[QotW: Either generally or specifically, what do you think, feel, and/or do when confronted with moderate to serious/severe limitations of some aspect of health that alters how you work in clay?]

This is a very important question, and I am glad to see it posted..

I am in my sixties, but as I am fairly new to clay, I don't have repetitive use injuries from the practice.  I also don't generate any sort of volume.

When I took a wheel class for the first time one year ago, I realized I needed to throw standing.  Right now that is how I am accommodating where I am physically.

I also don't work for more than a couple of hours at a stretch.

[Qotw: Participants Question Pool For Future Qotw's]

Forgive me in advance if this has been asked before.  I have over the years seen a variety of visuals online that display for a collection of eminent creative people- writers, artists, and so forth- how they spend their days, typically. The interesting thing in these is the variety in the time of day people spend at their creative work, some starting in the morning and ending at 4, say, others starting at 4 and going into the night, some working at a stretch and others doing a couple of shifts, and so forth. There is also variety in how they spend the times they are not working. Some have a habit, like a walk. The choreographer Twla Tharpe, I believe, takes a cab to the gym every morning for a couple of hour workout. Some people have time specifically dedicated to reading (most of the writers do) or to family/spouse time.

So there is my question. Recognizing that some days are obviously different from others, and some here have studios that are available only in warmer weather or not in really hot weather, what is the typical day, hour block by hour block, during a time of year you are at your ceramic work?

[QotW: Do you use cloth towels, paper towels or other when in the shop to dry your hands, and clean things off?]

I learned the habit of first getting most of the clay off my hands in a water bucket. I then use hand towels.

For surfaces I use big sponges.

[What’s on your workbench?]

Pres, are those beautifully shaped teapots full sized or small? Are they a commission from a bee enthusiast?

[QotW: When/How do you decide to take the next big jump, and change things around about your work?]

I am too new to clay to think in terms of big shifts.  I am still figuring out things I can do that are satisfying as a first step, in terms of the clay, the shape, and the types of glazes.

In my first class about two years ago the teacher asked which clay we wanted for the session and I chose a dark brown, not realizing it was very coarse on the hands and that none of the glazes in the studio would show up on it. They were all dipping glazes.

I decided then to try doing hand-building at home and thought I would try to be as spare as possible in terms of what I needed to buy and store, particularly of glazes since I don't have room for lots of glaze buckets. So I bought some porcelain and thought I would use that and underglaze and then just have one glaze-clear. It was all about simplicity and economy.

Then two things happened.  I signed up a year ago for my first wheel class in which we worked in red clay or in a blend of red and porcelain recycle. It felt wonderful on the hands and looked beautiful glazed and fired. At the same at home I discovered the Potters Choice line of glazes that are simple to use and store and not that expensive if one isn't making large numbers of pieces.

I cannot see myself ever mixing my own glazes, as I am just too messy for it to be a safe process. 

I still use the porcelain when I am making a plate for a friend with a painting of her dog lying in front of her houseboat, but otherwise I am focused on the red clay and am trying to build my skills and settle on the glaze combinations I prefer.

I know what my goal is, but my throwing skills have a long way to go.  Until I get there, the question of the next goal is moot.

I have no commercial interest, so market issues do not have a role.

[QotW: What do your hands look like?]

I have child-sized hands with proportions like Lee's in the sense of a square palm and not very long (okay, in my case short) fingers.

I have been finger-printed many times because I have worked for both the federal government and the city and have worked in public schools, all of which require them. I am very difficult to finger print. In fact I think I have always had to go back a second time after they decide the prints are not good enough.

[QotW: How do you organize your work schedule?]

I am, of course, purely a hobbyist in clay, but I can share how I organize the primary work I do.

I use two systems simultaneously, a desk calendar and a white board that is probably 6' across. I use nothing digital.

The desk calendar is for planning tasks and dates associated with teaching. Everything is placed there by when I intend to do it, but I don't stick to that schedule religiously. I am usually ahead of plan.  These might be notations like "Write and send in syllabus to the U" or "Prepare class notes for session 1", or put together class assignment for Day 3"... I don't write in things that are completely routine, like copying the day's materials the day before or things like that.

The white board has sections for each project/effort in which I am engaged. That will have a sequence of things that need to get done for each project, like a timeline, and if there are actually necessary completion dates, when I plan to do them. So there might be 6 different timelines on different parts of the board, with dates written in.

[What’s on your workbench?]

I'm immersed now in my summer teaching intensive at the state university, so little will happen clay-wise until August.

I have destined for the kiln today a little creamer for my sister, a small snack bowl, a  hand-built heavy rice bowl in a squared shape with impressions of birds from a wood roller, and a porcelain plate that will eventually have painted in underglaze a friend's Newfkom (cross between Newfoundland and Komodor) in front of the tiny houseboat to which they have just moved..

 

 

[QotW: Have you ever made a clay toy?]

I am stuck a little on what counts as a toy.  Is a clay bulldog or clay hippo a toy? I have made those.

Another project that has long  interested me that I have not yet executed is "not paper dolls." Anyone who played with paper dolls knows how flimsy they are. One could make a flat clay figure directly for dressing. Alternatively, I have some glass bottles in my basement to be embellished as "outfits" and plan eventually to make actual character heads on dowels to change up among them.

Again not quite a toy, but do you know those zen gardens that typically consist of a pan of sand, a little rake, and a bunch of pebbles.? I have seen those with textured clay balls in place of pebbles. How does one finish a ball all over that doesn't disturb a kiln shelf, please?

For that matter, any game played with tokens could be made up with clay tokens- checkers, a game where one moves tokens forward, tic tac toe... 

I have long ago try to make a top out of clay. Most Jewish kids have tried that, probaly, inspired by the song:" I had a little dreidl, I made it out of clay..."

[QotW: Do you collect pottery and ceramics?]

Anything I have that is special, whether something I have collected or something left from my parents or my husband's parents or anything of sentimental value, I have entered on a spreadsheet with a physical description in one column and an explanation of why it matters in the other. Some things are entered in groups, like "Lithuanian houses," or  "Mama-made paintings."

I did not always do this, but we went through this when we updated our will.

[QotW: Do you collect pottery and ceramics?]

I purchase or am given ceramics now and then as well. 

When my children were young we attended an annual holiday arts and crafts fair where my husband and kids had a maybe ten year ritual of heading off to a booth that offered Lithuanian clay houses to choose a holiday gift for Mama. These houses were intended to enclose a candle or perhaps incense as part of a Christmas display, though the houses did not say Christmas in any way otherwise. Each year I would open a couple of parcels that would show me the houses the kids chose for me that year. I love them and have them out all year round.

My sister in law for many years lived in Asheville SC and often sent pottery to someone in my family as a holiday gift, before shipping got so absurdly expensive. For many years too people often sent me clay pigs of the sort that have long been popular in Mexico and South America, either round and brown with three legs or with flowers painted on their sides.

In the last decade or so I have purchased ceramic sculpture for myself on some occasions I wanted to commemorate, like my 60th birthday or a memorial.  I have several pieces by one artist and one by another whose work I saw at a local Summer arts fair where neither shows anymore, but I have their cards.

[QotW: What are the rituals you follow when the creative juices dry up, or the joys of making pottery becomes tedious because of deadline demands?]

I think that the best thing to do when a person is out of good ideas, the creative block part of the question, is to do something off of ones normal beaten path, or even on ones beaten path but with an uncommon style of attention.

Off the beaten path could be visiting a new place, reading a new book, or attending an event one would ordinarily never pursue. How could one not get some ideas from that? Revisiting ones beaten path might be to walk that same familiar route one takes each morning but to be deliberate in paying close attention to things you wouldn't necessarily look at.

I actually wouldn't wait for feeling creatively inert to adopt this kind of practice. If it is a regular practice, it has preventative potential.

The author Julia Cameron, who also wrote a popular book for writers called The Artist's Way, calls the regular habit of such "excursions" Artists dates, an appointment with oneself to do something new and interesting that isn't art.

There is a guy named Todd Henry who consults with creative businesses, like design firms, who encourages specifically what he calls "unnecessary creating." He encourages people to build into each week a period of goofing around with a creative medium not their own.  So a writer might draw or a painter might write a haiku or a potter might sing. The point is to choose something different so that there is no performance pressure in it and so that one is effectively using different physical and mental channels.

Einstein used to pick up a violin. Richard Feynman played bongo drums and painted. In neither case were these simply pastimes. having more of an instrumental function.

 

[QotW: Where does one draw the line between deciding what is a second and what is OK to represent your name?]

In your question I see two lines, the line between first and second and between second and toss.

There are some standards I think should be relevant to anyone making pottery for sale. For example, if it doesn't work for its intended function or work safely for that function, or if you know it will not be as robust in use as your items typically are (like the interior crack situation you describe), it is tossed (or repurposed as shards for mosaic or something) rather than sold as a second. 

The line between first and second needs to vary by person.  One potter's best ever pot might be a complete embarrassment to a highly, highly proficient potter.   These two will be selling their work at very different price points to account for the great difference in quality. 

That very high quality potter should not even sell as a second something that looks like the work of a far less proficient one.

But the less technically developed potter shouldn't be embarrassed to sell pots that represent his best work in the moment just because he hopes at some point to be, and be considered, highly skilled.  It is very important that pottery is accessible to people across a range of price points, and that purpose is best met when different potters work in different niches.

 

[What’s on your workbench?]

Pres, the wedding jar is just gorgeous.

[Qotw: Participants Question Pool For Future Qotw's]

11 hours ago, LeeU said:

I have lost track & gotten confused. I know this thread is just for possible future questions-various suggestions, not to be answered here. But where are the actual QotW/answers located? I never can find them again after the first appearance. Are they in a specific forum or do they float around?  I used the Search feature but it did not come up. Thx.

I don't know whether this is what you are asking,  but if you look just below the title for this thread, also in this ICAN forum, you will see all the past week's questions and answers.

[QotW: Why?]

The tactile aspect is huge, the feeling of creating the three dimensional object in space so directly. This is why it matters to me also which clay I use.

There is something too of raising the object on the wheel from a lump to a functional form with a combination of use of hands and the spin of the wheel that evokes life bursting forth from the Earth, like a seedling breaking ground and pushing upward with nurturing, regardless of the outside climate.

For me the process is not automatic, so I also enjoy the concentration it entails.

[QotW: Do you have favorite shapes or forms in your work?]

While I am new to making pottery, having first sat at a wheel only one year ago, I have had decades to notice that I am drawn to particular shapes of things much more than to others.  For example at a craft exhibition, you would not see me standing long before bud vases or anything tall and thin.

I am looking as I write at a sheet I got off the internet of the 23 classic shapes of tea bowls, which is what I am mostly doing at present. Broadly speaking they are of two types with specific function in mind. The winter shapes have a smaller opening relative to volume than the spring shapes, because the smaller surface area of liquid keeps the beverage hot longer. But function aside, I find that I prefer the winter shapes for their steeper sides, say those with an angle relative to the horizontal of 60 to 90 degrees. And I like proportions that are somewhere between square/round and golden ratio.  As I have written elsewhere, I am more inclined to the rhino or hippo than to the giraffe or the gazelle.

The "wooden bowl shape" on my sheet is close to a half sphere. The Goki type looks similar but with more jowl at the bottom. The half cylinder is what it sounds like and wider than it is tall. There are waisted types of these which differ only by being brought in slightly at the middle. I like all these shapes more than I like the shapes with the ever widening mouths, curved or straight lip, like the summer bowls.

I prefer a sturdy look to a delicate look and usually texture over smooth.

 

[QotW: Do you make feminine, masculine or gender neutral work and is it a conscious decision?]

I'll take a stab at this, Lee.  The things that make the second maybe more appealing to a woman than a man might be: 1) A flat rather than bowl-like shape makes a collection of rings, pins, and earrings less likely to end up in a tangled heap at the bottom. No one cares if keys and coins end up in a heap. 2) The lacy-type appearance of the decoration of the second might be more a woman's choice than a man's.

Looking at colors,  my first thought was of my dropping my son off at college and realizing it was way, way hotter than I had expected. I asked him whether he thought I should pick him up a few cooler t-shirts at Target before I left him off. He said yes but added, "Mommy, please get neutral colors. Boys my age will be wearing mostly neutral colors."

Having written this, I called my husband over to ask which he liked better and why. He said he liked the top better. He said he didn't like the "bumpy fence-type thing "on the bottom one, while the top one looks "rustically elegant."
 

[QotW: Do you make feminine, masculine or gender neutral work and is it a conscious decision?]

This is an intriguing question that I too find difficult to answer.  As I do not sell work, I am guided only by my taste and don't think in terms of masculine or feminine or what might have broad or targeted appeal. I am female.

I like simple forms that are not delicate and definitely not tall and thin.  Some of what I do is, in fact, fairly squat. (My favorite dog is the English Bull).

But then, I have made pieces in which I have carved in an image of a specific female orangutan about to have a birthday and will soon do a sturdy mug for a friend with either a carved in or painted version of her Newfie-mix.  Is that feminine work then?

 

[Qotw: Participants Question Pool For Future Qotw's]

Here are two possibilities, though they may have been addressed here before:

1. Do you have favorite shapes or forms now in your work? If you do, how have these favorites changed over time? (What made me think of this was the current discussion of throwing huge planter pots, because I can see that is of great interest to some and of no interest to me- neither the very, very large nor the very small and light).

2. Do you keep a sketchbook in support of your work? If so, what is your practice- how do you use it?

[QotW: Do you have an environmental companion in your studio while you work?]

Until about ten years ago, I usually played oldies as background to almost anything I was doing- work, leisure reading, driving, anything. 

Then I got a bulldog puppy who, when she napped, snored like a 300 pound guy.  Bullies sleep a lot, and one can hear it throughout the house. It was a beautiful sound. I used to say she was the Pavarotti of snoring. She was beautiful to look at also.

Since she died, I don't play music as background to anything other than driving. I prefer listening to the sounds of my old house, the street noise, the birds, and even the planes I can hear from inside.  My neighborhood is really quiet even though the homes aren't very far apart, so it is centering to hear the same sounds that have surrounded me these 30 plus years in this house.

[QotW:Where do you obtain ceramics related information for insights]

As a beginner, I have taken classes to get started and also use books as very central resources. Right now I am reading two, one about throwing and another about techniques in Japanese ceramics.

While I do watch youtubes some, I have found taking a class live to be a much more effective way to learn to throw, as the teacher could, for example, watch me to tell me what flaws she noticed in what I was doing.

I read articles on this site and read the various threads and lurked for almost two years before making my first post.

I do ask questions of potters and other artists I see at art fairs, study pots I see through glass at the museum, and buy some pottery in order to examine it closely and frequently.

[What’s on your workbench?]

Winter tea bowls in red clay, part of a series I call "Wild Heart." They will all have a red accent somewhere on the bowl.

 I have hand-built some using a simple template that gives them a squared shape at the base above the foot ring, and I threw a couple this morning.

But it is too cold, really, to go very long at all. Today I threw wearing a thermal shirt, thermal pants, and a down vest.