Reviewing the clay blogs during the month of March, in case you missed something good.
Process and Technique
- Tracey Broome shares tools and tips and enjoys the sounds of silence.
- Lisa shares some tricks and inspiration.
- Michael Mahan has been busy throwing:
- Carter Gillies talks about making each pot individually and his bootylicious mugs.
- Gary Jackson shows some step-by-step stamping and has Amy Higgason drop by for a surface decoration demo and packs up the kiln.
- Lori Watts makes 102 mugs in 84 hours and one handled serving bowls.
- Scott Cooper posts some greenware photos and a few more.
- Linda Starr tries thicker plates, a cat named Boris and a not so rickety cart.
- Potter Jo explains rolling the rim and leaves the throwing lines.
- Dan Finnegan shares what’s in the studio and some knob news and has a good week.
- Ben Carter talks Kohiki and shares a video about decorating with underglazes and sgraffito.
- Ann Tubbs prints on unfired glaze: first steps, inking the print, transferring the image, the image revealed.
- Hannah McAndrew shares videos of firing and throwing:
- John Britt trims a drip ring on camera:
- Paul Jessop works on slipware jugs and knows what busy means.
- Keith at MudStuffing presents the Clay360 Project: day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. (pretty awesome!)
- Yolande throws a teabowl and Lee throws a stein for your viewing pleasure.
- Liberty Stoneware is in a decorating frenzy.
- The Modern Pottery Studio shares beautifully done video of the process.
- Dina takes us on a studio tour (with her video camera).
- Liz Crain shows how to make a wad pot.
- Amy Woo works on animal themed pots.
- Varda Sharon Kramer glazes with Sapphire (maybe) Blue.
- Christine has been throwing.
- Jay Wiese attempts some bottle vases.
- Whitney Smith is breaking up with… her Cake Stand?
- OlliePots works with a textile block.
- Hodaka uses bats with a hole (for drying).
- DirtKicker Pottery shares the design process of a yarn bowl.
Tips and Technical
- Grass tells some pros and cons of glaze calculation and tells of materials: iron, copper, cobalt, manganese and nickel, rutile, chromium. He also has Rachel Kingston share some info on Keraflex.
- Meagan Chaney shares a recipe for ^04 Todd’s Texture.
- John Britt shares some glaze recipes: ^10R Ice, Ice Baby, ^10 black slip and Celadon, ^6 VC Matte with rutile, coral stain, tin and chrome oxides.
- Paul Jessop replaces kiln elements and takes pictures.
- Gary Jackson’s secret to making clean holes? Power tools!
- Sue Pariseau uses biodegradable garbage bags to dry her pots perfectly.
- Lori Watts uses Elmer’s Glue as a resist.
- Jeanette Manchester Harris changes the firing program.
Finished Work
- Lucy Fagella has some fresh mugs.
- Hannah McAndrew has new dishes.
- Paul Jessop also has some slipware pots on his shelf.
- Rob of Simple Circle Studios finished some butter dishes and cups.
- Round Rabbit has fancy accessories available.
- Clementina Ceramics sets up shop at the Design Indaba.
- Hodaka shares a pair of teapots.
- Patricia Bridges gets a ‘wow’ square platter from the last firing.
- Tony Clennell shows a few colorful plates.
- Patricia Griffin adds color to her woodcut pieces.
- Amy Woo pulls some new bowls from the kiln.
- Ron Philbeck is packing up new pots:
- Gerry shares some new product.
- Ann shows some recent work including faux oyster shells and a plate of fake food.
- Hollis Engley has lots of bowls.
- Luke Langholz unloads the kiln.
- Jim has some more beautifully decorated pieces finished.
- Tracey Broome finishes a set of family heirlooms.
- Mom Cave Pottery completes large and mini lidded pots.
- Michael Mahan shares his newest work from the Manabigama.
- Liberty Stoneware has pictures of a few fresh pots.
- Mug Revolution introduces faith mugs.
- Varda Sharon Kramer finds the real Sapphire Blue and a few other combinations.
- Joy Tanner has photographs of new work from the kiln.
- Deb Thuman has new work from a gas firing.
- Karatsu Pots finally has new pots.
- Stone Lotus Pottery introduces some new glaze colors.
Thoughts
- Carter Gillies “rambles” about self deception: maybe not such a bad thing.
- He also shares a post by Anthony Brandt telling why arts education is a civil rights issue and then tells the importance of being bad.
We may have to disagree that the lines between good art objects and bad are so clear, but it seems that the activity of art is seldom wrong. There isn’t good creativity and bad creativity, though we may judge the outcomes in those terms, or we may see it directed in questionable ways.
- Carter then makes an “epic” case for art and discusses the “art game” and revisits the importance of being bad.
- Potter Jo shares some inner turmoil:
I am increasingly starting to wonder whether it is actually more detrimental to show or sell work I am not that excited about, than not to exhibit at all.
- FetishGhost also struggles with some internal dialogue:
I haven’t been able to produce quantity for a few months now and I’m feeling the deflation of self worth.
The Rest
- Michael Kline considers the priceof giving 50% to a gallery vs. the publicity.
- Lori Buff finds herself finding the negatives of the best job in the world and shares her version of tent weights. Then reviews Eva Zeisel’s book, On Design.
- Pottery Rachel shows off some tagsthat tell the handmade story.
- Ben Carter shares an excerpt of his talk for the Evolving Roles of Residencies panel and gives us a glimpse of the Hamada studio.
- Heather Knight shares her distaste for copy cats.
- Tracey Broome is also annoyed that someone might copy her work and considers shows, galleries and Etsy.
- Linda Starr shares thoughts about what she feels is or isn’t copying.
- Liberty Stoneware shows some archaeological remains from the Piercy Pottery site.
- Carter Gillies talks of his love affair with mugs.
- Tracey Broome freaks out about prices and shares advice about the jury process.
- Marian Williams shows how a stroller can be converted into a tool cart.
- Mea Rhee talks about her shifting business strategy.
- Potter Jo is annoyed with cheap, mass produced pottery.
- Lori Watts considers future booth ideas and sketches a layout. Then she shares what she learns after a day at CraftBoston.
- Scott Cooper recalls his experience volunteering at a school.
- Carter Gillies shares some of Seth Godin’s educational manifesto and offers Etsy’s answer to the AKAR yunomi show.
- Aaron Sober shares thoughts on the MFA system.
- Brandon Phillips starts building his dream studio.
- Gary Jackson is ready for his closeup and gets his studio nice and clean.
- Carole Epp finds a must have book: Humor in Craft and loves the self published pottery books on Blurb. She also shares an article about materials and a TED talk by Michael Strand:
- Amy Waller shares a link to the online version of James Allan’s Islamic Ceramics.
- Barbara Dunshee teaches Russel (the dog) a new trick.
- Kristen Kieffer shares her mentors and some images of their work.
- DirtKicker Pottery makes a plaster slurry bowl and trims it.
- Pottery By Lisa tells how the Starving Artist Expo came to be.
- A few different blogs review the book Red Brick Black Mountain White Clay.
- Yolande Clark talks of the need for standards while selling pots online.
So there you have it. Most of the great clay blog posts from the past month. I’ll stay busy until next month just watching and taking notes from all the video. Thanks to all the clay bloggers for sharing. If you feel that something is missing let me know. Thanks for reading!
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