Rae Reich

This:
 

My process started with and continues with research. You would have to accept clay formulation as an art, to understand my passion for it. I see the chemical manipulation of a clay body ranking up there with the most expressive thrown or molded form. I have been working on a plasticity calculator for awhile now; having sent out test bodies for review. I have been testing bodies that specifically react to salt and wood firings. Then again, I also believe that clay is as much relative to the design and function of a piece; as any forming technique or glaze. My process most would find boring and mundane, but the results are gratifying. Galleries and museums would be empty if someone did not take the time to formulate the paint.
T

I tend to work thru a new item by making some 1st and using them. Next batch I improve them and so on-usually I get to what I think is the best  in term of functionality and weight and form and function by the 3rd go round.Then I make many hundreds in my line. I can change the form over time like my tumblers which used to flare at the lip more 10 years ago now they are almost straight -just a little for your lip.
I have added a few forms over the years if I'm asked a hundred  times about it. Thats how I came back to making french butterdishes (butterballs for some)
I was doing southwest desert shows and got asked for a decade about them before caving and offering them.I did make them in the 90os but they had yet to catch on then so I stopped .
I tend to standardize forms with the same metric measurements so lids will always fit bottoms if I need more-I have done this since the early 80s before that every lid was a different size to fit that particular bottom.I was green  out of school and it was learned skill that made life easier but requires some discipline .
I also from the start weighed all clay to have standard forms-I can do this without a scaling all the pieces but cutting the pug in so many pieces. It saves lots of time as well.
The trick is cutting one handle off your cut off wire and you can drag it thru the pug on end and pull the wire out at bottom of cut.Its the little tricks really that save energy and time. also no need to make clay balls the wheel will round them out in a second unless the clay is over about 6#s then a ball shape will aide you.
In terms of exact forms like Pres. said above -on a batter bowl or what I call a whip bowl. I make mine with extra thick beefy handle and a pour spout and sell them with wire whips included. I have yet to break a  handle on one.
I make a handled whip pitcher with sprout that has a small handle on side that holds the  small whip-cute as a bug but its my least favorite form due to the fragile side handle. I was recruited to make them buy a gallery in Mendocino and they sold very well for 18 years until the closed two years ago. I have about 50 more whips and when they run out I'm done making them as I know folks break off the side handles.
I tend to like strong forms that last. I make thousands of sponge holders and they are a bit fragile but I know they work very well(we use two ourselves )
I do not like them to thick even though they would last longer and hold up to falls better.Its form weight function trade off.My sponge bottom keeps then from moving on counters.

Gabby recently asked in the QotW pool: How does your process involve object design before the fact, whether planning a new design simply for the novelty of it or creating innovative designs that provide solutions to practical issues or uncommonly met needs?
If I am understanding the question correctly, Gabby is asking how as potters we design, modify or redesign objects for decoration or use. As a mostly functional potter, the design of a functional form is something that is foremost in my mind. I am always looking at something like a batter bowl, or a honey jar with the thought of improving the design for either something more aesthetically or functionally pleasing. Many of my ideas come from careful observation, sketches, and actual improvisation while working.
I have often liked the functionality of batter bowl, but always wondered about handles. . .to have them or not, whether vertical or horizontal, and how to integrate them pleasingly into the form and still have the form stack-able. Over the years I have created several different versions, used them and discarded the idea for one reason or another until I got to my latest design a few years ago using a flared rim that rolled opposite the spout into the outer form, with a strap handle.  From the top the form is heart shaped, and it stacks well, and is functional with the handle on top. Pics on my blog site.
Honey jars are something else that I thought could be improved. First off, the hole for the swizzle stick was an opening for bugs. . . what bug does not like honey! At the same time, we were always losing the stick. So I started creating forms attached under the lid to fit into the honey. The first of these were like handle forms with an inverted edge as a cup. Didn't hold much honey. Of late I have been doing them with a hollow knob with a notch cut out for a spoon with a drizzle hole in the back. Pics in older posts and on blog site
I believe that most functional potters tend to think of functionality, and want to improve their forms for either function or aesthetics. Sometimes it is just a matter of standing out against a crowd, but mostly about progressive improvement.
 
best,
Pres

"Having grown up on the mean streets of NYC, I had never seen a potter's wheel, never touched clay" until I was 43 for seeing a potter's wheel and about 61 for the clay touching. I am seriously surprised that literally most of the people that I talk to, when they hear that I'm a potter, tell me that they took a ceramics class in high school, including many of you. I guess it's a West Coast thing...
I've never been asked about or heard a comment about "Ghost". I guess I just associate with a different group of people or I just haven't been doing this long enough to get the winks and nods that a few of you have. I didn't realize that this would set off such a firestorm of comments. It's been a fun ride...
For those who are interested and haven't seen the clip you can go to YouTube, search: Ghost pottery scene Hold Me Close. You're supposed to focus on the clay...
JohnnyK
 
 

After reading through the responses for the second time I noticed a trend: " when I touched" or " felt the clay" I was hooked. Sensory beings that we are. 
Knowing what I know now about clay- my response to the Ghost throwing scene:   Ease up on the water lady, it's going to slump.
Tom

I had very long hair until the early 80s-Being raised in turbulent times(60's)We set out to change the world-my part is with clay.I have had a beard since 18-only have shaved twice in my life.Not much of a hippy since 81-more a worker bee-my midwestern parents work drive kicked in as I grew up.
My Long Beach years where 53-71 minus almost one year in Nashua New Hampshire when I was 15 (ran away with a girl-long story but I have a New Hampshire soc security number from my 1st job working for 6 months in a cemetery .Brutal outside labor job from frozen to beyond  humid.That climate is like a rath much of the year.
 

In JC I was immediately drawn to the feel of the clay, the tactile 'quality', and the process. I liked how I could manipulate clay into a 3D 'something'.
The relative immediacy made the effort rewarding in itself. Having endured painting and drawing, clay was actual fun.
I still feel the same way to this day.
Having said that, I was later drawn to glassblowing like a moth to...talk about immediacy!

As far as magic, I really believe there is some magic in the clay, every time I unload a glaze load, or make a pull.
 
 
best,
Pres

Hi Tom, sure.....
^10 - flashing slips - soda - front / back

 

Rae
I see the drug ads with pottery as a hobby thats mainstream these days.I'm going to pass on any comment as I was taught to be quiet if you had nothing nice to say.I do not believe in magic so that must be it.
I was introduced to clay in high school-well sort of. Back in my day we had a dress code and it was not to have long hair or sideburns extended. Well that did not fly with me so I spent lots of time in the deans office in late 11th grade discussing hair length and side burns-Thinking back on this its just insane. sort story now- My mother was in the teaching system and suggested I check out the continuation school taught at the Business and technology  junior collage campus-I did and I finished high school early there(my 12th grade) as you could work as much as you wanted. Here they had a small clay studio that was used during the day sessions when I was there. Since I was not a troubled discipline problem (b average all thru school)I could work in there with a friend.
Hence I was exposed to clay then. My friend suggested we take some private night  lessons taught by a potter in nearby Seal Beach at the same time so we did.My family was mostly all teachers and art was a common theme in our home.Before graduating I was taking flying lessons and stopped after soloing and spent my savings on a wheel and was throwing at home. I moved to the Northern part of the state (from Long Beach)to go to Junior collage  to study forestry and art then on to Humboldt state to finish my art degree. I landed at the JC in the right time as they where building kilns as it was new school. I knew how to throw and learned kiln building-went on the HSU and learned glaze making and ALL other aspects of ceramics from recent Alfred graduates who where all new hires and very much on fire to teach what they learned from the greats.I was at the right places at the right times it turned out. Went full time in 1976 the year of graduating from there. I never left my area of education (still a sleepy spot in this busy state)I bought some property in 73 and started building kilns while in school-still here 45 years later.
I caught the clay bug without realizing it-never viewed this as a job or thought of it as work or a living until late 30s.
I went thru some very tough $ years first 10 years then it slowly took off. The rest is history.
 
Looking back you could say growing long hair and side burns got me into clay.
PS: they dropped the dress code two years after I graduated .
 

I've never seen ghost but have to hear about it all the time.  Wish there was a newer movie that had pottery in it so I could stop hearing the same wise cracks all the time.  All I'm asking for is a little variety

100% agree, it gets downright creepy sometimes. No, I don't want to be checked out after telling someone what I do for a living and they make the Ghost comment. Creepy creepy creepy!!!!!

Yeah most don't even realize that big vase is thrown off of the hump!
best,
Pres

The pottery scene from "Ghost"...I was fascinated by what she was doing with the clay on the tall vase, and when it collapsed, the total sensuousness of handling the wet clay... At that point I said to my wife, "Someday I'm going to do that" That was 28 years ago. I was 43,  Having grown up on the mean streets of NYC, I had never seen a potter's wheel, never touched clay. Then about 10 years ago, I was remodeling a bathroom for an 87 year old ceramist. She was still holding classes and teach 4H kids how to pour, fire and finish molded pieces. We got to talking about ceramics and she showed me the first mug she had ever made more than 50 years prior.  As we continued the conversations over the week that I had worked for her, she encouraged me to take a Learning Exchange class at our local ceramics supplier, Alpha Fired Arts in Sacramento. She also gave me an, old, tired kiln (she had another newer kiln) that she wanted to get out of her workspace.
I took that class and got hooked. Since then I've taken Ceramics 1, 2, and Raku classes at a local JC, was given my CI wheel by a friend who found it in a barn on a piece of property he just bought; Bought a newer used ^10 kiln which will never see ^10; sold the old kiln; remodeled a studio apartment I own into my own studio and have finally been making a little money to support my habit. 
I would say that what interested me most about ceramics is the malleability of clay and the myriad forms it can be shaped into. The possibilities are endless and I feel that I am just starting my journey...
JohnnyK

So @Min- I have been waiting 8 months to see the final product. Piece caught my eye when you posted it. Final pics? 

Finally, after several weeks of looking wistfully at my worktable (while attending to  study unrelated to ceramics), I got back down to the studio.
What is sitting on my worktable is a large elliptical cylinder about the dimensions of an office wastebasket. Red stoneware, as usual.
I have the basic features painted on it in underglaze but still haven't decided on the detail, whether to go entirely with thin black line work or to have something more going on.
Independently, I opened my newest Ceramics Monthly today and find the articles very intriguing. I am so glad to subscribe.

Will do, first step is saving up for the electrician.  Luckily there will be less than a foot of wire to run, the kiln is just on the other side of the wall from my circuit breaker.  After all is said and done will be nice not to blow 15 bucks in propane every time I bisque.

Picked up a used kiln yesterday.  Crucible 234, inside dimensions 23x18.  It's a cone 10 electric with 3 inch brick.  It needs new elements and two of the grooved bricks have chipped but overall good condition!  The person I bought it from only fired to cone 06, so that's nice. The elements are functional but bulged in the bottom ring, might as well replace them if I'm going to have to pin them anyway, right?
Next step is getting the 50amp outlet installed outside, get a few bisques in, and then try making this raspberry pi controller.  Not a bad kiln for 75 dollars I think.  Anyone know a cheap electrician? Haha
 
I made some divided plates last week and my wife likes them so I'll make some more this week.

Here's that last load that came out last week.This is the kiln load in above post
It was a loose load -what I call a year end clean up fire.
Now its a everyday selling pots  at my pottery booth and dropping pots off at my 9 outlets in this county. Xmas is go time in my world.
The 25th is time to put my feet up. Then its stock up the outlets for the slow winter months.
 
 

It took me till the last year of high school to decide that I was going to be a physiotherapist, because that was the thing that I thought could stand enough, and also seemed to have enough of a degree behind it to make my folks happy. But I needed to go back to school to get extra science classes to do it. So I took a 4th year of high school despite the fact that I already had more than enough credits to graduate with.  Not relishing the idea of a steady diet of science classes for a year, I decided to take art as stress relief as well, because I’d already worked my way through Drama and as much Band as I wanted. 
The art classes were “structured” so that grades 10-12 were all in the same room at the same time. The first day, we were shown where all the truly amazing variety of a supplies were, told that x number of projects were due by xx date, and shown the binder of projects we could choose from. The stereo was in the corner (no playing Korn or Lorena Mackennet), and told that certain older students were resources for specific areas, because they were good with those materials. The teacher Mrs Watrin was available for all kinds of assistance, and brought in local artists occasionally to give demos and talks.  
I hadn’t taken art as an option before because I was no good at drawing, and I thought that’s all Art was (heh). There was a potters wheel in the art room, and lots of clay, and the glazes were mixed by the resource students from recipes in a binder. I tried making a few sculptures that were pretty fun. I found a recipe for “thixotropic clay” that behaved a bit like that cornstarch goop that solidifies when it’s held still and is liquid while in motion, and I loved the science behind it. I tried the potters wheel, and even though I sucked, I felt like I found something that made sense to me. We did raku firings, and that was pretty much it. There was no going back after that. I wound up dropping the last physics courses and taking the last 2 art options instead so I could make more clay things, and applied to ACAD instead of the U of A. I still needed the degree for the parents. 

I made a squirrel and a spoonholder sometime before 3rd grade. Then, in my twenties, returning to JC, I watched George Geyer on our first day throw a classical Greek vase about 18" tall with grace and economy of motion on a Lockerbee kickwheel in a trice (a technical term meaning I was too bewitched to keep track of time).
Still bewitched.
I saw that vase's archetype about 12 years later in the Athens Museum - breathtaking, and even taller. 

I made a squirrel and a spoonholder sometime before 3rd grade. Then, in my twenties, returning to JC, I watched George Geyer on our first day throw a classical Greek vase about 18" tall with grace and economy of motion on a Lockerbee kickwheel in a trice (a technical term meaning I was too bewitched to keep track of time).
Still bewitched.
I saw that vase's archetype about 12 years later in the Athens Museum - breathtaking, and even taller. 

I made a squirrel and a spoonholder sometime before 3rd grade. Then, in my twenties, returning to JC, I watched George Geyer on our first day throw a classical Greek vase about 18" tall with grace and economy of motion on a Lockerbee kickwheel in a trice (a technical term meaning I was too bewitched to keep track of time).
Still bewitched.
I saw that vase's archetype about 12 years later in the Athens Museum - breathtaking, and even taller. 

My neighbour was an artist and I used to sit for hours watching him paint on weekend mornings. That was a pretty young age for me - likely 8 or 9.  He was also a sculptor. I remember trying to make things similar to his work with our back yard mud - wonder if he noticed?
The school system I was in (public) invested  in art education. We were always on field trips across the river to the Detroit Institute of Arts or Cranbrook or on a train up to Stratford or something! Most people have no idea what a great area & incubator for art the Detroit area was - thank God they saved the DIA when Detroit went bust. A visit to a dorm in Berkeley brought a lot of early childhood memories back to me as they had a big Diego Rivera mural on the wall  and I hadn't thought about those days in a long time.  Good teachers and good administrators brought those events to fruition for kids in those days. Another art gallery next to our high school had a Rodin exhibit( one of many good shows)  while I was there. My daughter tells me we lived in a bubble- both economically and for education - likely c/o the auto industry , so that a middle class lifestyle was able to take in all of these things. (Some of the other memorable field trips included a trip to the River Rouge plant, with a cat-walk over the glass sheets on a roller -red hot! Don't think that would get by the lawyers now days :)) 
Didn't actually take ceramics until high school and I loved it materially & aesthetically.  I think the early age art exposure was important to appreciate the forms that could be made and I still look at articles & books from that era for inspiration .