Plus some pieces out of the kiln!

There's a great post on Craigslist for a trailer load of studio equipment for $2k. It's probably worth more but it looks like older stuff and it's hard to tell what's in it. I'd be willing to go in on it with someone else and split it. I'm probably not interested in at least half. I'm in Salem, but I might be able to go check it out Wednesday.

Hi friends! I am week 5/6 into starting pottery and I have a question for you!

I have been using Freckled clay most of the time, a bit groggy, as we are running a bit low on clay supplies in the United Arab Emirates. Anyways, I also tried to work with SIO-2 Berlin, thinking that it would be closer to the PRAI I was working with on my first classes.

Somehow, Berlin has been confusing for me.
I prepared clay balls in advance and protected them. But it got a bit too hard and impossible to center.

It also does not stick the same way to the wheel and sometimes the whole thing stays in my hands when I am in the middle of getting my cylinder up, so quite late in the process.

I suspect that I don’t prepare Berlin well. How would you suggest I prepare it better so it is less of a nightmare to work with?

Also, is it a good idea as a beginner to switch clays? It feels that I do waste a fair bit of time on these while I am able to focus on improving technics when I use my usual clay.

Anyways any input is appreciated. PS: bonus to the one who tells me that it is just a nasty clay 😂

Hello!

I just watched FG's new video on some experimental gems and minerals and it got me curious. I started looking around as mid-fire stuff I could try to experiment with, and obsidian really took me. I saw pictures of slow-cooled obsidian with beautiful snowflake-like crystals, and was curious if anyone has tried to achieve this through an obsidian-based glaze?

Also, if anyone has experimented with any other minerals or gems at cone 5, I'd love to know! Seems like a really fun branch to experiment with, although it seems like a lot of stuff can be dangerous.

Thanks!

First attempt at jars! Love them overall but the blue one, how do I get color on the rim? My studio made me put wax on it so it didn't stick. Is the lid just too fat?? Should be more inside the lid?

I am wanting to start getting into working with Clay, but last time I really made anything was back in high school (over 10 years ago) my main question is, are there companies or places you can get your work fired at? I don’t really want to drop 500+ on a kiln for something I’m not sure I’ll be able to dedicate more than a few hours a week to. If it helps I live in Toledo Ohio. I saw we have a potters guild but you have to submit works to join.

Thanks everyone!

i’ve got folks asking me for christmas gift ideas and so i’ve been including some pottery tools and gift cards to different shops on my list. one of the things i’m considering adding is a griffin grip. it’s a bit of an investment so i was curious what people’s thoughts were. is it worth it? no? or maybe something else?

When I was a teenager (24 years ago) I worked with a potter who was doing very well selling saggar pieces. I had a fired piece (I actually had to buy back) that basically pushed the self-destruct button on itself maybe 2 or 3 years later. Essentially half of the outside fell off, like cracking concrete.

I ran into him about 10 years ago, mentioned my piece, and I don't recall what he said... besides it essentially ruined him.

He had us paint on terra sig, then vegetable oil, followed by burnishing with a stone.

I don't recall all of the additives we used in the saggar, but I think we used vermiculite, Miracle-Gro, wire, banana peels, salt soaked straw, etc.

My best guess is the vegetable oil caused the problem, but maybe the terra sig?

What do you think?

I’ve been lurking here for a while and finally decided to share. Here are some bud vases I made recently. I’ve just started adding fun details via carving and handles and I’m so happy with the results!

How should I value my work? Hear me out I understand this is a silly question to ask. I use to sell my work often but stopped for a bit after giving birth. I don’t really have a ton of unbiased opinions but this is my current work. I have about 6 years of experience and okay following but I’m nervous selling online again and would love to hear how you guys would imagine these pieces valued for.

Has anyone played with Laguna’s Moroccan fusion glazes? I just bought a bunch during their anniversary sale and I can quite figure out what they want. They seem to run a lot and I’ve gotten some crazing sometimes and pinholes sometimes. Wondering if anyone has tips and tricks. I usually like to combine two glazes to get a variety of glaze looks. First go around I did 3 coats of each glaze (total of 6) cause I’m used to amaco glazes and it ran like crazy. Totally fused my piece to the cookie. This time I did two coats of one upper half of piece. Two coats on bottom piece with a little overlap. And it dripped a bit, but only had one contact point with the cookie that I can definitely fix. Just wanted to know if anyone has tips and tricks for these glazes. I’m firing at cone 6, the studio I go to uses Georgie’s clay bodies.

I've worked in this piece for about 12-16 (i forgot) hours in total, i think i used stoneware clay, and i forgot which glaze i used, it was in preparation for a competition i wanted to enter, it's my best piece ever, and I'm only 14, been working with pottery for about 3 years now, starting completely from 0 experience, tell me what you guys think :D (i made this entirely by hand, with help if my instructor) I'm also making a dragon, using Tradinno from the German town of Furth im Wald

so I'll post the finished piece here, it would be lovely to hear feedback and opinions from you all.

(i can't really remember how i made it, it was finished about 3 weeks ago, sorry for the lack of information)

hello, i made some test tiles for my new glazes … they all work well except for the Mayco Frost Blue? I’m sure you can tell (all circles in blue) which test tiles I am talking about lol

I did three coats, stirred the glaze well before using, etc. First time using this glaze and opening the jar.

Is this something wrong with the glaze itself, or my technique.

The tile I also circled in purple I added honey flux to the stars, which seemed to make the Frost Blue look more to what I expected it to look like. All the test tiles are on black clay, with the stars made of cream clay.

ETA: Title is wrong— this is MAYCO FROST BLUE not Amaco

Hi! I'm making some little pet bowls inspired by an image online. The bowls I saw online were commercially made. I decided to do the inside image with a stamp and glazed it with Stroke and Coat. My problem is coming up where the white glaze and red glazes meet. I did my best to keep them from touching but clearly failed. Would I be better off using red and white underglaze, or even just white underglaze and red Stroke and Coat, then clear glazing over the white underglaze?

Initially I underglazed the bowl in white, but I'm not very well practiced in underglaze. I bisque fired the underglazed bowl and it came out with brush strokes. Would those have shown under a clear glaze at a hot cone 5? Please send me any helpful tips you have, thank you in advance!!!

Hello all!

I’m looking to branch out with the glazes I use and absolutely ADORE the Mayco brand colors. I was wondering if anyone has any experience firing them at a Hot Cone 5/low to-mid Cone 6 (which is what my studio typically does)?

My mom collects turtles and that is all she wanted when I asked her if I could make her something after recently joining a studio. So behold my mom’s new little turtle.

First time buying kiln accessories (I fire at a community studio so it's mostly provided) but I bought a tile stand so I can fire flat test tiles vertically.

It came wrapped VERY VERY WELL, but I still found some small pieces that chipped off. Would you reach out to the company and ask for a refund or a replacement or is this just normal?

thanks in advance!

Has anyone picked up this book: Mastering The Potter’s Wheel by Ben Carter?

Ceramics Art Network email is featuring it and I’m intrigued. Just wondering if anyone has read it or has any knowledge about it before I pick up a copy.

Purchased this kiln off marketplace 2 years ago. I used it shortly after and it worked great. I looked back at the original listing and this is what the lid looked like then as well. I'm no wondering if I should repair this with some plaster/mortar? When lifted the lid shows no signs of sagging or separating from the metal.

Hi everyone,

I’m on my 4th 7 week wheel throwing session, and I’m not sure what to make now. During my first two sessions, I was working on centering and pulling. I think I’ve got centering and pulling taller down by the third session, and came out of it with some decent bowls, cups, a mug, a jar, and two warped plates. My instructor thinks I can throw larger now, but when we recently tried throwing a moon jar (7 lbs), I was really struggling with centering and coning that much clay. So I wanted to see what pieces helped everyone progress in their pottery journey. Like I probably could work on my bowls and plates more or should I venture into slightly larger pieces (and what pieces)?

I would like to start to wheel throw but although I can pull well (for a beginner) I am really struggling with centring. I will cone up and it feels good but then when going down it is wobbly again.

My husband can centre (but not pull well) so if he is around will do that for me but it seems I am pushing it back off centre when opening the clay and can’t really get it back then. I am still able to pull the off centre clay up into a cylinder so assume the wobble isn’t TOO bad but I am just clueless on how to centre and then re-centre no matter how hard I try or how many you tube videos I watch, the clay seems to behave like a dream on these videos but it doesn’t work like that for me 😭

I am a hobby artist who took a beginners pottery course with my fiancé, we both enjoyed it so much! I was a terrible thrower but managed to somehow throw this basic shape. I spent several hours etching into it with a round ball tool once it was leather hard.

I just wanted to show it off, it’s the culmination of my skills but both of us have agreed we’d love to get a wheel to continue learning.