Pres
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Posts posted by Pres
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54 minutes ago, neilestrick said:
I've got a very busy week ahead of me. I currently have 101 pots under plastic that I will have to start trimming and decorating tomorrow, including 2/3 of a dinnerware set, a bunch of mugs, cups, tumblers, oil bottles, and soap pump bottles. I've got a show on Saturday, so my goal is to have it all done by lunchtime Friday so I'm ready to fire for the next show, when I'll need all of this work. Wish me luck!
Crunch time! best of luck, I can remember when Penn State was a few weeks away and 14hr days were the norm!
best,
Pres
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I keep business cards with the pieces I have collected when I have one. I am looking into putting together either a database, or spread sheet of the artwork in the house now/ much of it does not need a card as much of it is mine from pottery to watercolor to acrylic paintings. I also have several prints of my own and of old students. Of the pottery Cynthia Bringle, Mea Rea, Tom Roberts, John Glick, Glenn Woods/Keith Herbrand and a few others are represented. I also have a hanging weaving of Jean Giddings, and three prints by Giovanni Bonazzon that are nicely framed. Many of these are because of travels, friendships, or chances to purchase work I really admire.
best,
Pres
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Last week, Yappystudent posted the following question in the Question pool for the QotW: Do you collect pottery and ceramics?
Not an unusual question to be asking fellow potters, but I don't remember anyone asking before. My answer to this is yes, I have collected a few pots here and there of late, to remember some excellent potters, and good times. I decided I needed to do more of this a few years ago when I visited Dwight Hollands home outside of Asheboro, NC while attending the NC Potters Conference. Dwight's home was a potters haven, and home to hundred if not thousands of pots. We were invited in for a quiet party, and Dwight told us all to handle the pots, enjoy them and have fun. I was nearly dizzy most of the night as I was touching pots and seeing actual pieces by people that I had only read about in books and magazines. I decided as much as possible I would begin purchasing pieces that would remind me of and experience, or a person for later years. So I have spent a very small amount collecting a few pieces that I treasure. My first ones had been at the conference, and others later, I also have some that were given to me as gifts, and have given others mine as gifts, humble as they are. I enjoy seeing them, and remembering a great demonstration, or a talk over coffee, or even a winning smile from them when first met. Memories.
best,
Pres
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DHPotter had a studio question a few weeks ago: Do you back fill handles at the attachment point? If so, is it for aesthetic or structural reasons?
I think that is a good process question, and as I have been having handle problems of late, I will address this.
I used to add a pulled handle to mugs and pitchers that had a few knobs above, one large with two smaller on each side. At the bottom I did not back fill as in never seemed necessary. This was for years with the work, as I would arch the top handle up a bit, and reinforce above the handle with the 3 knobs that were worked into the handle. . center knob with a thumb imprint, other two with a rounded rib I made for the purpose. I have been looking at the dog bone handles that are pulled with round body, and thicker on top and bottom, and they seemed to be complete looking on some pots. . .just not for me.
Nowadays, I cannot make the pulled ribbon handle I used to make, and have started doing extruder handles as my thumb has very little movement in the joint just below the thumb nail, and the thumb has a super wide joint. The extruder handles are working better, especially after I have made major changes in the dies with a dremel tool. However, as it seems to take a little less time, I have started to back fill in the bottom joint, smoothing it with a small rounded rib. They look good, but sometimes I forget to do it, so have seen them both ways. . don't know as there is a whole lot of difference if the handle is added on well, and finished well. I guess it is a personal decision, aesthetic at best, certainly not needed for strength.
best
Pres
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On 6/2/2018 at 8:42 AM, GEP said:
Putting energy into any task creates momentum that makes it easier to generate energy the next day. Putting practice into skills makes those skills easier, which then require less energy, giving you free energy to spend on new initiatives. It multiplies over time. On the other hand, sitting around doing nothing leads to more sitting around doing nothing. This also multiplies over time.
I guess the important crux of “energy breeds energy” is that the fuel needs to come from yourself, and shows you how to generate fuel.
I found that energy begets energy occurs in the classroom also. The more energy I put into demonstrating, getting around to the kids, excitement on my part about projects was returned to me and bounced back and forth by the students. If I was in a slump for some reason, they were too. In the end I found that even if I had a fever, cold and chills that pushing that energy out there made my day. . . and theirs. Of course I slept well at night!
- Gabby, Callie Beller Diesel and GEP
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Tom (glazenerd) recently asked in the question bank: What are the rituals you follow when the creative juices dry up, or the joys of making pottery becomes tedious because of deadline demands?
This is an interesting question, and it requires that we look at both sides of the question as to the answer. Yeah, got you scratching your head! Ok, so recently as you all know I completed an order of mugs, and honey jars. It was a large order for me, and with the weather, and all I was in "crunch time". This required a lot of long days of throwing/trimming/assembling. In the long run, I found that I was finding ways to be more efficient, more creative, and able to pay more attention to detail. So. . . .deadlines for me are a good thing.
The main part of what glazenerd was asking is about creative blocks, and how to overcome them. If you check back into posts from a few years back, you will find post from me about wanting to change direction, throw looser, do more creative things with the pots. I asked for help, and got much advice from others and especially from one in particular. . . John Baymore. John presented a series of options/alternatives to try and loosen up my throwing and the way I worked. These helped me to make changes that I am still using today, whereas I do not worry so much when the pot gets a little off center, and pressing stamps/faceting, wiggle wire cutting and then shaping is becoming natural. Seems though that the more I work, the more controlled they seem to become, but it does not bother me now. I have always been aware of other potters through pictures, and books, but now that I have been to more conferences I have seen much more work, and enjoyed the company of other potters along with having seen some really excellent demonstrations that have inspired new efforts on my part. So conferences at least once a year seem to be a must to keep the juices flowing. Thankfully most of these are in late Winter/early Spring so it is easier.
best,
Pres
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Years ago while in grad school during the Summer, I through over a hundred pieces during the class. It was with a potter that was into raku and he wanted everyone to throw looser shapes. I hated it. I through mostly raku, but quite a few stoneware also. In the end, when all was finished I had about 80 pieces that went on a back porch of our 3 room apartment. The alley was near the porch, and even though closed in to waist high, by the end of the following Winter most of the pieces had . . . . vanished! Imagine that! Later in life I have walked into a home and seen an old raku piece setting on a mantle in a favored room. Hmmmm, Is that signed EPRice on the bottom? Now both of us had a secret that we did not share. . he scrarfted it. . . . and I had left out a second.
Since then I have not left pieces just lay around, as someone will love to have them, if so they should pay for them, and it they pay, I should make certain they are not seconds.
best,
Pres
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There has a lot of discussion of late about seconds, and recently yappystudent asked:Q: Where does one draw the line between deciding what is a second and what is OK to represent your name? For that matter, what is a second -perhaps worthy of selling out the back room so to speak albeit with your logo stamped into it forever, and what is junk waiting for the hammer or negative examples shelf? Exemplary work probably speaks for itself, but what about the gray areas below that? A set of rules for these decisions would be helpful.
Oh the temptations to sell cheap, and make money at the expense of reputation. . . all of us have had it at one time or other.
Mine came once when I had a perfectly sound paten by looks, really great glaze job, nicely trimmed nice preglaze decoration pressed into the pot when wet. I do a last check on all of my pots. . the ring test. I rap all of them with a light wooden dowel or something else easy on the pot. If it rings it is OK, if it has a double tone or otherwise, it has a hairline crack at sometimes impossible to see. In this case I decided to hold on to it until after I had met with the buyer. He was buying 20 Communion sets for a religious organization. We were talking about quality, and how to tell some things when I brought out the plate and showed him the ring test with the handle of a hammer. He was flabbergasted. . . especially when I used the hammer to break the pot.
All too often, the crack in the bottom, the crawled glaze, or the poor form, or so many other things that go wrong, may not be that bad, but if not up to your norm, then it is bad enough. So when you ask when, if you have to ask, don't keep it. My wife has some of my rejects, that are entirely OK for us to use, but they get recycled out as I get another reject. Lately thankfully there have been very few. As my pots are signed in the green stage, they are all signed. If it is a reject, best to toss it before it comes back to haunt me. And yes, a few have!
As to pieces that are exceptional, put them aside and use them for display, enter juried shows, and make certain you have good photos of them. When you sell, raise the price as this is the ++ line. It always helps to justify that by having them separated from the other pieces in a display of exceptional pieces.
best,
Pres
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Hi folks,
Today I was working on the Wedding Jar that I had made for a nephew, and was trying to accent their lettering for names and dates. I had stamped these in, but it was not quite clear so I cleaned them up and added a stain over top thinking to do a little mishima to bring the letters up. However, due to the curved surface I lost some of the letter forms. What to do. I used a small brush after engraving the missing areas to flow the glaze in, and that worked. At the same time I decided to use the brush with a white engobe to accent the flowers of the mountain laurel I had stamped into the form.
My tip for the day though is much simpler. I had problems with getting the right amount of slip or stain on to the fine bristled brush. I tried a lot of different techniques and then tried to dip a sponge brush into the container of slip or stain and lay it over the top of the container loading the brush up from that. It worked perfectly with just the right amount of stain or slip to work into the brush and keep the fine work when painting on the pot.
I was an art teacher, working with a lot of media, especially watercolor, acrylic, and inks. This technique I had never heard of, but it would work well with almost any media to keep from overloading a brush.
So. . .. do any of you have some technique that would work well with the use of stains, underglazes, glazes, even if brushing, spraying, or other technique? Post it here, it would be great to hear from you.
best,
Pres
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Wedding jar completed except for cleanup a little after it sets up some more.
best,
Pres
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Yappystudent recently asked a question that brings up old memories: I'm curious if anyone else uses "Kiln Gods" or Gremlins when firing their kiln.
I can remember in undergrad school the professor having us make kiln gods to tame the fire and chaos of the gas kiln. We did all sorts of crazy gods and put them on the top of the kiln as offerings. .. . firing went all right as expected as the prof fired it. My first few years of teaching I did kiln gods with the students, and then I let things die a death that seemed natural as I was firing electric! However, at the last NCECA, I saw the really cool peep hole creatures, and I know that if I were still teaching I would have everyone make one of them they are so Cool!
best,
Pres
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Not to be nit picky, but the nick name is Pres, short for Preston.
best,
Pres
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Denice,
I understand the inner peace of working with the clay, but can also see where some would be so involved in production that it would consume that inner peace. Hope that makes sense to some.
best,
Pres
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This week I will pose another question of my own, as there have been few new ones in the question bank.
Why? In other words, why do you make clay objects? Is it for fame or fortune, love or need, or even knowledge and curiosity? Why do you do what you do in Ceramics?
This has never been a question that I had thought very much of, as from the very beginning for some reason or other it just seemed natural, not a question of why, but why not. I could no longer be without clay once experiencing it as I could do without good food, nice fabric, a loving wife, or children or even breathing in and out. The first time I felt the clay moving through my fingers on the wheel it was like a drug, I needed to do it more and more, to learn how to control it, and of late how to un-control it. So I was driven to make pots, and then, there were too many for home, but I still had to make pots, so I started selling some. In that way the pots became a way of sustaining the addiction.
Of late, I have found myself thinking more of the process of filling an order especially after this Savannah Bee order. I remember the intensity I felt when working in grad classes of meeting deadlines, and meeting requirements. This intensity would bring out the best in me, as my movements on the wheel would become more assured and efficient. My groupings of pots became faster and faster to complete, and the forms more natural and pleasing. Filling this late order has forced me to re-evaluate my reasons for taking the order, and wondering about the future. I don't know where this latest step will take me, but believe the experience will be important.
best,
Pres
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Thank you Ben,
best,
Pres
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Yeah, glaze is in 2 am. Tomorrow we sleep! packing on Thursday night. Hmmm better get some bz cards printed up for promotion. Always something. However, weather was perfect today, high 70's and sunshine.
best,
Pres
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Forms seem to be a common thread of interest lately, as we had the last question asking about Masculine or Feminine forms. Gabby lately asked: 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).
This is something that I have often considered in my own work. Years ago, I threw a lot of narrow rising, high belly, tight shoulder with short neck jars. These were almost inverted pear shapes. Mugs were much the same. Then there was the car cup craze, before cup holders where you had a neoprene pad on a wide based mug form. These caused me to rethink forms a bit, and I started throwing some forms that were more pear like in form. I always have had a tendency to follow the Golden Mean, as an artist it just seemed to make sense. I used to surface with inglaze on an eggshell glaze for interesting textures through lace and other masks. Now I press/stamp the pots before shaping, thinking about how I will shape the form so as not to punch through the wall while shaping. I also like to have the form with texture vs smooth, and use shoulder accents often to establish and slow the eye movement through the form. So things are changing, but at the same time, when throwing large, I still prefer the narrower base high belly forms. Need to create some of these with the stamping textures for some new stuff.
best,
Pres
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Min recently asked the following question, and it runs differently than most of the ones asked in the pool. It has also been bumped by LeeU in a post that she like Min's question. . . so: Do you make feminine, masculine or gender neutral work and is it a conscious decision?
I have never thought about masculinity or femininity of any work. Looking over my work, I believe it is all over the gender situation. I have biases that I will admit when throwing work: I really do not like to see a flat spot in any curve, I consider the diameter of bottoms in proportion to height as not wanting a piece to be visually too bottom heavy or too spindly because of a narrow base to a tall form, I like shoulder accents in "S" shaped curves to slow the motion to the neck or rim, I love to texture the piece before shaping(something that has only happened within the last two years, and I have a tendency to follow the "Golden Mean" when throwing, handbuilding or combining forms. In much of this I do not pre sketch unless I am constructing a form either of slab, thrown or combined pieces. Most of my work is completed visually within the throwing and trimming. I throw lots of pieces of the same genre (mug, bowl, honey pot etc) at a time, breaking off in different directions in the form as I see something I particularly like at the time, then head in another direction. You could look at my gallery, or blog to see if you find a gender in my pieces, I really don't know as I have one.
best,
Pres
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I still haven't gotten any new additions to the QotW listing, so I will once again pose one of my own. This has been asked before in different ways, but I will ask again: Do you have an environmental companion in your studio while you work?
For me it has been old westerns on television in the studio. Old tv series, old movies, etc. I know almost everyone of them so don't have to pay attention, and when that great line comes up. . . I chime out! However, of late I have been looking at streaming of sorts, maybe using wifi to use something like Spotify or some other streamer to get in music, and not use the TV. Not sure, but possibly as I have seen several albums that are mood/quiet, and some that are classical guitar etc. Might be a new thing for me. May have to extend the house wifi out to the shop, but no big deal, I am capable of messing with a bit of that.
So Do you have an environmental companion in your studio while you work?
best,
Pres
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Magnolia Mud posted a question very recently, actually quite a few questions, but this one seemed to be one not asked yet: Where do you go to obtain more information (and/or background) on ceramic related topics, ideas, suggestions, insights, or questions you pick up from colleagues, general reading, online forums, in casual discussion, or your own pondering?
This strikes at the heart of why I am involved as a moderator and a contributor on the forum here. For years, there was no internet. . . yeah I'm that old. Local libraries put their budget into things that would get the biggest audience. . . usually fiction. Magazine subscriptions were available, but in specialty mags you know that they can be expensive. Books were the biggest source of my information in the 70's to the late 80's. I searched local bookstores, went to Penn State for the textbooks used in the art department at the student bookstore, checked with professors about what books to read, and get and then ordered them in. Over the years, I developed a pretty nice library of which you have seen many in the Potters Quiz of the Week. Then came the internet, and the world changed. It was a safe place in the early years, kind of elitist to be on it, and yet so much specialty information existed and forums popped up with discussions on all sorts of things several devoted to Ceramics. They came and went, and evolved. Some became fractured by argumentation, others died from lack of interest of lack of participation. Happy to say that our has not gone and seems relatively healthy.
For me though, obtaining more information often calls for specialization, as in glazes chemistry, or firing techniques or some other area. Often this leads me to a thinking period (gestation) where the material is sifted and rethought to come to my own conclusions. Forms are usually that way, techniques with texture and decoration in the bare clay, and on the glazed surface. Much of it is a reformulation of old stuff, and new stuff, and Preston stuff.
best,
Pres
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Creative Industries Pottery Wheels
in Equipment Use and Repair
Posted
I believe you may find as Neil says that many of the parts are standard. If I remember correctly, the HP and MP wheel that I had at the HS used auto V belts. The HP wheel was built quite well, as was the MP even if under powered for me. Not much should wear out on them.
best,
Pres