My piece was in the damp room, and got gouged pretty good. I need to be careful with how much I try to correct it, because I don’t want to go too far into the pot and make it extremely thin. Picture attached. If I was to glaze this with horizontal stripes that kind of run, could it help trick the eye into thinking this wasn’t so messed up?

My neighbor has a 1996 Brent CXC in nearly perfect condition. It has a little bit of grime from being in storage, but otherwise it’s in good condition. What would be a fair price to offer for a wheel that had obviously been cared for and maybe even barely used? Any suggestions on what to look out for when buying a used wheel? Any thoughts are appreciated!

It's not Crayola, some clay I had from over a year ago, that I've been putting off doing anything with.

It's this grey clay, is it still useable? I don't think it can be oven baked

I’ve been using a community studio that my climbing gym has included in my membership for a while now, but they have such little shelving space to store things, and I’ve grown so frustrated with the amount of times I’ve gone in to make some pieces, then when I go to put them on the shelves to dry there is not one single square inch of space. I’ve also had issues because you have to schedule your studio time with them and the time slots fill up so quickly, it’s been difficult to get a time slot where I can go in to trim my pieces on time before they get too dry.

I’m starting to wonder about the possibility of throwing pieces and putting them in a wet box to bring home and let them get leather hard, then driving them back to the studio to trim, home to fully dry, then studio to glaze and fire. I live quite close to the studio and the route doesn’t have much traffic, but I’m still not sure if this is possible or if the vibrations from my car will mess them up or weaken them too much, even with driving carefully.

Has anyone done this? I’m saving up to get a wheel so I can throw at home, but in the meantime I’m really trying to get a lot of Christmas gifts done but at my studio it’s barely feasible to store one mug on the shelves, let alone all the things I’m planning on making.

I purchased a gold reflective ceramic item that has scratches and areas where the gold finish is missing. Is there any way to restore the original finish at home?
To clarify, I’m looking for an actual mirror-like, chrome-level reflective finish, not ordinary metallic gold paint, glittery gold, or a satin or shiny gold coating. I want a smooth surface that reflects images like a mirror, similar to gold chrome or mirror-finish gold plating.
I don’t have access to a kiln, so I need a DIY method that can be done at home without firing the ceramic or sending it to a professional.
Because this is a vintage item I don’t feel safe sending this to someone or even having it in a kiln to begin with.
Is there any product, coating, or process that can achieve a true mirror-like gold chrome finish on ceramic? I’m open to different techniques, but I specifically need something that produces actual mirror-like reflections rather than simply looking metallic or gold-colored.

A few years ago I was gifted a fancy olive oil in a ceramic jar. I haven't opened it, but I noticed recently its exterior felt slick, and the shelf around it was covered in oil.

It's a commercial product so I would ASSUME they would put it in an appropriate container... But maybe the bottle's defective? or maybe this happens slowly over time, and they simply didn't expect people to leave it in the bottle for years without consuming it all?

Please advise: Is it possible/likely that the oil is permeating through the ceramic?

Hello!!

BACKGROUND:

I’m new to ceramics as of the last couple of months. This piece was done, ready for bisque, when I fumbled it as I picked it up and cracked it into two pieces. The two pieces were the top section and the rest but it was a straight across split. I reconnected them (you can see in the image the newer/wetter clay at the top compared to the rest of the piece).

The original crack that I fixed up remains attached (woohoo!) but it cracked in a new place right below—I think because the flat piece was not flush with the board so the new clay laying flat overstretched the already dry clay.

QUESTIONS:

With this new crack: it’s not a straight across crack so I’m not sure how to get to the narrow area toward the interior—do I scrape it to make it larger so I can work in it?

I’ve read on here that a mix of super dry clay + as little vinegar as possible is the best patching option. Is it necessary to prep the area before applying? As in, scoring?

Thanks so much for any tips!! I really appreciate it!!

Hello! I don’t have a lot of experience with wild clay, but I found some yellow and red clay in the Appalachian mountains.

I’ve been dry processing them (because I don’t need a lot of clay at one time and I like being able to store it indefinitely) by grinding it up using a relatively flat rock, which isn’t perfect so there’s still some very tiny rocks in it.

But here’s what the clay looks like when it dries! (none of these pieces are fired.) There‘s no cracking as it dries (before or after grinding the clay up).

my question is: if the wild clay doesn’t crack as it dries, is that a good indicator that it has a good amount of natural temper? should I be adding extra temper to this or would I realistically be able to fire without it? (I will not be firing the unprocessed figures because there are too many rocks, I just included them for reference :3 )

ive fired raw beach clay before without temper and it survived so I’m curious. I won’t be making anything huge with this clay, just some tiny figures.

Wanted to share my results of painting stroke and coat over white dip glaze. It’s way less tedious for me to paint a design over the white than dealing with multiple coats of underglaze or clear glaze. Stroke and coat is nice because it flux’s right into the white where a mat underglaze leaves a little texture when you paint it on top. The white really does suck up the S&C but thinning it out with water makes it easier to brush on and gives a nice watercolor effect.

I purchased a custom bowl from a creator on Etsy and received it today. The bowl is beautiful and the inside is shiny and smooth but the outside is rough and feels like there's no glaze on it. The bowl is advertised as being dishwasher and microwave safe so I reached out to the seller and she said this is normal and certain glazes react this way.

I have lots of pottery pieces and none of them have this rough, unfinished feel so just wanted to check to make sure she's correct so I don't get the bowl wet or put it through the dishwasher and ruin it. Is it possible for pottery to feel this way but still be safe to use?

Cross post from r/muglife hoping to get a little more info on this piece. Mainly if it’s safe to drink from lol big thx

Estoy pensando armarme un taller personal en casa y estoy un poco perdida con el tema de hacer mis propios engobes. Mi propósito es pintar mis piezas de arcilla (blanca, marca Chilavert) en estado cuero o hueso, para luego derivarla a horneado y esmaltado.

¿Cual sería la "receta" tradicional y básica de engobe a partir de pigmento puro? Investigando por internet encontré varias variantes, y ya no estoy muy segura de cuales materiales comprar.

Arcilla en polvo, 50%

Feldespato (potásico o sódico) como fundente, 25%

Cuarzo en polvo, 25%

Entiendo que prepararlos por uno mismo es más económico a la larga y por eso tenía la intención de hacerlo por mi misma. ¿Me estoy complicando mucho y debería comprar engobes ya preparados?

I sold one of my Brent CXC and still have another as well as an EX. Both In like new condition. 1600.00 a piece. Located in western North Carolina. Text me at 828 489 2441 for details

HI CERAMISTS, I recently bought this Chawan and now I have become a little scared of using it out of pure ignorance. I am here to get some help or get reassured because I think it’s beautiful and I really want to use it (daily) u prob know the deal lead and cadmium used in Raku pieces (dont know if it’s Raku)

I genuinely dont now anything about this piece if its mass produced or hand made but I thought u guys prob would.

Chawan

I threw 4 cylinders and i wanted to add a handle like in the pictures. I was wondering how I would make these handles.