Pres

Really Professional looking booth and set up, as it has been whenever you have posted. I am glad to hear that you wear a mask at this point, I do whenever going somewhere crowded and will until the ugly covid head if finally gone. Tis a sad thing to know you are cutting back, but from your position I imagine a sigh of relief! Great work, great presentation, now great retirement! best, Pres

Last week @kswanposed a question in the QotW pool. His post read: QOTW: What tips do you have to make cleaning up your studio easier or more time efficient? Some areas aren't too bad for me, such as keeping the footprint of my throwing area small, arranging things to close any gaps where clay bits can fall to the floor. I use a damp sponge to sweep little dry bits into a dustpan and then wipe the floor with a clean sponge. Unfortunately, I feel like I am chasing my tail some days, trying to get up all the little bits that fall off surfaces all day as I work. With the layout of my space, I can't condense the tables and shelves any more, so I have to walk from one area to another, which inevitably spreads clay around. One solution I'm doing now is to have a slightly damp towel on the floor to wipe my feet on as I move about. I check my soles time to time, and if they look dusty, I wipe them with a sponge and then try to find the section of floor that's dirty and wipe it too. It just feels like I'm spending half my time doing this. ANybody else feel this way or have solutions? Someone should invent a clay Roomba! I'd buy it in a heartbeat! I would be second in line for that clay Roomba, but then I have so many things stored in the shop right now that I have to climb over things to get around. Renovations can play havoc with the shop! Big Thank You to kswan for posting in the pool. . . it is always helpful! Once again, QOTW: What tips do you have to make cleaning up your studio easier or more time efficient? best, Pres

Thanks @kswan, I will post this on Sunday! best, Pres

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool! So I will pose another question for this weeks QotW. Last week we asked about digital scales and find that probably 90% of you have gone digital at least with scales. Hmmm that makes me wonder. I used to keep all of my notes on glaze formulas and recipes in a large sketch book. I even had drawings in it of pots and how I glazed them in the early days. Then in the 1980's I started working on apple II computers, and Commodore Amigas. Yeah, started to push my glaze chemistry onto spread sheets. Early ones were really simple, but a good way of storing things, and they could be printed out whenever you wanted to mix of glazes or other materials. These days I still do it, and often will post a picture of a pot with the glaze on it in the spread sheet. I have the spread sheet set up for 500 and 750 grams of glaze which makes it easy for small and larger buckets. Recently, I got rid of the paper punched sheets and now slip them into a plastic protective sleeve. I number my containers of glaze, and my test tiles, with corresponding numbers marked on the plastic sleeve. I remember the names, but the numbers are easy to keep on the containers, and if I decide to move a glaze out and another in, I just keep the same number. When mixing glazes I mark each completed component on the sleeve over the recipe. Makes things easy and keeps me on track. QotW: Do you keep your glazes in a notebook, or some other paper depository, or have you gone digital with your glaze and materials recipes? best, Pres

Coning the clay wedges it on the wheel somewhat. Pressure from the left hand at the base of the wheel is greater than the pressure on the right hand pushing down on the clay. When coning up, be careful to keep pressure even across the clay with the palm of the hands. It takes practice not to rip the cone in half, but is a good exercise for centering. Do the cone up and down about 3 times and you should end up with a pretty homogenous well centered cone of clay, almost like a bucket hat with sloped side inward. You are right not to go any further until you have mastered the centering on your new wheel. best, Pres

@Finn EwinsDo I assume that you learned on a wheel at a center or a friend/mentor? If so you may have problems adjusting to the height of wheel head on your second problem; not centering well. As to the wedging, and throwing, you are working in a new area, at home I assume. If so is the height of your wedging area the same height as where you are used to working? Sometimes a lower or higher table height effects how you are wedging. For myself when I set up my wedging table, I measured the height of the table with a ball of clay around 10#s on it and the length of my arms to reach that ball of clay. Then I built my table to those dimensions maybe an inch or so higher. You arms should be relaxed and resting on the clay with just a slight bend in the elbows. Most of the motion for wedging comes from the body movement, not the arms. A properly setup table height will allow you to use your body most efficiently. Hope this helps. best, Pres

Ceramics by Nelson was our text at Mansfield State College. A small school near my parents home in north central PA. I was taking ceramics as part of an undergraduate program for my Art Education BS. The school had several good, albeit lesser known professors. My ceramics professor was Stanley Zuchowski, a graduate of Alfred. He threw large, and was a big man often hefting barrels of slip from one end of the room to the other when making clay. In order to keep anything in the class from the wheel he had to see a 9 inch cylinder out of 3lb of clay. After that we were allowed to throw almost anything. I believe I got some of my prejudices from him: There are only 3 forms off the wheel, the cylinder, the bowl, and the plate. A bowl always has a round bottom, if the bottom is flat it is a lowly dish. My true introduction to ceramics books came when perusing the office of the ceramics department at Penn State University where I began graduate classes. I took them within the Fine Arts department as non degree. There were several texts i there that I knew I would one day own: Clay and Glazes for the Potter, by Daniel Rhodes; The Potters Dictionary of Materials and Techniques, by Frank and Janet Hamer; to name a few. To be honest, I first looked at these books for the pictures of pots, I had been interested in art all my life, but had very little experience with ceramics until that first class in college. It wasn't until I started reading beyond the pictures that I understood the art, craft and science beyond the pretty pictures. So my library has grown to fill much of a room. best, Pres

@Babs, I used to used to use the heel of my hand to flatten large platters and patens, but now I use a rib. I have three ribs that are about 8'' long maybe 2-3" wide. Each has a slightly different shallow curve. I flatten a 5-7 lb ball of clay with my fist and arm as a rib, then use the wooden ribs held at a 30-45 degree angle to flatten and compress the slab more. These ribs have taken a major amount of stress off of me when compressing large pieces. I have even used them inside of large bird baths and succulent planters. best, Pres

Seems like my spoon does much the same, but reversing the spoon gives me a wide flat dish,, whereas the other direction gives me a deeper rounder bowl form. best, Pres

Necessity is often the mother of invention, but then there may be some obscure reference in a book or other resource somewhere of something made of bamboo, wood or other material. Who knows! best, Pres

Denise, I use throwing sticks often for chalice bowls and the stems. As to the opening tool @Bam2015, you will find the video here: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=clay+opening+tools&type=E214US714G0#id=2&vid=7aadabeead3955026ce8618b0ce04609&action=click best, Pres

@Callie Beller Diesel I think I've seen a utube video of this a few years back. Made sense to me, especially for some larger forms where one is using the fist to open up. I have found the fist to work well for me with a follow up of a few compression runs on the bottom to even it up. If I were throwing a ton of storage jars, it may make all of the difference. best, Pres

Hi folks, nothing new in the QotW pool so I will pose another question. Lately there have been questions about folks dealing with arthritis as do I. This has led me to wonder if people that throw use some aids in their throwing because of physical difficulties, arthritis or otherwise. We have all seen those centering jigs with the board on a lever to aid in centering clay. I have seen someone center using a wrist brace similar to what I use for bowling when centering. I am sure others have work arounds when throwing that I don't know of. Some people may scoff at these saying they are crutches to get something done that some one should learn to do without them. . .I was once in that school, but now I wonder?? QotW: Do you use or ever used a throwing aid of any sort due to a physical weakness/ailment? best, Pres

Years ago, I left about 100 raku pots on the back porch that faced an alley. We lived in a 3 room apartment back then, and the first two nights with the grad work pots from a summer course with Dontigny kept us up at night with the pinging! By the end of the second year the pots were gone. Some times later I would be in someone's house looking at a corner, or a fireplace mantle to see on of those old raku pots. Disconcerting in a way, but you always had to smile at one persons trash another's treasure. I hated those raku pots, as I was told to loosen up my throwing, and the pots all turned out looking like Dontigny seconds. Raku for me had been a bad experience all summer long. worn knuckles of my right hand with open sores the entire summer from the sandy clay body, frustration with the throwing, but enthralled with the fire and the smoke and the surfaces from copper to greens and whites with crackling. They spoke a part of me that loves surface. best, Pres

I saw this today while perusing a google page. I wonder how interaction of the recipients is going, also wonder if it is generating any sales? https://mymodernmet.com/kim-press-sailing-adrift-studios-free-pottery/ best, Pres

Yes Min I use the same type of dial scale for clay. I find always weighing and noting sizes for new pots helps to replicate. However, much of my work is off the hump and ball sizes are more important there. best, Pres

Hi folks, not much new in the pool for QotW so I will pose one. Most of you can tell that I am basically an oldy, not used to a whole lot of later technologies. I still like my camera, use hand made tools, fix things when needed, build my own contraptions when needed. I however, fired my kiln by hand for years until it finally bit the dust and I replaced it with a digitally controlled L&L kiln. . .love it! When it comes to working with glaze materials I still use scoops and spoons to parse out the goodies. I also use a triple beam balance with a large fitted plastic pan for the materials with additional weights for large amounts. I have often looked at the digital scales, but figured what I have works, why change at this late date. However, I am curious. . . how many of you have opted for digital scales, or anything digital of late because of the convenience or because you grew up with digital? QotW: Have you have opted for digital scales, or anything digital of late because of the convenience or because you grew up with digital? best, Pres

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool of late, so I will pose a question for you. I notice that there are a wide range of personalities and posting styles out there, and thought about myself and my tendency to be ADHD, and wanting to be a nice guy. When it comes to looking for answers, I look for quick answers with a background just enough to get me to figure things out my way. I notice that I tend to have the same posting style, offering a solution and my reasoning/ supportive information afterward. To cut the long short: QotW: When reading the posts on forums do you have a tendency to like detailed information in long form or quick fix with supporting information? best, Pres

I have been making chalices, and later patens for over 40 years now. I started selling them to a single customer that first required chalices for ceremonies, and then decided to order Communion sets for an award to honor one of their deceased members. This order has been a standing order now for over 25 years. It is basically the only order I do any more, as I have stepped back from much of what I used to do. I was wondering, have any of you had a long standing order for a particular customer? QoTW: Do you have any long standing orders that you fill every year for several years? best, Pres

Years ago, when I was teaching throwing to beginners, my mantra was Move the Clay, don't let it Move You! I don't know how many times I told the kids that. Little did I know that all of that moving the clay was also moving me. I find now that many fingers have become bent to fit the way I pull. Both hands have. . . .adjustments.... fingers permanently bent to fit other fingers, on the left for inside pulling, and fingers on the left made to reinforce the pointer when pulling. Weird what repetitive positions do to the body. best, Pres

I purchased a new kiln last year with the furniture kit, knowing that I would want to add more shelves in the future. I have always used cordierite shelves when teaching, and in the old kiln. I have not had issues with warping at cone 6, yet I have seen problems with other teachers that did not understand how to best place stilts. I have always used 3 stilts to support a shelf as this seems to give the most balanced support for the work and health for the shelf. I also make certain to keep fresh kiln wash on the shelves to limit the amount of pucks from glaze drips. . . best way to eliminate them is to clean bottoms well, use bevel undercuts, and catch lips on pots that will allow glaze run. even an engraved line on a foot area is often enough to stop a glaze run. best, Pres

My goof, I missed that in your original post. best, Pres

If you are working with your own glazes, you may be able to adjust the opacifiers to make the glaze less opaque. Test tiles are the best way to come up with a glaze that allows washes under the glaze to show through. An alternative is to try spraying washes from different angles on the textured piece. This allows 4 different variants down from top, up from bottom, right to left, left to right. The idea is to spray not at the surface but spray by the surface catching the surface with the edge of the spray. best, Pres

GOTCHA! :-)

Understood, and take note that most of the questions I ask are to evoke a wide variety of responses. I look on a question with few responses as being a failure, and one that gets discussion and lots of answers a success. Part of the game. best, Pres