Clay Blog Review: June 2013

Highlighting the best pottery blogging of the past month! Because potters that blog deserve some recognition for their effort.

Is the year really half over?! Unbelievable. At least we have another month’s worth of blogs to read! If you missed last month of the CBR it is here.

The Can’t Miss

•  Gary Jackson shares the secret behind Tracey’s Letters.
• Bentham Pottery gives a step by step look at Newspaper Resist.
• Liz Crain offers The Start to Finish Task List for Executing an Exhibit, Show or Sale.
• Wirerabbit Pots explains the current setup for foil saggar firing.
• Cindy Douglass shares The Process of Making Mugs.

Process and Technique

• Liberty Stoneware is always Thinking Ahead.
• Dawn Whitehand shares a video about Throwing donuts!! (Mmmm… donuts.)

• Carole Epp shares a video showing Geribi Ceramics – Painting a platter.
• Kitty Shepherd is working on a New Vase with Ray Guns and an update.
• Rae Dunn shows us the late night studio scene.
• The Whynot Pottery Blog has some images of packing the kiln.
• Potter Jo needs little persuasion to get her jugs out.
• Forrest Gard shares his Pledge to a Bloggin Summer.
• Brandon Schwartz shows what is Currently In The Clay Studio.
• Lori Buff enjoys Painting Dragons.
• Catherine White shares #12 summer solstice 2013.
• Dawn Whitehand posts a photo essay: An Afternoon in the Studio.
• Tony Clennell must be trying to embarrass himself but makes some great teapots.
• Anna has some Bowls, slipped and carved.
• Cynthia Cusick asks How does this happen?
• Marian Williams shares her Week In Clay and poses a question about Raku and Refiring Pottery: Is It Worth It?!
• Christine is Having fun with the new state of the art tile extruder.
• Greta Michelle Joachim is playing with sodium silicate.
• Amy Huacani proclaims that Plate Stackers Work Wonders!
• Judi Tavill has been working In the studio.
• Anna Couper shows some work in progress.

Tips and Technical

• Brandon Schwartz is Testing Decals and shares some old Glaze Tests and some New Glaze Tests (of the ^6 variety.)
  

• DirtKicker Pottery shares the bisque prep routine before glazing.
• Lori Watts gives us a Progress Report for her glaze conversion project, digs up a recipe for Vivika’s Strawberry and now has a Blue Flame after getting the burners cleaned.
• Melissa has “Fun” With Those F*%&ing Stains.
• Meagan Chaney shares A great glaze for figure sculpture.
• Karatsu Pots shares some Postfire thoughts.
• Marian Williams shares Woodfiring Lessons Learned.
• Tony Clennell shares the simple recipe for Michelle’s Purple. (It’s not really purple!)
• Marla James shares a bunch of informative posts about high temp wire.
• Amy Huacani seeks Wisdom for an unexpected outcome.

Recent Work

• Potter Jo shares Recent pots fresh from the kiln.
• Patricia Griffin shows One Bird, Two Orange Spots.
• Christine has Pots and pictures from Spring Fling.
• Bridgman Pottery shares pitchers again.
• Round Rabbit has another Shop update and another.
• Daria Claiborne posts a few more pics and some images of teapots.
• Tony Clennell shows a few pots From the maiden voyage.
• Brandon Schwartz has new Glaze Fire Results.
• Whynot Pottery Blog has a few quiet ones.
• Jemerick Art Pottery gets ready to take Double necks to Lakefront.
• Ang Walford has a minute up her sleeve…
• Tracey Broome is Back from the land of Enchantment.
• Rae Dunn shares some new vessels à la française and many pears.
• Carter Gillies has a few Pott shots and stepping stones.
• Flye School says Have A Good Summer by posting some student work.
• FetishGhost has some tasty HardCandy and Fiddler n’ Fireflies.

Thoughts

• Carter Gillies sets the internet straight, explores Art, teaching, and the meaning of compassion, discusses Art and Magic with Chuck Wendig and tries to stay Unstuck.
• Whitney Smith battles art demons and confesses that she is a recovering perfectionist.
• BPracticalPottery shares some thoughts about Techno-ology: Disruptive Tech and the Human touch.
• Carole Epp welcomes a guest post: “Look what I found.” Thoughts about pottery by Steve S. Saroff.

Interviews

• Brian Jones interviews Careen Stoll and Michael Strand.
• Molly Hatch does a Q +A with Kohler!
• Ben Carter has Jill Foote-Hutton and Vipoo Srivilasa on the ToaRCR Podcast.
• The NCECA Blog interviews 2013 Emerging Artist Linda Swanson.

The Rest

• The New Republic has an article about Michael Cardew: The Potter as Great Modern Artist.
• Liz Crain explains Artist-Customer Satisfaction.
• Graciela Testa Lynt gives the steps to Reycling Clay and Cleaning the pugmill.
• Paul Jessop shows off the New Home for Barrington Pottery and the Time line of creation.
• Mea Rhee shares her Budget-Friendly Photo Stand.
• Dan Finnegan has a series of posts about Kiln Building including Casting the Arch.
• Ivan Wozniak considers ceramics of the future.
• Kelly Kessler is working on a new artist statement and shares a great Photo.
• Carole Epp shares interesting videos: Craft in America, Jugtown Pottery and  TORTUS: SPIN.

• Dennis Allen asks the age-old question, How Big is Yours?, can spell Klopfenstein now that he has a treadle wheel and tells Things He Knows.
  
• Jeni Hansen Gard posts some images from the Belden Brick Factory.
• Bentham Pottery shares some Recent Discoveries.
• Objective Clay has a lecture by Brian R. Jones: Carving Out a Future.
• John Baumann does some Thinking Outside The Box and shares a poem about All Us Potters.
• Lori Buff shares Understanding Color by Guest Blogger Intellicore.
• Petr Novak gives a few thoughts about Cracked pots.
• Robing Hopper provides some INSPIRATION: Garden Images to Glaze Painting.
• The Hopeful Potter goes full time.
• Cindy Douglass posts a Pottery Haiku and gives an essay On Being Left Handed.
• Rachel Dorn made Mistakes Firing other People’s Work.
• Scott Cooper answers some questions about his project to find out about his blog audience.
• The NCECA Blog posts 2013 Conference Survey Results.
• Ben Carter shares some evolving traditions from Way Outback.
• Gary Jackson notices the The Scarlett Letter of Shame that some sellers had to post for a certain art fair.
• Carter Gillies shares some thoughts on The Aesthetic Experience of Dining.

Well, there you have it. It seems a little lighter compared to other months but still a good selection of reading. Maybe I’m being more picky… or maybe it’s busy season for potters and there is less time to blog.

Also, if you didn’t catch it, there was a post explaining some Small Site Updates. There are a bunch of new blogs added to the master list of pottery blogs and are now being considered for the Clay Blog Review! Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions let me know.