liambesaw

I wish I had an economical way of preventing it, but it's gonna be in the 20s at night this week and even with a space heater going it sometimes isn't enough.  But I've got a trick up my sleeve for at least this cold snap...  I'm down to my last bits of clay and won't be able to drive down to Seattle pottery until probably after the new year... So take that mother nature! Hah!

Here's the reclaim jars, had to torch them a little because the reclaim was pretttttttty soft, but they came out pretty good.  They'll all get lids and handles in the coming days

Here's the reclaim jars, had to torch them a little because the reclaim was pretttttttty soft, but they came out pretty good.  They'll all get lids and handles in the coming days

Well worked my way through all of my bags of iron-rich stoneware.... Or so I thought.  100 lbs of reclaim looks just about ready to throw with, so I'll be wedging up some of that tonight to see if it's still got legs.  While burning through my bags I used this stuff called Goldbar Brown and it was pretty stiff, but it made throwing large pretty easy, might have to pick some more of it up if I like the fired appearance.  I made a pretty good sized lidded jar with it and I know with my standard clay I would have had the torch out a few times at least.

Here's the reclaim jars, had to torch them a little because the reclaim was pretttttttty soft, but they came out pretty good.  They'll all get lids and handles in the coming days

Well worked my way through all of my bags of iron-rich stoneware.... Or so I thought.  100 lbs of reclaim looks just about ready to throw with, so I'll be wedging up some of that tonight to see if it's still got legs.  While burning through my bags I used this stuff called Goldbar Brown and it was pretty stiff, but it made throwing large pretty easy, might have to pick some more of it up if I like the fired appearance.  I made a pretty good sized lidded jar with it and I know with my standard clay I would have had the torch out a few times at least.

Ran out of my normal clay so I've been going through some other dark clays I bought to try out.  Been working on a new form I like so I've got a handful of these drying up right now, all different weights.  The one in the picture here is 7 lbs, have a few 5 lbs ones and a few 2 lbs ones as well.  
Ended up recycling 50 lbs last week, I have wedged most of it, still have about 15 lbs to wedge and bag.  Not sure how long I should let it sit before trying to throw with it.
I have 50 lbs of porcelain and another 100 lbs of white stoneware I want to get through before I make another clay order, so I'll be cleaning my wheel and tools at some point this week.  Hey I might even get some free time over the 4 day weekend hah.

Wish I had known Liam, as I was there three weeks ago. Could have had a chat over a brew.
 
best,
Pres

Hey that would have been fun! 

Well worked my way through all of my bags of iron-rich stoneware.... Or so I thought.  100 lbs of reclaim looks just about ready to throw with, so I'll be wedging up some of that tonight to see if it's still got legs.  While burning through my bags I used this stuff called Goldbar Brown and it was pretty stiff, but it made throwing large pretty easy, might have to pick some more of it up if I like the fired appearance.  I made a pretty good sized lidded jar with it and I know with my standard clay I would have had the torch out a few times at least.

It's definitely more work to wedge, center and pull but it seems to take a beating really well.  Just finished throwing a couple 10 pound pots with the reclaim, it definitely needed a softer touch but good news is, it's still plenty plastic!

Wow, I struggle to keep my "studio" in the 50s even with a propane heater!  
One thing I have found very helpful is I picked up a little 2 quart crock pot for 7.99 at Target and I turn it on when I get home from work and it's darn near boiling by the time I get my kids in bed and am able to get out there.  I just top it off with some cold water and it's just about right.  I turn it off when I start throwing and it stays nice and warm for a few hours.

Since my shed is so small, I have a space heater to keep things from freezing, the thermostat set to 40.  For when I'm actually out there and working I have a propane tank top heater.  The propane heater really kicks the heat out so I only run it for a few minutes at a time.

Wow, I struggle to keep my "studio" in the 50s even with a propane heater!  
One thing I have found very helpful is I picked up a little 2 quart crock pot for 7.99 at Target and I turn it on when I get home from work and it's darn near boiling by the time I get my kids in bed and am able to get out there.  I just top it off with some cold water and it's just about right.  I turn it off when I start throwing and it stays nice and warm for a few hours.

Ran out of my normal clay so I've been going through some other dark clays I bought to try out.  Been working on a new form I like so I've got a handful of these drying up right now, all different weights.  The one in the picture here is 7 lbs, have a few 5 lbs ones and a few 2 lbs ones as well.  
Ended up recycling 50 lbs last week, I have wedged most of it, still have about 15 lbs to wedge and bag.  Not sure how long I should let it sit before trying to throw with it.
I have 50 lbs of porcelain and another 100 lbs of white stoneware I want to get through before I make another clay order, so I'll be cleaning my wheel and tools at some point this week.  Hey I might even get some free time over the 4 day weekend hah.

Two Kilns are cooling  with glaze wares so tables are empty-New throwing starts in am-salt cellars,miso bowls and small cereal bowls for am.
Only a few fires left this year. I'm way ahead with  at this point a canceled show from broken arm-sounds strange but van is still packed full and back sock is piling up priced and boxed.
 

Haha yeah, my own dumb fault of course.  I was in reduction starting at cone 4, when I turned down the gas to soak it allowed more air to burn and the temperature went up.  It's always a good time for a lesson, that's what I say!

Haha yeah, my own dumb fault of course.  I was in reduction starting at cone 4, when I turned down the gas to soak it allowed more air to burn and the temperature went up.  It's always a good time for a lesson, that's what I say!

If you know anything at all about Native American culture, you know that a 19 year old white girl running around Coachella in a feathered headdress is like dressing up as a "sexy decorated war veteran" and going to a Remembrance Day ceremony. It's super disrespectful, and it's in really bad taste. There's always going to be someone who says "hey, I don't mind looking at that," or "what's the big deal? It was meant as a compliment!" but if it's your culture and your tradition, you know more about it than an outsider. If someone says "hey, the way you're doing that is not okay!" as an outsider to that culture, you need to heed that. You don't get to tell someone else what they should or shouldn't be offended by if you have less knowledge on the subject. As an outsider to a culture, you may be well meaning as an individual, but many things have been done with good intentions that had catastrophic outcomes for the people on the receiving end.
There are some really big holdover attitudes from British colonialism to just assume that another culture's artworks, religion and traditions all carry equal weight within that culture, or that the weight placed on those things are somehow analogous to how we behave in our own. In a lot of cases, it's not true, and I think that's where white folks tend to get frustrated and confused. We lack important, accurate information, and it's a serious effort to track that information down because there's a lot less in depth information recorded about other cultures than the dominant one. So we do dumb things in the name of trying to learn about something that wind up being hurtful.
But what about artistic growth and cross-cultural influence? What about all the cross pollination that happened between China, Japan and Korea in terms of celadon development? What about blue and white ware's influence on middle Eastern ceramics? How about a more modern phenomena of European Christian missionaries going to Japan and teaching the locals about knitting, a handcraft they hadn't developed themselves yet? Japanese knitting patterns are now some of the most interesting and challenging out there, and the colours used in the yarn choices of Japanese knitting designers definitely shows a distinct sensibility from European choices.
That kind of cultural borrowing is totally okay, because no one places a religious or spiritual value on knitting. There are some interesting cultural traditions around knitting design, but the motifs that are traditional in different areas generally don't have a deeply emotional/spiritual significance attached to them. There is an active conversation being had between the two cultures. Or, in the ceramic cases above, there were some shared cultural points (Zen Buddhism throughout Asia) where people were starting from, and then taking the techniques in their own directions. 
So I suppose I think cultural inspiration is possible to do responsibly, but you have to be willing to put a LOT of work into the research and learning part in order to be properly informed. I think it's best to had some direct, meaningful contact with that culture. It ought to mean something to you personally, and not just be a cool subject you learned about in school or in a book. I think you also have to not look at the specific motifs or techniques that are being used, but look at what the artists that use them are looking at and being inspired by. You have to be able to continue the conversation that's being had in that area with your own voice and contribute something intelligent to that conversation.
Otherwise, it's like Liam says and you're just profiting off someone else's ideas, which isn't cool.

Oh great, there's no hope for me, I'm gonna have to do this til I die to catch up

That's not what I meant by beautiful.  If you are intentionally exploiting a culture to simply make money, that is bad intent even if it's something beautiful, maybe I used the wrong word there.  A better word would be pure?  There is a big difference of intent between inspiration and exploitation.  
A huge problem is you can't infer intent from looking at something.  There has to be context, and most of the time context is missing, especially on the internet.  

I feel like most cultures beyond american view this as flattery.  I know that the Japanese and Korean do.  I'm generally speaking here, but it's tourism culture in Japan to wear a kimono or participate in a tea ceremony.  I feel like it's the same thing.  Think about if you had to adhere to a certain American culture in your pottery because you're beholden to your culture.  I think it would be pretty boring and close minded.  I have seen italian videos of majolica demonstrations where they are happy to share their method and culture.  
I feel like the culture wars that are popular right now involve a vocal minority and dont truly represent popular opinion.  That said, appropriating culture is a hot issue right now, and my thoughts are all about intent.  If you're making something to purposely shortchange a culture or profit specifically on that, I don't think that's appropriate.  However if you're developing a personal style that draws inspiration from a culture, I don't think that is the same.  Basically if your intent is exploitation, bad.  If your intent is to create beautiful things, how can it be wrong.

Oh great, there's no hope for me, I'm gonna have to do this til I die to catch up

Oh great, there's no hope for me, I'm gonna have to do this til I die to catch up

I've been throwing for 26 years, and I'm still getting better.