Pres

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

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

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

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

Wedding jar completed except for cleanup a little after it sets up some more. best, Pres

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

Not to be nit picky, but the nick name is Pres, short for Preston. best, Pres

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

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

Thank you Ben, best, Pres