Fall is so busy in the studio!
The Brownies have been here again and their pinch pots are cooling in the kiln.
Every one should be getting a badge!
We've had another great opening down at W78th!
Great to see everybody!!
I have turned to traditional gift wares for the season.
And No, I don't feel like I sold my soul to pay bills this year.
It's actually a nice break from the usual work.
Finding quirks with the new brown clay Standard 211, it does not like to be pushed into
oval footed wares. Cracks up the wa-zoo! I have tossed an awful lot work in the past month.
Stuff looks great going in the bisque, coming out, I put the shard bin next to the kiln.
Even taking as much as three weeks to dry under plastic is not helping so I will be making
a load of round pots with this clay body. Shame because it throws like a dream.
Oh yes those are batter bowls and colanders…..
Gett'n Sprigy With It…
sorry I couldn't stop myself :)
and coffee jars…… how long has it been?
making models for fish molds……
and burnished large pots for horsehair.
Lots of weaving this winter, but need to fire before the snow flies.
and the big kiln still needs rewiring………
oh to be a potter!
You sound happy about your new direction, Sandy ... good to hear it's all coming together (other than the new clay ;))
ReplyDeleteit's great to see what you're doing in the studio. something has changed with your clay body or is this the first time you've used it ?
ReplyDeleteHey Brenda! So good to see you out and about the blogosphere :) I just love that learning curve!
ReplyDeleteHey Colleen! This is my first trip around with this particular clay body. In fact this is my first dance with brown clay since 1984, phew!
ReplyDeleteTested a 50 pound box and really liked it. Didn't seem too picky and loved the way it throws. So I did what every potter does…… develop a good glaze and order 1,000 pounds. Spent today throwing bowls and colanders and still love throwing the stuff!
What I did on my summer vacation………
Yeah, sometimes it takes awhile to find out what a new clay body can do but sometimes the manufacturer will make 'improvements' to a well known clay body that causes havoc in the studio. I use two clay bodies - the iron in the brown clay makes most of my glazes much more interesting. That clay isn't very good for finer things like colanders because of the particle size so I go with a white body there. Looking forward to seeing how your glazes turn out on the new body.
ReplyDeleteSing HO for the life of a bear!
ReplyDeleteClay body changes can be a royal pain. I currently have 500 lbs of a terra cotta that seems to loathe my large handbuilt birdbath/calamari servers! You appear to have found some pretty cool solutions. How does it feel to be working with brown clay after so many years of white?
Colleen, I used to use that manganese speck clay and trimming was a bear!
ReplyDeleteI will never give up my porcelain :)
This brown clay is so much fun to throw, PLASTIQUE! I can just stretch it out like mad with that wheel flying.
I dont' think people understand it takes a good year or even two to adapt to a new clay body in your studio. By the time you work through glazes, glaze fit, idiosyncrasies in the clay itself….. but it's fun so why not!
Suzi! I keep threatening to go Terra Cotta and even bought a box last year but it scummed in the firing so badly I called the company. Oh, sorry you got the Terra Cotta with barium! Well how would I know that? It was no where in the description. I ended up firing it higher and the scumming did disappear but then turned ugly brown, not what I was going for. I retreated back to white stoneware.
ReplyDeleteI do love throwing this new body! Spending a month throwing. Wow I need to do a blog on too much time in the studio this time of the year! Came in at midnight last night and headed back out this morning…. arch! Getting weird, talking to myself :) I know most of us go to crazy town this time of the year!