Mark C.
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Posts posted by Mark C.
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Some basic rules apply here-wood will burn out at bisques temps. No matter what . Air ii clay does not explode its the moisture in the clay blowing up.from going up to fast in temp. The cure is to dry it more and fire it slower. That will always fixs blowing up and most cracking issues.
glaze time sounds fun
nice looking work
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I also should mention my family back then was 4 kids and we all where incuraged in the arts at a young age. My mother was a high school teacher and a junior collage teacher, My older sister taught 3-5 grades for 35 years. My oldest brother was a proffesor of art at UCSB for 25 years teaching lithography . My suicide brother was a good artist and did some work in clay before his life ended. Clay got me at the right time. Never wanted to teach but I have done a little over the past 50 years all for free .Mainly I have cut my own path and lived the consequences . I would not have it any other way.
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I was exposed to clay as a 4-or 5 grader making pinch pots learning about Pueblo Indians . That exposure did nothing for me then. Still have that pot somewhere?
Later as a 17-18 year teenager I was exposed to clay in school and with a friend we decided to take private throwing lessons as well. The rest is history
I should add at that time life was about as far from centered as a bent hula hoop in many regards-just lost my brother from suicide and was taking flying lessons to get my glider pilots license -at that time you needed power plane license 1st. It was the late 60s and was experimenting with ---(need I say more?). Clay slowly took hold . I gave up after solo on the lessons deciding that a license would only be good to take friends on joy rides. I spent my money ona power wheel for home use and to take to collage with me. I never once had a thought about clay other than it slowly seducing me and creating a need to learn every aspect of it while having fun with it and making a few $s along the way. 5o years later I still am learning. I do think its in my DNA as it was also in one of my brothers (who took his own life at an early age)
It was a slow organic process for me. I never thought about as a job until later in my 40s.
I got the art degree ,but really its was all about ceramics for me whether or not I knew it or not. I was hooked like a drug-still am. It coffee and clay and ocean as they all have a grip on me these days
I will add the ocean also has had the same effect on me and I am most happy underwater since a small kid before clay.
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If they are clean flipping will be fine. Just wash the other side. They will slowly warp the other way now.
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Cress kilns of that vintage have some blue on the control boxes-they where in business in the 70s for sure
A photo would help-does this kiln have a infinite dial for turning up?
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I have a set of rules that apply to any contact-They always inculde pricing shipping pick up and how to pay and the like 1st off return email to weed out the tire kickersand shorten the back and forth.
The fish plate guy made it thru all that with flying colors
Photos are always 3 or 4 options down the line
I did a post years back on email pots taking an average of 7 contacts back and forth usually before the credit card call comes thru and its over..I could throw lots of pots in that time frame.
My business model that works very well is not depending on web/email sales. Thank my lucky stars on that.
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In the past 50 years I few with a small suitcase packed 100% with stilts/pots. The xray folks had a melt down as it was a solid. I few a brick in hand carry (due to weight limits on checked bags) back from New Zealand. Untold pots coming and going.
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As long as the original labels are on the jars I think you are fine. I would tape the lids down to be safe.and put them in a plastic bage for each as well
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I like the euclids two screw barrel type
see if they will work for you. I keep a stock of them when needed.
https://euclids.com/collections/connectors-lead-outs
One trick I have used when trying to reuse the element with a crimp connector on it is to grind off that connector with a small angle grinder so as not to shorten the pigtail on the element at all . If you go slow and then use some sharp electrical dikes it pretty easy to leave the elenment pig tail full length.
I have replaced all cramp connectors with the Euclid barrel type as they work so much better. If you need a small one (I see thay are out now-I can mail you one) Or I can measure to the screw and see if it will grab tor pig tail (1/4 inch you say) Let me know via a PM.
We are in a huge wind storm right now and the power is out (not for us - as we have a generator) Bomb wet cyclone is bearing down on us this am.Been wild with two large earthquakes (one on new years the other Dec 20th) and this is our second atmospheric river to hit us in a few days.I am slowing finding earthquake stuff (no real damage yet)
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Every Year I push hard at Xmas season all of November and the 24 days of Dec keeping the galleries and stores stocked and selling at my own booth full of wares as well. I stop sending any mail order out before thanksgiving. Then I pack it up and take at least 6 weeks off from Xmas day to mid to early Feb. Tax prep and tree pruning, clean studio etc.
The start of the new new sales year for me is Dec 26th really that’s when it can either stay sleepy or pick up with mail orders via email
Every year its different. I like the sleepy years-a Hundred-dollar minimum slowed orders a lot 2021 which was the idea.
They seem to always show a theme-from sleepy to busy and now this year-space cadets
So, this year I have had 4 emails asking about pottery in past week and only one follow thru
It’s what I call the new space cadets. I broke a fish plate can I get another as asap. Yes, I have some but you will have to come out to studio, ok no problem, so I send him a photo of 7 choices of what he wants-and 3 days later no response. Packed them up and moved on today. The next two where a bit like the 1st one. It’s the new world order of I want it but not really .
Wholesale is a bit more work but no space cadets. I'm starting to like the separation from the cadets
Today’s order is looking solid ,4 huge mugs to Ma. I do not want to count these chickens before they hatch
Wens update Mugs got paid for and shipped today of to MD
I hope this ends the space cadet run
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I put in 2 mini splits since 2019 -one in our kitchen dining room (12 foot ceilings) and one in the master bedroom. They are heat pumps with outside compressors on cement pads.They heat or cool. We have gotten hotter in summer and now use the cool funtion now and then as well as thge heat fuction in the winter.
These are mini splits are easy to install and am thinking about one in studio-they are pretty cheap as well. They are the most efficient heat and cooling there is so far.Mine are Mr Cool units both under 2k to by. The install is easy if you are handy
We also have a 98% efficient whole house natural gas heater (small heated closests as well) I upgraded units in 2015 from 82% to 98%
We also have a mini pellet stove in living room which we use a lot during winter (nov-april) A pallet of chips last 2-3 years
- Hulk, Bill Kielb and Pres
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I have never locked down a bat pin on any wheel in my 50 year career. I pull them up most of the time and put them in when needed. They stay put and uaually are hard to pull out after some time goes by. Wing nut as Kelly said if you want them locked up. As. Dick said the wing nuts can hit a splash pan. The stainless ones sound pretty nice. I keep a small bowl on shelve near wheel with a couple of types some are ground down a dat to fist tighter bats. I throw on clay pad 90% of time and use plaster bats so no pins are used. When I threw it all on bats I droped in the pins and never thought about wing nuts
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Laguna has a body that can do it as Kelly said above
I'm not sure of the cone range but 6 for sure-I think they have acone 10 one as well-thes eare fairly new for them as well. The glaze fit needs to work well.
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(Do you know what type of ceramic casserole dishes that big box stores sell? They seem to withstand thermal shock fairly well.)
Thats a complete unknown -they are massed produced (slip cast or ram pressed) they most likey were produced with some cerramic engineering done in terms of body firing temp and glaze.
They are made offshore most likely as well. China -Thailand-Japan?
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Check this out for how to info
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(Could just be a lifetime of accumulation,) nope its all from the same co-op market-I was there for about 3+ years.And I pulled out over a year ago so its all work from that short period. Remember all pots have the original stickers on them-never used. Very clean (not dusty) all where wrapped in large boxes then put away.
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She was to old for any of that Lee-her Husband had passed a few years ago they said. It made her feel good. She had money and I think of as a illness of sorts. But whatever makes you feel good -no harm to others just stuffed the house. It looks like she wrapped it all as soon as it got home and when a box was full she stashed it away like a squirrel.
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Ok if you read my post on buying back over $3500 new unused pottery from a horders estate sale for $450 then you know how starnge and rare that might be.
well lighning strikes again on that front
Today the day after Christmas at 4 pm I was bookkeeping on the desktop on a very rainy windy day. The phone rings and its the estate sale guy from 3 weeks ago. They found three more large boxes of my pottery and they need to get it gone. He says $100 for it all and you have to pick it up today. I had sanitized/reorganized my van on the only dry day Xmas afterr stuffing it full from taking xmas booth down xmas eve. I Jumped in and drove the 35 minutes back to that house. Last time it was jambed full-this time thay has a box moving trck and all that was left in the whole house was my pottery that they just found in 3 boxed in a hidden space in large kitchen under a counter back water area. My guess is 1-2 k worth of stuff.I'll go thru it in a few days. Just like last time all new all still with sales tags on bottoms. I found out that this person bought my pots wrapped them and boxed them and put them away like xmas ornaments -all 5 k worth. She may have been my best customer-well its a toss up as another from the east coast who runs a private jet rental service may have her beat ? Hard to say as she bought dinnerware sets and lots of st=uff over time where as this lady bought it all in 3 years from one organic market before I quit them.
When I left the house a hour ago it was 100% empty of all contents-I drove home in disbelieve as Santa Extended xmas one more day at least to me
Merry xmas and Happy Holidays from Linda and Mark
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Oldlady
Its not my town but a town nearby. Our Fair has two parades one each day at 1 pm
I have done this fair since the 1st one in 1974 and am on the board whom runs the fair-we are called the same old people
the Saturday parade around the plaza (and show) is called All Species-this parade is also been going on the longest back when our show was a one day in the 70s and 80s
now its two days past 35 year or so
here is this years all species-It was a ariny day but the rain stopped just before the parade and the dancers where dry the whole way around the square.
I love this show-we are looking for more potters so feel free to apply as potters are rare around here these days
The second link is the Sunday Samba Parade which is over the top now-this was filmed about 20 feet from my pottery booth.
- Callie Beller Diesel, LeeU and Hulk
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This years Space Cadets
in Business, Marketing, and Accounting
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Well it gotten very quiet past week pottery wise. Just what I was hoping for. Great for doing the tax prep paperwork during the rain and flooding down on the lowlands.
Boy have we had some wind the past week- at least 4 power outages one for 2.5 days (We are so lucky I put in that natural gas standby generator 15 years ago)
The local Mad river is way up (not flood stage yet) and the wind howls about every night lately.
Since we are on a well we always like more rain. Let it rain thay say let it rain.