dAO

You guys are GREAT! Thank you so much

Hi Collective Minds. I am a new-ish hobby handbuilder. If I waited to fire my work (both bisque and glazed) until my electric kiln was full, I'd only see finished pieces about once a year : ) What do I need to know about firing a few pieces at a time in a mostly empty or perhaps half full kiln? Thank you for any insights and tips

Thank you all for the responses. At least I now know that it's not just me. @oldlady, I will try the water and stains idea. [ @clay lover I fire to ^04.]

I have tried using underglazes and wiping them off to enhance textures on both bisqued and non-bisqued pieces. When I try to "wipe them off," a lot of color has already soaked into the raised areas of clay; or if I try being more precise about where I put the underglaze and then wipe it off, it still spreads onto and stains the other areas as I wipe. When I see pics of others' work in progress, it appears that their pieces have been wiped clean except for the textures. Do I just live with this or am I missing something in technique. Thanks for any help

In a Facebook group that I belong to, Joseph Painted Bear (https://m.facebook.com/JosephClark.PaintedBearKenyon?fref=nf) posted this video about using pinstriping brushes for fine lines: https://youtu.be/9GWnRnV_lEY

@Rae Reich , Just to clarify RE "$15 for 6 9"x9" sheets seems expensive" That's $15 for 6 PACKS of 10 sheets each.

lousy pic but I you can get the idea

Update for anyone following: I've been trying these various suggestions with some amount of success. What I'm happiest with so far (like....really happy) is the Minnesota Clay Graffito paper. It's a much fast method than anything I've tried to date: as fast as simply tracing a design and it's a really clean, solid and smooth line, completely variable in width depending on what type of tool I use. At first, I was having trouble with it sliding around a bit, but I found that completely taping it down and just scribing over the tape works really well.

I'm self-taught and a relative newbie. I am so confused about glaze & bisque firing in terms of venting, peep holes, and/or cracking the lid. I have an electric kiln with digital controller and it's outside so I have no extra ventilating system. My Evenheat kiln has one small hole in the top that does not have a plug (always open) and one side peephole with a plug. 1)when bisque firing, does the lid need to be cracked and/or the peephole open for any part of the firing? 2)when glaze firing, same questions? Thank you for any insights.

Thank you, @dhPotter!!!!!! That's exactly what I was looking for

I remember reading something about pricing that really caught my attention but I've lost track of it. I THINK it was posted somewhere in this forum but can't track it down. It talked about how certain numbers seem to garner more buyers than other numbers - like maybe odd numbers over even or something like that? I think it also talked about how the cents in the price affected potential buyers (like $.99 or $.49 or again, something like that). Does this ring any bells? Thank you for any help.

This whole conversation is why I so love and value this forum! Always good to know that I have company in my dilemmas and the suggestions typically hit the mark. Thank you @GEP and @S. Dean for @triolazfor the help, and the rest of you for making me laugh and also feel like I'm not all alone out here

I will definitely explore this. It's completely in line with what I have in mind. Thank you

Great tip. I will check these out. Thank you

Thank you, Neil. This is a great suggestion and I have thought about it. Maybe with some - a lot - of practice. I have a huge issue with visualization [!!} and I can't mentally work through the layers thing, especially as I want to use two to three different colors at a time. : ) But, definitely a technique I want to try in my spare time haha