shawnhar

I throw forms to practice and to test crystalline: the bowls mostly go to family members- 0 profit margin. The shows and shops around here are stuffed with $10 mugs, no need to even attempt competing.
i still make geometric tile: I rarely sell jobs; but when I do $$$$$. It works for me at the moment. I am currently working on a geometric pattern consisting of 12, 8, and 4" interlocking circles. The added bonus of having a professional CAD system, with a 24 x 36 printer- I can create  precise cut sheets.  One of my favorite patterns - makes for a beautiful shower.

What's on my workbench?
Replacements for the one I dropped, just as we were working out where to stick it - grrrrr.  And as it was one of a mirrored pair, I've had to make another pair.

Planters, went to my nearest garden center after work and got a "test" wholesale order for 30 to see if/what sells, spent 2 hours wedging/throwing and ended up with a dozen. It was a good day tater...
 

Thanks Mark, I hope you are correct! I will let him know when I drop of this batch.

Put handles on it! Three of em
 

He has chinese ones for $20, so I made the deal for 12 each, that's a 60/40 split in my favor. He's gonna buy the original 30 pots and ask 20 for them, set up in a separate space inside with a sign designating them as locally made by a potter to see if people will buy them. He thinks we can up the price a bit if they sell.
 

Planters, went to my nearest garden center after work and got a "test" wholesale order for 30 to see if/what sells, spent 2 hours wedging/throwing and ended up with a dozen. It was a good day tater...
 

They should sell better than the imports and they should sell for more. make this clear for the next go around that if they sell well they will cost more next time.

Planters, went to my nearest garden center after work and got a "test" wholesale order for 30 to see if/what sells, spent 2 hours wedging/throwing and ended up with a dozen. It was a good day tater...
 

I added some smaller prints too, don't know what a giant wood paw print stamp would cost me, I'll have to look into it.  I have a larger dog bone cookie cutter I can use on a slab and attach too.
Last night I decided to try to throw a vase, was recording it too, and when I finished I went to hit stop and my phone was dead.  Darn! It was a good one too!
 

More dog bowls this week and mugs of course.
Changed my design a bit, will probably change it again before I'm done.  Anyway, here's last night's Roundup, along with handling 20 mugs.
 

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

Well my project yesterday was converting my manual kiln with kilnsitter into a digital kiln.
Mission complete.
 

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

Not clay, but glass.  Still goes into the kiln.

Oval oil bottle prototype (to use with silicone and stainless pouring spouts).
 

 

Ok, ended up only throwing 2 keepers last night, but I got my gauge set and will throw some more tonight.  I can only do 3 a night for now because 3 of my bigger bats up and walked off somewhere.  Oh well!  I have a 50lb bag of plaster #1 and some pie tins, I should just start making some.
Anyway, another video if anyone is interested in my process.
 

Did a glaze firing last night, hope to open tonight when I get home.  Kiln was still at 900f when I left for work.  I've got 35 mugs in there and a shelf of spoon rests.  Trying out a new glaze, coffee nuka.  Went to mix some other glazes this weekend and lo and behold!  No silica. Grrr, I thought I had half of a 50lb bag left when I saw the bin almost empty.  
Oh well!  That just means I get to make another trip to Seattle pottery supply!
This week I'm going to continue to try repeat bowls.  That's all that's on the docket.  I might do another glaze firing midweek if I can, but not a deal breaker

1st  bisque firing of the year in big kiln today(35 cubic feet)-Little kiln (12 cubic)has had 3 glaze fires already in it.

Over the years, I have found that I often have to have a "Gestation state", a period of time where I don't do something, but think about it. Then when I return to the activity or problem, I have solved it without even really knowing it. This has happened to me often when dealing with throwing over the years. . . throwing off the hump and having "S" cracks, throwing large and not getting enough out of the base, Wonky rims, that were weak and poorly finished, trimming through too many large plates, cracks in large plates, cracks in large bowls, and the list could last for much longer. Point is, problems do not just disappear when you push more time into it, often you have to figure out why. Research helps, thinking about what you research helps, also thinking about what you know about clay and how it is structurally made up and how to use that instead of fight it. All in a lifetime of working with any material, especially one so simply complex.
 
best,
Pres 

The 10,000 hr thing is to be a master, at anything, it's a generality of how many hours it takes to master any skill.
"Others will want" is pretty vague, I started selling pots I made in the 1st week of throwing, for dirt cheap, they were terrible. Around 500lbs I started getting better, but at 1000lbs I started having some confidence and felt better about selling a few mugs at the going price.

At less than a year in, I have gotten way more out of utube, probably by a factor of 5, even though I took 4 or 5 classes since then. There is no option for me to receive physical instruction from a master potter here, I liked my teachers, and they are skilled, but I quickly moved beyond the basics and watching people that have really mastered it helped me tremendously. This forum has also been and continues to be a huge boon. I am still mainly focused on the physical act of making forms.