Mark C.

its was my quick typing without proof reading I fixed itnow If its glazed then you cannot put anything on top glaze the whole piece except where it touches the kiln shelf can you tell us if its only glazed on the top side??as that will pull it up or down

If its NOT glazed fire another piece of slab over the top keeping a slight pressure on it..But not enough to flatten the humps Also clay has memory so how you form this is very important .Over bending or overworking can make it act like this as well. If its glazed on one side only this will pull it up as well One thing I do know is the more you NEED it and the less time you have the more it will act up so make 3 or 4 of them and mix it up fire one say on its side the other with a slab on top as noted squeeze one with bricks on its side

You need to understand molds well for this-like NO undercuts for starters . yes you need to make it smooth an firm and slippery. I recall many years ago a gingerbread thred many do a search on that on main page as the slip cast page is new

The places that make it best do instruction/classes and sell clay and materials/equipment. Workshops can also be a draw. They can be private or co-op with a board of directors but all require many people and lots of organization In terms of being a potter only well that takes time and the right personality and drive

In my outlets-meaning gallery gift shops and organic markets its always 100% perfect. In my shows its 99.9 perfect .S cracks are toast. Any flaws are extremely minimal and saved for later. I have kept the seconds for my xmas booth these days and let a customer who buys a piece (a first) have a second for free (they are in a box nearby and they go very fast) At one time I would take this same box to our local show and have them priced down. They went very fast then as well Now its the free box for buying customers at xmas. Its also a xmas good feeeling deal

Well Eeattle pottery sold all of thier old suppy and had to reorder masssive amounts to get some and its sky high on cost now at 239$ a gallon or just over 1,000$ for 5 gallons Its still available but very spendy now. I'm glad I bought so much. Back then

Is this a cone 6 body or high fire cone 10? The opening should not be warping-is this area to thin? more clay needed ? firing beyond the clay limits? B mix is just white stoneware and besides it uneven drying it should work fine. I use a brass hole punch to make the spout holes-I have a few sets (kemper makes good ones) have a variety of sizes of punchs is a good idea as yoiu need a varity say for teapots and soap dishes or garlic keepers all different sizes work for different forms.

Ok I showed up at noon and others where walking thru house buying up stuff. Looks like a small amount of my work had sold . . But the tables where still stuffed.I told the fellow for me its all or nothing deal. I made a quik rough list and and down sized my offer to 450 $ cash. I said I have the boxes and paper and will take only my work as there was other ceramics mixed in especailly on the floor under tables (not in the photos)He took the offer which is about 16 mugs for me sales wise these days. I boxed it into 6 Banana boxes full and dollyed it out feeling great. The womans sister spoke to me and said the lady (her sister) had a stroke and was in full time care now in North Caralina.I said she had the most work of any customer I ever knew of and gave her my card to thank the sister . I have never met here as 99% of all the work was from a few outlets and they all had the price labels and cards inside of them. Not my own show price labels but those of my Eureka outlets. The largest amout of stuff was from a co-op organic market I pulled out of a year ago as I am slowing it down with a plan. I put a care and feeding tag in every pot then and all those where still in every pot. Now I have a nearly a 35 cubic feet whole kiln worth of new old stock. Its insane really. In my 50 years I never in my dreams would expect this to happen. I'm selling the stock twice this time without having to make or glaze or fire it. Of couse prices have risen since I sold this originally so I'm really ahead . I'm making 4 dinner plates for the friend who sent me the info last night. She really came thru for me. There where two tables of pots like the one photo as well as a bunch on the floor Just when you think you have seen or heard it all -boom something new surfaces .

So last night I got a message on facebook from a fellow Board member (art show board) Seems a hoarder with money passed away and their is an estate sale this weekend. The photos show a few huge tables of packed to the gills with my work as well as a large floor area . The Estate guy was posting lots of photos of tons of collected stuff as this women had passed away and collected huge volumes of work . I called him an hour after the post went up to ask whats the deal. He said he was in a huge time crunch to emepty the house . He was not autioning it but hoping to sell it piece by piece ,nothing is priced. I let him know i made all that pottery . Looks to be about 8-12 boxes full. I said if the price was right I'll take it all. He siad any reasonable offer he would take. Now In all my ceramics life I =have never bought my work back from anyone. The pots look all new and not used as there was too much volume to use -she was collecting not using. He said since you are the maker how about coming a day early and see what you want so today at noon I'm going. My plan is buy it for about 25%of retail tops. . Then just put it into my inventory . I have a pile of cash to sweeten the deal. Tbis may all go south today just as easy so its far from a done deal but its one heck of a strange deal. The forms are glasses ,mugs and bowls of all sizes from stacks of large serving to cereal bowls. I can see few pots that are not mine (not interested in) in the mix as well. I'll post the outcome. This is the most work of any one single customer by far and it looks like it was mostly bought at my gallery outlets.I can tell by the colors (some now discontinued) and color combos of when the work was made. I had no idea anyone custiomer pould ever own this much stuff from me. I'm hoping I may have known her as well. we shall see today-its a strange world out there.

Its cruch time here as well. Shop heater is roaring-trimming like crazy bisque loading and then ....... I'll put up a post about this strange deal

The trick for quick cooling is no let cold air in. No matter what typoe of kiln.Electrics are easier as they are essentially sealed up. The lid lets the heat up and. out -I keep the plugs in and cover any holes and open the lid with gloves.

This is not my first time about hearing about lead use in England. Its still in use there for some . Google is your friend and learning about being around it or NOT

I am a L&L fan

Buy your own mask.treat lead exposure seriously -Read up on precautions -Google is your friend

It works on both but best on bisque- If the item is green use your own clay fines to fill the crack. (mix your own clay fines with a bit of vinagar and water and fill greenware cracks. I fill the crack once bisqued and let it dry and sand it smooth then glaze. The line (where it is) is white so I usually cover with a dark glaze. This product works well but do not expect miracles .I never rebisque it -just let it dry sand smooth glaze and fire.If you need to glue it on use Aztec high fire cement. Mix it with your own clay body in small doses. Used Bisque fix for many many years. They once made a greenware fix but took it off market years ago-that stuff was great . I also use it a filler in a say a hole or chip missing piece. Good stuff but the price went up recently like all things.

Its a huge mix from knowing a lot to clueless-like putting a teapot on open flame ( and breaking it the day he bought it) to heating bake ware up with oven and lasting decades. The public is a petri dish of good bad and the down right clueless As I slow it down with the public I will never miss the clueless ones.Only the ones who are aware .

Some roofing tin should stop the wind on the windy side.

The triangular tghings are called plate pins (I have some) they look like as Min has pictured go into the base. I have never seen a base and use mine to mark a pot (put next to a pice in kiln to remember it later have glaze e fire) and also in a bisque to keep pots on side from rolling off car kiln when going in or out.Mine came with stuff when I bought out other potters (to many to recall)

I have heard some things about thier stains that where not great. I have used a few of their materials over the decades with good results. They are selling tin at 30$ a pound it looks. A quik goggle search shows Shefeild pottery at 46$ a #.They are always top notch with stuff. I posted tin's huge price increase earlier this year here as well My guess is US Pigments has old stock left I know Laguna Clay Company went thru the roof earlier this year on Tin price You could order some and test it and let us know the outcomes?

Hard work usually pays off they say. Most folks are not focused enough to go thru the lean years and keep at it.It takes a long time to gain traction in this field and it takes a long long time to become a professional at all things needed to make it work.If you think its work you are in the wrong field -it has to be your passion I feel.

ya I get it I'm learning to fly airplanes from You Tube vids what could go wrong?

As a potter one should have an understanding of materials and thier use. In terms of safety and use Not everything in life comes with a warning label. This is spoken from an old codger

Lithgow is a town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia -just googled it

I did wood shop and metal casting in Junior High (7-9th grades)now called middle school I think? sewing and typing was high school for sure. In collage we had home economics and wood shop and auto repair (I took none of that )as I was 110% into ceramiucs /art major. I can from a family that made stuff and art was also in that mix so it was learned at home -surfboards from Balsa wood in the 50s and aluminum skateboards made with steel skates (before better wheels and wood tops). Worked on Bicycles and mini bikes then go carts then cars. Was into wood work as a young boy and fiberglass as well. Pained my bike fram in 5th grade after stripping it down. School had programs then like shop and art as this was before Reagan killed the educational budjet for our state. Back when stuff with hands was common practice. Now its all gone . Cal went from #1 in education (back in the day) to #37 in the Forbes Mag scale this past year. My mother taught Home economics in high school and collage for 35 years. I have little more than most in terms of this exposure.

I use mostly paint buckets as they are pretty heavy duty. I keep about 30 of them around (also for apple jusicing season) My glaze buckest are 20-40 years old. I have gone thru bottoms with a worn out jiffy mixer. Get your buckets from painting contractors for free. I have one big box bucket as it came on my power sponge about 25 years ago and is on a stand .It only holds water and I only add water as it evaporates . My guess is the buckets a big box are rock bottom cheaply made for the low low price point Backery as Babs said is alo a good source-never bought a 5 gallon bucket in my life I also have 6 gallon and 10 gallon and a 20 gallon that I use for glazes-the 10-20 gallon sizes come from restaurant suppliers and are high quaility