You might want a career in pottery if...........

Do you like to create with your hands?  Do you like to take a lump of earth and shape it and make it into something beautiful?  You just may want a career in pottery.

Do you like to be dirty?
Think about a being a potter!

Do you like to be cold and wet?
Ceramic potter as a career, may be for you.

Do you like to work on something for hours, with many steps along the way and while you are not looking, it breaks?
You might want a career in ceramics.

Do you like to talk to yourself?  Work alone? Work in PJ's? Barefoot?  Listen to your own music at your own decibel level?
Be a ceramic potter.

Do you like challenges?  Like how to dispose of water?  Or, how to get water in the winter?
Think pottery.

Do you want to get a good upper body workout, while you work?
As a ceramic potter, you can recycle your (failed) work by hand!
This saves the cost of gym membership.

Do you like to be dirty, wet and work in a sweltering environment, while your work  is heating up to 2000º+ degrees and warping and cracking?
You got it- pottery!

Do you like to smell like a camp fire?  Have your clothes and hair giving off the wonderful smell of smoke?
You just may want to be a RAKU potter!

Would you like to set your own hours?  Go on a hike when you want?  Ride a bike when the wind and temperature are just right? Take a vacation now and then?
Ceramic pottery may be your next career.

Do you like to open presents and see something beautiful, unique and inspiring?  Do you like to hear the oohs and ahhhs when other people see your work?
You might just want to be a ceramic potter.

Do you like to figure out challenges on many levels?  Like what clay body, what shape, how to fire, glaze or no glaze.

Do you want to NEVER be bored? Do you want to dream about your work?  Do you want to find inspiration wherever you go?  Do you want to get up early and head to work?
Be a studio potter.

I love it.

What I have learned............or not

Patience.  I like instant gratification.  I don't like to wait, I want it now.  Due to this flaw, I don't like taking the time to test.  Consequently, the pieces I spent many hours working on over the summer did not come out well.  I painted bush marks on the bisque ware with 50% cobalt oxide and 50% copper (yes, copper).  I then glazed with Ron Meyer's clear.  The brush marks were probably too thick and bled thru the glaze, creating roughness or lack of glaze adhering to the rim.  Also, I think the design was not good.  It looked nice before I glazed them, but after firing they just look too busy and messy.  Less is more.

Because I was using such a small batch of (newly mixed and uncontaminated) clear glaze, I had difficulty dipping my pieces into a shallow level.  Therefore, I touched and smudged the brush marks and contaminated my own glaze.  :(  Painful.  I am glad I did not glaze my entire summer production.  These I will KISS.  Just a plain 'ol everyday glaze.

I am wondering if I glaze these with a ^05 clear, can these be rendered usable?  I was hoping for X-mas gifts.

I am feeling really rushed.  I wanted to have a good set of glazes and pieces ready to test by the Raku firing, but I don't know that I will get everything done in time.  I needed sodium silicate and had to order on-line.  Plus, I am leaving Thursday for a week in  Colorado visiting with my mom and siblings.  Mom turns 86.

Someone Else's Work as an Inspiration

Through the internet I located a few artist that do 'naked raku'  Charles and Linda Riggs are putting on a workshop (today!) in Atlanta showing their techniques.  I signed up on the wait list, but it is just too popular.  Linda wrote to me and I will try to attend one of their 2012 workshops. 

I just bought a book called Painting with Smoke by David Roberts.  Really beautiful work.  He is giving a workshop the Summer of 2012 in Northern Italy.  That would be so fun!  I wrote for information. 

Raku and smoke fire is appealing because the form is truly exposed and you can see how the smoke has danced around it.  I think it really brings a piece alive. I'm not a fan of glaze.  There are very few glazes I really like (student glazes anyway) and I do not enjoy the glazing process.

Another reason I am interested in raku and smoke firing is because I am building my own studio.  I cannot afford to fire a gas reduction ^10.   I am also interested in sculptural pieces and these do not need to be food safe.

Inspiration

I get inspired everywhere.  Often I can't sleep because I have forms or techniques I would like to try.  I spend a lot of time on the internet, reading books and magazines and I try to visit galleries and museums when I can. 

I used to post pictures in a sketchbook and draw a form based on the piece.  I don't like to make a carbon copy.  I want it to be my own.  I have not kept up with the sketchbook as I should.  This is something I am trying to improve on.

In California, my professor was fantastic on the wheel.  He threw the most elegant large thin forms.  I took many pictures of his demonstrations and I often refer back to these.  His philosophy was to throw a good form and only trim a foot.  Never trim the body.   I tend not to fire a lot of my pieces I do because they simply are not up to par.  Therefore, I have the extra job of recycling my own clay by hand. :(

I like functional art.  I think there is a connection when a piece is picked up and used.  My favorite coffee cups are my own.  They fit my hands perfectly.  I enjoy soup just a little bit more when it is served in a heated ceramic bowl.  One of my favorite pieces I made makes a perfect "big salad" bowl.  I have yet to be able to duplicate this form.

Here are some pics of my work space.  I just love spending as much time as possible here.  I included some shots of my "First Bisque".  ...so exciting to have my own kiln, even though the max temp is only 2,225F.  

Did anyone hear you should NOT put anything on or near a kiln?  How about a tablecloth with a vase of fresh flowers? 
 

Firing her up!

This morning I fired up a fully loaded (with porcelain) kiln.  Mine is 18 x 23.  I kept a notes during this firing process.  I  I was able to see the glow, but could not really see any details.  I am using green # 5 welding glasses.  I don't know how I will ever be able to use witness cones.

I did a 7 hour fire, but the kiln sitter shut off approximately 30-45 minutes prior to the total 7 hours.  I wanted to be there when it did, so I could take a temperature reading.  I inserted a wire into the kiln using an Omega TrueRMS Supermeter  to read the temperature.  Apparently, this devise can read up to 2000 F.

In the meantime, I have spent most of my day searching various web sites and looking at ceramic books.  I wanted to throw, but the wheel is in the same room as the kiln and it is not vented.  OH!  My alarm is going off.  Time to check the temp.

Goals for Fall Quarter Ceramics Independent Study

I just bought a used electric kiln.  It is very basic and just has a kiln sitter.  My goal this quarter is to transition from high fire ceramics to low/mid range.  I specifically wanted a basic kiln as I believe part of the learning processing and getting to know my kiln, is to watch it.  I need to understand the entire process and not simply depend on a computer. 
My first task will be to use up and bisque all my high fire porcelain clay.  I plan on researching and making 05 glazes and firing in my home kiln.  Because I don't have a pyrometer on the kiln, I have a lot of questions as to how to glaze fire, venting etc.  Yesterday, I found myself wandering around Seattle Pottery, picking up this and that.  In the end, I put everything back because I want to talk to Rachel first.