liambesaw

Can't wait!
 
 
Did another test last night, trying to make an iridescent copper lustre.  So close!  Came out a little too red for my taste but wow the depth it adds to the glaze is so beautiful!!  This recipe was bismuth and iron salts, I think an addition of silver salt will tone down the red and add silver bringing it closer to copper.  Hard to capture in photos 
 
This weekend I'll be bisquing and glazing lidded jars and sponge holders, last load before farmers market on Wednesday.

Can't wait!
 
 
Did another test last night, trying to make an iridescent copper lustre.  So close!  Came out a little too red for my taste but wow the depth it adds to the glaze is so beautiful!!  This recipe was bismuth and iron salts, I think an addition of silver salt will tone down the red and add silver bringing it closer to copper.  Hard to capture in photos 
 
This weekend I'll be bisquing and glazing lidded jars and sponge holders, last load before farmers market on Wednesday.

My workbench /wheel is now empty after a two week production  run that may have been one of my largest output periods ever. The last two kilns are firing now and the van is about 2/3 full for an upcoming big show. This last two kiln loads has my wall fish and odds and ends in them. I plan on a small ceramic break after the show and do some diving before returning to my remodel for a few weeks in August. I'll get back to clay near end of month for fall shows .
Now packing for a huge show and a dive trip all in same vehicle .

liam, do not know what your goal is but if you want a recipe for a simple Luster glaze,  try this.  20 g each of frit 3134, dolomite, spodumene, ball clay and silica.   the one i have is written for green so add copper carb 6 and zircopax 10.   really good looking green but it flattens out texture.   makes lots of colors also.

Best of luck Liam!

This week has been fairly frenetic, I'm prepping for a farmers market next Wednesday, and at the same time researching resinous lustres and experimenting with them.  Made my first batch of straight bismuth lustre yesterday after months of dissecting trade secrets and obfuscated SDS's, reading research papers and books, etc. There's just not a ton of information available on the science of them.  Will be doing my first tests probably tonight to see how close I am, we will see!
As far as throwing, I made a bunch of thrown sponge holders, a bunch of succulent platters, and a bunch of small lidded containers, and need to trim them all and bisque them so I can get a glaze firing in this weekend before the market!
I finally got all of my ducks in a row, formed a business, established marketing materials and bought a canopy and tables.  Only time will tell if it ever pays off!

This week has been fairly frenetic, I'm prepping for a farmers market next Wednesday, and at the same time researching resinous lustres and experimenting with them.  Made my first batch of straight bismuth lustre yesterday after months of dissecting trade secrets and obfuscated SDS's, reading research papers and books, etc. There's just not a ton of information available on the science of them.  Will be doing my first tests probably tonight to see how close I am, we will see!
As far as throwing, I made a bunch of thrown sponge holders, a bunch of succulent platters, and a bunch of small lidded containers, and need to trim them all and bisque them so I can get a glaze firing in this weekend before the market!
I finally got all of my ducks in a row, formed a business, established marketing materials and bought a canopy and tables.  Only time will tell if it ever pays off!

This week has been fairly frenetic, I'm prepping for a farmers market next Wednesday, and at the same time researching resinous lustres and experimenting with them.  Made my first batch of straight bismuth lustre yesterday after months of dissecting trade secrets and obfuscated SDS's, reading research papers and books, etc. There's just not a ton of information available on the science of them.  Will be doing my first tests probably tonight to see how close I am, we will see!
As far as throwing, I made a bunch of thrown sponge holders, a bunch of succulent platters, and a bunch of small lidded containers, and need to trim them all and bisque them so I can get a glaze firing in this weekend before the market!
I finally got all of my ducks in a row, formed a business, established marketing materials and bought a canopy and tables.  Only time will tell if it ever pays off!

This week has been fairly frenetic, I'm prepping for a farmers market next Wednesday, and at the same time researching resinous lustres and experimenting with them.  Made my first batch of straight bismuth lustre yesterday after months of dissecting trade secrets and obfuscated SDS's, reading research papers and books, etc. There's just not a ton of information available on the science of them.  Will be doing my first tests probably tonight to see how close I am, we will see!
As far as throwing, I made a bunch of thrown sponge holders, a bunch of succulent platters, and a bunch of small lidded containers, and need to trim them all and bisque them so I can get a glaze firing in this weekend before the market!
I finally got all of my ducks in a row, formed a business, established marketing materials and bought a canopy and tables.  Only time will tell if it ever pays off!

Denice, compression seemed to be the key, but it was not consistently so. I wondered about that, and went to Hamer for research, and then to several other sources before seeing a video of an Asian potter throwing off the hump. He would create a pancake, then raise the pancake edges up into the walls and complete the throwing and the shaping. Why you would ask, but after Hamer, I knew. The pancake caused the walls to wrap in the corner with no particle irregularity. Partly because the walls were pulled outward first allowing compression, then as turned into the side walls the movement from the base to the wall the particles were aligned. Hard to imagine without images, but it does work very well.
 
best,
Pres

My furry companion passed a couple of weeks ago, and everything is so quiet without her. 

Yeah lots of compression and when you grab a ball to start, really sticking with it for a bit before working on it.  Stupid S-cracks

I have a nice Bluetooth speaker setup in my shed that I blast tunes on.  But most of the time I'm throwing alone in silence.  
There are also a few camcorders for recording what I'm doing so I can watch it back and/or make YouTube videos.  That's kind of like having a companion, I feel like the cameras are a person and talk to them too.  I also talk to myself while I'm throwing even if the cameras are off though, so I guess the voices in my head are another companion haha. 
Recently I found a rat or squirrel had visited my studio, so I wonder if they have taken up residence.  I don't think so because there's no food and my cat is in and out all day, but there was evidence!
 

What's on my workbench? My sister!! She drove up from Virginia. She has been taking some pottery classes in Roanoke. So she loaded her car with greenware (!!) and we bisqued them over the last few days. Now she is glazing her work for the glaze fire. The 05 fire was very lightly loaded with just her items but I have pieces to add for the cone 5 fire, so the kiln will be more balanced and full. She doesn't know I took these pics--I was sneaking around outside the studio (she doesn't like being photographed--opps, too bad!) It has been great fun doing this somewhat "together". 

That looks like a fun project!  Hmmm, brb, going to add wedding favors to my website 

Some of 75 assorted mini vases for wedding favours, 60 done, 15 more to do.

 

Got to open the kiln last night, almost everything came out great, which is a blessing for sure.  Started another glaze load last night and hope it's just as dope.
 

Got a huge order of honey pots & mugs, just hope my back holds out as this may be the last large order I’m capable to make.
Joy

Busy guy! I thought you were retired 
I just went through 150 lbs of porcelain trying to find one that I can throw with.  I found one that I think I like, but need to see how it does firing.  I made a bunch of bowls, bottles and flower pots with it.
I need to make a lamp for my mom, and I need to get back to bowls, plates and mugs soon.  This week I am going to do a lot of work, hopefully get a bisque and 3 glaze firings in this weekend.  
I contacted a new farmers market in my town and I have a list of things I need to borrow or buy in order to do the market.  A square reader, a canopy, business cards and a sign at the very minimum for this one, and hopefully will start to be able to build up enough show things to sign up for a few holiday shows.  Fingers crossed anyway.

Yeah, I am retired, but what does that have to do with the love of making pots?? At any rate, I am also painting a bathroom, as my wife decided we needed a color change with the new shower in the downstairs bath. The old one was thin plastic liner that I poked a hole in the corner when caulking. New stall looks so much better.
Getting started next week on mugs and honey jars, as the order should be coming in before too long. Need to buy more clay soon as the last of the boxes is nearly gone. Think it will still be the hazelnut and the SC630.

Busy guy! I thought you were retired 
I just went through 150 lbs of porcelain trying to find one that I can throw with.  I found one that I think I like, but need to see how it does firing.  I made a bunch of bowls, bottles and flower pots with it.
I need to make a lamp for my mom, and I need to get back to bowls, plates and mugs soon.  This week I am going to do a lot of work, hopefully get a bisque and 3 glaze firings in this weekend.  
I contacted a new farmers market in my town and I have a list of things I need to borrow or buy in order to do the market.  A square reader, a canopy, business cards and a sign at the very minimum for this one, and hopefully will start to be able to build up enough show things to sign up for a few holiday shows.  Fingers crossed anyway.

Working on a bird bath 18" diameter, a long loaf paten for double chalice set, and first four of a series of  floor vases for Christmas. Pictures to follow.
 
best,
Pres

Assorted diamond discs, that's about it!  And of course all of the black Costco bins with yellow lids that are packed full of mugs and bowls and plates.  I have I think 6 completely full now, I can't really pick them up and move them around because they're too big and heavy, but when I end up doing a show I will repack into more manageable loads.
One other thing I like to do after firing is to take pictures of the work, so I will pile it up inside and then wait for a cloudy morning to bring it all outside for pictures on my rotting deck.  For that it's an ancient Canon DSLR with a really really nice 100mm f2.8 macro lens and adobe Lightroom for editing.
 

Got to open the kiln last night, almost everything came out great, which is a blessing for sure.  Started another glaze load last night and hope it's just as dope.
 

Sponge holders and berry bowls, just loaded the kiln with these and some 6 lb bowls.