizontal surfaces, glaze application/thickness, location in the kiln, surrounding pieces I try to photograph new or experimental work while it's still in the kiln (much cheaper to do now than before digital) to be able to use those factors for puzzling out "What Happened??!?? Love your octopus

My old peanut butter crock rim is straight on the inside and beefy on the outside, leaving a nice fat break-resistant ledge for lifting. The lid design has a minimal knob, but the overhang is easily graspable. Its inside collar is also stubby and minimal, but that's a definite advantage as far as durability, the slight curve of the lid helps to center it on the crock. Its clear that these crocks were mass produced, their design streamlined for ease of production and all the needs of the user satisfied. They could have their lids fastened down by looping cord around the knob and below the rim. Plenty for the inventive potter to riff on...

So, it looks like it forms a glaze on the bigger blobs of the upper shelf and its plate. That wouldn't be plain copper or or carb. I put a penny (a real one) once, on a kiln shelf for a firing and it blackened and boiled and melted down into the shelf. Bad idea, I'm sure it's been done before. My point is that it seems more like a copper glaze. Is there any copper glaze in the studio?

A wire, when you have enough practice, will cut the cleanest on freshly thrown clay. Anything wider will have some drag. Making curved facets is probably best done on leather hard when you can use a wider, flexible band like the back of an old worn bandsaw or hacksaw blade.

Sounds like saving money on electrical installation will involve many complicated adjustments/expenses. Mark is right about locating kilns near an exterior wall. Check general wind direction too, that will factor into whether exhaust blows back into the house. Have you drawn a diagram of the area to think about all the possibilities? Making little to-scale cut-outs of your furniture and equipment to move around the diagram can inspire In the meantime, some outlets on the column will always be handy.

As I recall, waxed paper gets wet (!) and disintegrates/sticks/shreds. Haven't tried parchment, but it might do better. For thicker slabs to build stuff with, remember patterns cut from tar paper? The clay can be handled and manipulated (or kept flat) while it "adheres" to the tar paper. That might be a good solution for sandwiching slabs to dry slowly. Wouldn't stop cracks from sticking while drying, but might slow drying enough to preclude them. Dry cleaner bag strips could be used to fold around edges I like them because they don't retain creases that transfer.

Could be because of the change in thickness there. A stress-relief crack. More integrity when the wall thickness is consistent. Maybe re-design with a more shallow groove or with corresponding bump on exterior?

The effect you're emulating, trapping carbon from smoke, requires heat but not liquids. As you suggest, applying a liquid to a hot vessel adds another element to the equation. Did you wash off the surface immediately, or wipe off when it cooled? Did you wax or otherwise seal the ink into the cracks?

They could be sticking to the drywall as they shrink and dry. A sheet of newspaper above and below slabs will help. Or non-woven interfacing (Pellon). Don't (if you were) stack layers of drywall/clay/drywall/clay. Too much weight.

Wedge in ball clay and water.

My opinion: submit as you would like to be perceived.

Recognized your face, but hard to say your name. Must have missed that quote - care to enlighten us??

People buy things because they want to have them, for whatever "reasons." The perceived value can have many factors: quality, scarcity, beauty, relevance. Things that have been hyped up by un enduring values lose their appeal as those values inevitably change. There are many* potters whose work, functional and non, are collected for high prices. Some, like the Japanese National Treasures, can command large prices while they are still living. Generally, the more middlemen between the artists and the buyers, the higher the cost, but less of that revenue goes to the artists (or their heirs). *But still, quite a small number compared to other sculptural media and 2D.

I met someone who claimed her yellow-uranium-glazed pot was so radioactive it had to be displayed in a roped-off area.

Is it India ink, or some newfangled formulation which diffuses? Additional crackling indicates a poor glaze fit, that's where bisque and glaze temps factor in.

@JMWP, one has more cobalt than iron, the other more iron than cobalt. If it's not going black enough, more cobalt should help. And manganese @Callie Beller Diesel, wouldn't cobalt carb mix better without the grinding?