Pres
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Posts posted by 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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Tough one for all the kiln builders and the wanna bees! I know that I would have had to think long and hard before answering some. First question takes a lot of visual geometry; Second takes knowing the timeline of fiber casting materials development, as this book was written early;Third one is fogged with a bunch of made up false answers, and the last requires only knowing the shape of the brick that the weight of the arch starts on.
best,
Pres
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Week 42
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The preferable method of casting a catenary arch kiln is to use the casting material on the:
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Outside of the form upside down.
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on the outside of the form right side up.
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on the inside of the form right side up.
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on the inside of the form upside down.
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The project casting in the book used a mix that was:
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hand mixed sand, vermiculite, clay and concrete
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hand mixed commercial Vari-Form B
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commercial Carborundum's LDS Moldable
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hand mixed sawdust, pea grog, clay, and cement
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Three things can be done to improve the strength and working properties of the casting mix: application of a heavy coating of ceramic-fiber liquid cement upon the interior surface of the cured casting; embedding lath wire one inch into the center of the tamping mix during application onto the arch form; and the use of_________________ instead of water.
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50/50 water and dish detergent
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50/50 sodium silicate and water
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colloidal-silica liquid
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mortar set liquid
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The ______________ brick is the load-bearing brick which takes the thrust from the completed arch.
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Keystone
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channel
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arch
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skew
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This weeks Pottery Quiz of the Week questions come from: Kiln Building with Spage-Age Materials, Frank A. Colson, c. 1975, Van Norstrand Reinhold Company, New York,NY
Note from Pres: Always interested in kilns and firing, this book seemed appropriate for the Space Age, and from an energy-efficient standpoint. After all, we were having problems with petroleum fuels at the time, and many were changing over to electric, or insulating their kilns more for greater efficiency.
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Min posted the following in the question pool not long ago: It’s always interesting to see what people are working on, a one off pot, a series, pulling handles, working out a new design, glazing, glaze testing.… just a snippet from your day of something in progress.
My question would be what’s on your workbench? (pictures would be a welcome bonus!)
Hmmmm! I will disappoint Min in my answer, as right now there is very little on my workbench except for the vice and tools that hang on the back wall of it the workbench. Then there are some of the most recent tools I had been using. However, for me this is a poor time of year since I need to get into the shop, but it is still pretty frozen. Now the workbench is important, as I often will use it to hold one end of some wire, to help bend tools with a ball peen hammer, or to hold some small tool for sawing or work with a dremel where holding it by hand would be dangerous. I have enough trouble with my hands without messing them up more.
As far as making, an object on a bench, very little of that gets done lately as most of my making and assembling is done on the wheel form throwing pieces, to trimming them, and then assembly. The only things that are on a work area are slabs for wheel thrown bottoms and tops after a 4-6 sided object is assembled. These usually take about a week of assembly, as sometimes the proportions sketched or modeled out do not look right when put together . So another piece is thrown to match up.
Examples of these can be found on my blog site.
best,
Pres
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Week 41
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A kiln design that contains the walls and the arch in one curve is the________________ kiln.
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Sprung arch
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Bound arch
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Catenary arch
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Barrel arch
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Domes and Crowns differ from sprung arches in that an arch describes a portion of a cylinder, while a dome or crown describes a portion of a _____________.
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parabola
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sphere
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hyperbola
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cone
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One Principle of kiln design the author states is that the chimney is approximately one-fourth to one-fifth of the ____________________ diameter.
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chamber
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damper
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door
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total inlet
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An _______________________ kiln is an example of a _________________ type kiln.
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Down-draft
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anagama
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cross-draft
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updraft
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This weeks Pottery Quiz of the Week questions come from: The Kiln Book, second edition, Frederick L. Olsen, c. 1983, Chilton Book Company/Radnor, PA
Note from Pres: In the 80's as a new art teacher, new to ceramics, I considered building my own kiln. Alas, it did not happen, but I read a lot of books on kiln building, firing, and repairs. Some of which I have used over the years, some not. However, for anyone starting with kiln construction this book is a gem. There may be newer techniques out there today, but he does cover Fiber construction, alternative fuels, and multi chambered kilns.
Answer Key:
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3. Catenary arch-from the text.Pp. 35
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2. Sphere—from the text Pp.36
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1. chamber-from the text Pp61 Principle 6
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2. anagama, 3. cross-draft-Crossdraft kilns originated in the Orient. The exact location and time is impossible to determine, but it is probably safe to assume that China, Korea, and Japan simultaneously developed similar crossdraft kilns known as bank or hole kilns. The hole kilns were in use during the Asuka period in Japan, the Sui period in China, and the Silla period in Korea. In Japan they were called Anagama, ana meaning hole or cavity and gama meaning kiln.
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LeeU posted this question in another strand under Chemistry: Maybe a topic for a future question of the week....is "it" (like the spodumene effect) a problem (as in the science/craft sense it may well be) or is it a blessing (in the sense of the aesthetic/philosophy of the ceramicist)? I love cracks and "flaws" in my pieces (go out of my way to introduce them) but it does set me up for "having" to explain to the guy/gal whispering to the person with them that "This gal isn't very good-look at all the cracks and pinholes." that actually, I know what I am doing, I just choose a different path. Kinda like life! aaarrrggghhh
best, Pres
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Babs, I have heard in the past that the Asian methods of shaping worked from the top down where as Western world was bottom up.. . . . I really don't know, and FYI I do it both ways, often forming the jar with bottom to top and then back down. . . especially when forming a large jar.
best,
Pres
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Tom,
The biggest advice I would give my students came with a hand on hand assistance to the first pull and the second. (Assuming you are RT handed )Create the donut after opening up. That is a donut attached to the wheel head, centered. Then using your left hand with the thumb down at the base of the wheel head on the outside, and the fingers bent to the floor on the inside with the rt hand with a sponge on the roll of the donut. . . . begin squeezing firmly with the thumb and fingers of the lft as you push inward on the roll with the sponge in the rt hand. As you feel the roll going up, ease slightly on the pressure and continue to rise with the roll just above your fingers and thumb. Continue until to the point that you have gone off of the clay. Never stop the pull motion at the top of the pot, always imagining the clay to be 1-2" higher.
Second pull, begin with lft on inside, rt with thumb or pointer or whatever edge you use to pull with. Elbows braced against the body leaning to the rt. Firmly squeeze the clay between inside and outside fingers of lft and rt hand. As the roll moves up, ease slightly on pressure again and continue up with the pull as before.
The firmly here is important, as that is where thinning the base comes in on a pull. Without firmly squeezing at the base level of the pull, the pull actually starts above the base of the pot leaving a heavier area in the base. You must firmly squeeze that roll on every pull to get it to move out of the base.
best advice I have, now practice. . .
Pres
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Ron,
I have seen this excellent video before. One of my ex students showed it to me a few years ago as he had begun using the technique to pull pots. I help with an adult class at the HS and saw him using the technique after I had tried it after seeing the video. I find the inverse on the wrist to be difficult for me, it was not the technique as I found it worked well, it was the pain in the wrist that I would get after using it for a few hours. In the long run I have returned to my finger tip braced with the thumb method of throwing. The biggest take away from this in the long run was his bowl shaping rib.
best,
Pres
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Does this Whiskey cup have a cone in the center?
best,
Pres
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I have a friend that I bowl with, he was having severe health problems, and was finally diagnosed with a blood test for gluten intolerance. Now he has gained back up in weight, eats gluten free, and has gained back his strength. These things hit us as we get older and are weaker to fight them off, and it may be that our bodies reach a peak point where exposure becomes too much.
Joseph, if you post the bowls, that would be helpful. If anyone wants to share the print out, go ahead what its here for. Teachers also. Just don't take credit.
It would be nice to build a strand of beginning projects to help along those looking to gain/improve wheel skills.
best,
Pres
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Ron, I realized that, just pointing out that for some the need to do things differently is important. I haven't had a full cookie since 2009.
I had not thought about ring holders. . . ceramic would work to. Wonder how many Apple Bakers have been re serviced as ring holders. Maybe someone didn't know what it was?
best,
Pres
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3 minutes ago, Min said:
Thought it somewhat resembles a lemon reamer. If the middle bit was a titch wider at the base you could carve sharp channels into the center part and if one of the scallops on the rim was sharpened a bit it could be the pour spout. I like having more than one use for pots, it's got me thinking....
Yes Min, the same process is used to throw a juicer for oranges and lemons. You have to start with a larger amount, 2-3# of clay. Center, and then follow pretty much the same, but make the center hole larger and pull to a low domed cone, then use ribs to make rounder. You can then do one of two after forming the bowl. use wet rib to put drain lines on the dome, or leave till later and carve. Before removing from the wheel add a pour spout to remove the liquid. The technique works in all sorts of ways.
best,
Pres
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Might for those of you that don't worry about the extra carbs that the crust added does. However, for me with T2 diabetes that I control with a tight diet and exercise, those crusts would kick my numbers into outer space. So I do the baked apple instead. Even if you don't use it, try it for a wheel throwing exercise.
best,
Pres
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Baking apples. . . Tablespoon of water, teaspoon of butter, spices-I use cinnamon and ginger, sweetener(sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey), as a diabetic I use none, others(nuts, granola, etc) Liquor(?)
Apple baked 7 1/2 minutes in microwave oven. 40 minutes will work in a regular oven. Great Winter desert.
- Sarah Marie, Rae Reich, Catatonic and 3 others
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A few thoughts on Apple Baker
The throwing skills here are similar to a bowl as it is a wide flared cylinder with a second interior cone wall. This form will expand your throwing skills.
- yappystudent, celticchrys, Benzine and 1 other
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Thanks for the help Joseph that would be helpful. Have you ever thrown an apple baker?
best
Pres
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Hi folks, I have been thinking a lot of late of the types of things that would be good experiences for beginning throwers, withing to improve their throwing skills. so a few listings of ideas in this thread would be helpful for anyone wishing to develop greater throwing skills and control on the wheel.
Basic
- 9" cylinder with 3# of clay. This should have a flat bottom, evenly compressed, side walls tapering slightly in thickness to the rim that should be slightly thicker than the side walls at the top. Cut several vertically in half to gauge your progress using a cutting wire from the base to the top.
- 8" diameter bowl with 3# of clay. Remember that a true bowl has a rounded interior, so when opening up develop a rounded bottom instead of a flat bottom as in the cylinder. Again cut several of these in half to check progress. Always remember that a bowl will need extra thickness at the base to support the outer walls from collapsing.
- 10" plate with 3# of clay. Begin using softer clay, and make careful compression across the area of the plate, as the biggest problem with plates is the lack of compression causing "s" shaped cracks.
Basic + Hump
- Vessel- small cup off of tennis ball size piece of clay. Throw several off of a 4-6# Ball of clay, center the entire ball as much as possible into a cone, then center the top portion of the cone into a tennis ball size, well centered. Throw a cylinder shape, use a rib to define the base, and cut from wheel with a cutting wire, and remove to a bat. Repeat until all of the ball is used up.
- Bowl-throw several bowls using a baseball sized ball of clay off of a 4-6# hump of clay. Try to make the form a bowl shape, cut and remove as in the vessel, and check progress.
- Apple baker-Start this form with a baseball sized piece of clay. Open the form as in a bowl, slightly away from center leaving a center stem area. Open the center stem area and pull upwards into narrow cone, close the cone with your fingers, necking inward. Then finish shaping the outer bowl area. cut and remove from the wheel. Check progress with these also to assess the two pulled shapes in the single form.
These are just thoughts and I wouldn't have had the apple baker in this list until lately. However, I do believe that the simplicity and complexity of the form will help to improve throwing skills of anyone wishing to advance their skill level.
Please feel free to add projects that you believe that will advance throwing skills for a beginner, intermediate, or advanced thower.
best,
Pres
What’s on your workbench?
in Aesthetic Approaches and Philosophy
Posted
Glazing today, bisque is just turned off. Glaze load goes in tomorrow, then another on Tuesday. This is today load that I have finished glazing though the pic was taken this morning before.
best,
Pres