Clay Times Magazine Volume 21 • Issue 100

CERAMIC

ART

TRENDS,

TOOLS,

AND

®

TIMES

Clay

TECHNIQUES

1995-2015 CT Celebrates 20 Years in Print

Volume 21 • No. 100 20th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Autumn/Winter 2015

Handbuilding with CHANDRA DEBUSE PETE PINNELL'S NEW SERIES:

Developing Rich & Beautiful Surfaces in an Electric Kiln Advance Homework for Kiln Builders Talc-Free Clay: Why It’s A Good Thing

PLUS: Robin Hopper’s New E-book: Charge Up Your iPad!

$8.95 U.S./$10.95 CAN

Effective Tools for Glaze Mixing & Application

®

TIMES

Clay

CELEBRATES 20 clay-full years + 100 indispensable, wonderful issues :) ... But WAIT! Could there be CT issues missing from your ceramic art library?

No worries! You can still order Clay Times® back issues in print or in PDF collections on CD, or now via instant download!

Call 800.356.2529 or visit www.claytimes.com

Pictured issues date from 2009-2004. ✔ Be sure to check out the complete listing of CT issues from 1995-2015, with contents of each issue + formats available to order, on our UPDATED back issues order page at the NEW & IMPROVED Clay TimesŽ online store. great gifts, too! www.claytimes.com

IMAGINE IF YOUR KILN LASTED 20 YEARS? Kilns self destruct. Loading and unloading, heating and cooling, moving elements, acidic fumes from the ceramic process: all take their toll. That undestanding is the design philosophy behind L&L Kilns. We design for durability, performance, and safety. We hope you will benefit by what we offer.

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CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Moving elements can break fragile firebrick - THIS IS NOT NORMAL - not if you use an L&L Kiln.

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Elements will not droop out in an L&L Kiln.

Moving elements will not break the firebrick on an L&L Kiln.

There are no The hard L&L holders support the rim to prevent this.

pins like this in an L&L kiln.

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contents

TIMES

Clay

20th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Autumn/Winter 2015 • Vol. 21, No. 100 Cover photo: TreatServer by Chandra DeBuse of Kansas City, MO. Handbuilt porcelain, 9" x 10" x 3½". To discover her secrets, see p. 21.

Cover inset photo: Vase by Matthew McGovern of Cedar, Michigan. Soda-fired porcelain; 12" x 7½"; First Place award winner of the 2015 SFPN show. See more on p. 24.

features ➤ 14 Clay Times Celebrates 20 Years in Print Flashback to 1995: Where were you when you first saw or heard about Clay Times? Take a trip back in time to experience some of our finest moments, and enjoy some great CT features and trivia about which you may be unaware! ➤ 31 Flashback Holiday Project: Making a Muffin Pan Look back to this step-by-step article for Bill van Gilder’s technique to make muffin pans of clay ... a great project for gifts, plus your own kitchen use! ➤ 40 Brian Geier’s Crystalline Mattes Using a precise schedule to fire his pots to cone 10 in oxidation, this Illinois potter explains why crystalline matte glazes have overtaken his claywork.

Attention Ceramics Students, Educators, and Institutions: For a limited time, Clay Times is offering annual $5 student subscriptions; $60 bulk educator subscriptions; and specially priced institutional subscriptions for full online access to all 100 CT issues ever produced! Restrictions apply.

To learn more, log onto www.claytimes.com/ educationspecials

exhibit ➤ 24 2015 Strictly Functional Pottery National [SFPN]

Celadon Teapot by Brenda Lichman of Wichita, Kansas. 5" x 6½" x 6".

Porcelain soda-fired to cone 10 in reduction. One of works in SFPN exhibit.

Again this year, more than 100 clay artists prove that both form and function may be achieved with flare! Turn to page 24 to view a selection of the works chosen by juror Matt Long for this popular annual exhibition and sale, now in its 23rd year.

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contents

TIMES

Clay 20th ANNIVERSARY • Autumn/Winter 2015 • Vol. 21, Issue 100

Porcelain Teapot by Michael Lentini of Bozeman, MT. 5½" x 8½" x 5½". Soda-fired to cone 10.

departments

columns 18 AS FAR AS I KNOW

8 EDITOR’S DESK “20 years & 100 Issues”

“Developing Rich and Beautiful Surfaces in an Electric Kiln”

by Pete Pinnell

11 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries

28 GREAT GLAZES A favorite is shared

by Chandra DeBuse

?? by Erica Passage of Helena, MT. Cone 6 white stoneware; 8" x 14" x 8".

34 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers

42 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially by and for clay artists

Killing Fields Bourbon Bottle with Cups by Steven Cheek of Louisville, KY. 10" x 5" x 5".

Porcelain fired to cone 10 in oxidation.

“Tools for Glaze Mixing and Application”

by Vince Pitelka

43 BOOKS & VIDEOS A Potter’s Garden

by Robin Hopper — a new e-book • Review

by Steve Branfman

47 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in your community

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“Why Use Talc-Free Clay?”

by Monona Rossol

37 TOOL TIMES

Studio-tested tips & techniques

Welcome to the new advertisers in this issue!

(As always, please let them know you found them in Clay Times!)

“Handbuilding with Chandra DeBuse”

by Lana Wilson

29 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY

46 THE SLURRY BUCKET

50 ADVERTISER INDEX

21 BENEATH THE SURFACE

Reliquary for Mezcal Cantaro and Cups

by Trevor Dunn of Jacksonville, FL. 8" x 12" x 12".

Iron-rich stoneware, wood-fired to cone 9 and cooled in reduction.

[NOTE: Each work pictured on this page appears in the latest Strictly Functional Pottery National exhibition. To see more, turn to page 24.]

45 KILNS & FIRING “Do Your Homework”

by Marc Ward

49 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Hand in Hand”

by Kelly Savino

Earline Green’s clay spirit quilts on display in the Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Branch Library in Dallas, Texas.

A Texas potter makes 1,300 pound quilts with her Paragon Dragon As a child, Earline Green made hand-stitched quilts with her grandmother Mama Freddie. Earline spent more time quilting with the older ladies than she did playing with children her own age. Her early experiences with the lively quilters taught her a life-long love of artwork.

Earline’s other grandmother, Mama Ginger, taught her advanced quilting patterns. Later this influenced the design of Earline’s stoneware quilt tile mosaics displayed in the entrance of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Library in Dallas, Texas. For that project, Earline fired 284 white stoneware tiles—all in her faithful Paragon Dragon.

“The Dragon's design and controls are perfect for firing large flat pieces,” said Earline. “The digital programming controls provide a consistent firing environment that eliminated cracks and warpage in this project.

“During tile production, I fired my Dragon two or three times a week for four to six weeks at a time.

I expected and received excellent results with each firing.”

Contact us today for more information on the exciting Dragon kiln. Ask about the easy-open switch box hinged at the bottom. Call us for the name of your local Paragon distributor.

Earline Green with her Paragon Dragon front-loading kiln. This kiln is becoming a favorite with potters. It is easy to load, heavily insulated, and designed to reach cone 10 with power to spare.

Join the Clayart pottery forum here: lists.clayartworld.com

Constantly looking for better ways to make kilns

2011 South Town East Blvd.

Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557 www.paragonweb.com info@paragonweb.com

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Clay

®

magazine

TIMES

Spouting Off I Editor’s Desk

20 Years & 100 Issues

CERAMIC ART TRENDS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

Editor & Publisher: Polly Beach

Regular Columnists: Steve Branfman, Books & Videos David Hendley, Around the Firebox Pete Pinnell, As Far as I Know Vince Pitelka, Tool Times Monona Rossol, Health & Safety Kelly Savino, Around the Firebox Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Proofreader: Jon Singer Contributing Writers: John Britt • Brian Geier • Bill van Gilder ✦ Printed on 100% FSC-certified and 75% post-consumer recycled paper ✦ Published by: CLAY TIMES, LLC P.O. Box 17139 • Amelia Island, FL 32035

Toll-free subscription line: 800.356.2529 Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published quarterly, four issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Burlington, VT. Annual subscriptions are available for $33 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada; $60 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). Digital subscriptions are just $20 worldwide. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800.356.2529, or visit www.claytimes.com.

Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Website for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 17139, Fernandina Beach, FL 32035.

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Copyright ©2015 Clay Times, LLC. All rights reserved. The material contained herein is derived from various sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. All technical material is offered as general information only and should not be acted upon without expert supervision. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Questions? Comments?

Please e-mail us!

Editorial: claytimes@gmail.com Advertising: clayaccounts@gmail.com Circulation: ctcirculation@gmail.com Website: www.claytimes.com

Twenty years after our first issue rolled off the press, production of this issue — our 100th full-color magazine in print — is a huge landmark about which I am very proud. As founder, I am grateful that I’m still here to bring you Clay Times, and especially grateful that you’re still with us to enjoy all the wonderful things CT has to offer.

So it probably won’t surprise you that this issue opens with a bit of nostalgia. I’ve included my own chronicles on the birth of the magazine, accompanied by a bit of CT trivia (see pg. 14-16). Then on page 17, you will find a reprint of John Britt’s crossword puzzle, themed “Bernard Leach.” Just in time for the holidays, you’ll also find a reprint of Bill van Gilder’s step-by-step article on making stoneware muffin pans (see pages 31-33).

While we don’t normally run reprints of prior articles, it seemed appropriate with this 20th anniversary edition to offer newcomers a glimpse into the rich history of original content that

comprises our online library. If you’re interested in more crosswords or more step-by-step pottery projects, you’ll be pleased to find complete collections of these articles available online.

As this issue goes to press, our downloadable back issue index has been updated so you can quickly search for any previously published topic, article, issue, author, or featured artist. Nearly all back issues of Clay Times are still available in print. Back issues may also be ordered as PDF files for instant download, or as part of our annual back issue PDF collections on CD. Newly available from our Web store this season are Clay Times studio posters including “Bowls”, “Handles”, “Lids”, “Feet”, and more — all back by popular demand! Please take a moment to log on to our redesigned Website and store at claytimes.com to explore and experience all of the new options designed to help you in your clay studio or classroom.

— Polly Beach, Editor [

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

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Annual Conference

Artists Demonstrations, Commercial and Nonprofit Resources, Discussions, Exhibitions, Lectures, Student Led Presentations, K-12 Focus Programming, and much more! visit nceca.com

REGISTRATION ON REGISTER EARLYOPENS AND SAVE Earlybird Deadline January 29, 2016 SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Join us in cyberspace before and following the 2016 conference

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015 CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Produced in cooperation with the 92Y, the Virtual Clay TM lecture series provides a platform for discourse on clay, making and culture accessible through your internet connection. Learn more at www.92y.org/VirtualClay

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Karen Atkinson Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Simone Leigh Wednesday,Simone November 11, 2015 Leigh Wednesday November 11, 2015 Catherine Catherine Futter Futter Friday, January 22, 2016 Friday, January 22, 2016

Bill Strickland Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Bill Strickland Wednesday, Wendy Gers March 9, 2016 Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Wendy Gers Wednesday, April 6, 2016

• ceramic art world news • events • • calls for entries •

Conferences

alclayconference.org, or email alcc2016gadsden@gmail.com

Calls for Entries

‰ The Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society will be hosting its annual Gulf Coast Clay Conference Feb. 3-6, 2016 at Pensacola State College, in Pensacola, Florida. Guest artists Tom and Elaine Coleman will lead the agenda with a lecture, slide show, and demonstrations Feb. 3-5. On Feb. 6, the event moves to the Society’s kiln site in Navarre, FL for the Woodstoke Pottery and Kiln Festival, featuring anagama and groundhog kiln openings, plus a pottery display and sale. To learn more about the Gulf Coast events, log onto www.kilnwalk.org or call 850.939.2744.

‰ The Randolph Arts Guild will host the The 29th North Carolina Potters Conference in Asheville, NC from March 4-6, 2016.

Featured artists will include Tony Clennell, Sunshine Cobb, and Steven Godfrey, with guest presentations by Chris Staley and others. To learn more about the conference, email arts@asheboro.com, or visit www. randolphartsguild.com

‰ Baltimore Clayworks is accepting submissions through Dec. 11 for Menagerie, its animal-themed show that will take place May 14-July 2, 2016. Up to five entries will be considered for a $30 entry fee. To learn more, e-mail mary.cloonan@baltimore clayworks.org, log onto www. baltimoreclayworks.org, or call 410.578.1919 ext. 18. ‰ The Lexington Arts & Crafts Society is accepting entries through Jan. 11, 2016 from current and former residents of Massachusetts for The State of Clay 2016. Wayne Higby will jury the show, which takes place May 7 - June 5, 2016. Entry fee: $35 for up to three submissions. For additional exhibition details, log onto www.stateofclay.com, or call 781.862.9696. ‰ The Missouri Western State University (MWSU) Clay Guild is accepting entries through Jan. 13 for its National Ceramics Exhibition 2016. Entitled “Off the Table!

Plates for the Wall,” the show will feature functional and sculptural plate/platter forms designed to hang on the wall. A $30 jury fee entitles each artist to submit a continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

‰ The 31st Alabama Clay Conference takes place Feb. 5-7, 2016 in Gadsden, Alabama and will feature presentations and clay demonstrations by ceramic artists including Martha Grover, Paul Lewing, Marty Fielding, and Mark Rademacher, among others.

Special events range from the Alabama Clay Market and invitational tableware show to a participant mug exchange and a Saturday night party at the Back 40 Brewing Company. For complete conference details, log onto

‰ Early registration is already underway for the annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). This special 50th anniversary convention for ceramic artists, teachers, and students is entitled “Makers, Mentors, and Milestones” and takes place March 16-19, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. The entire Kansas City region will embrace conference goers by offering clay-themed events and exhibitions too numerous to mention! Complete programming, registration, and lodging details may be found online at www.nceca.com. [If you haven’t yet attended an annual NCECA conference, you owe it to yourself to check it out!]

Earlybird registration discounts are in effect through Jan. 29.

Hot Stuff Calendar

What’s Hot

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Hot Stuff I News & Events

The Incredible, Affordable

What’s Hot (continued from p. 11)

OLYMPIC OVAL ...

Often Imitated, but Never Duplicated! n

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Constructed of 3” brick for added insulation & strength Top section has an additional 2” blank row of brick to protect the first row of elements Balanced heating elements insure even distribution of heat within the kiln regardless of the load being fired Equipped with a lid lift assist for easy opening & closing of the kiln lid Wide selection of model sizes in width and depth Ample room to fire odd-shaped pieces

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maximum of three entries.

For details, email clayguild@ missouriwestern.edu or visit https://www.missouriwestern. edu/orgs/clayguild/Off_the_ Table_Exhibition.html ‰ The MWSU Clay Guild is also accepting entries through Jan. 13, 2016 for its Twin Cups: National Ceramics Exhibition 2016. Submissions may be either functional or sculptural representations of a pair of cups, mugs, drinking vessels, or the like. Fee: $30 for up to three entries. For complete details, email clayguild@ missouriwestern.edu or download the online entry form and prospectus at https:// www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/ clayguild/TwinCups.html

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

‰ The Clay Studio of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is accepting online entries through Jan. 15, 2016 of claywork no larger than a 4-in. cube for its 11th annual show, Small Favors: An Exhibition of Diminutive Works. For further details, log onto www.theclay studio.org, e-mail info@theclay studio.org, or call 215.925.3453.

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Kissimmee River Pottery

Stangl Factory 12 Mine Street Flemington, NJ 08822 908.237.0671 riverpots @ earthlink.net www.riverpots.com

‰ Juror Christy Johnson will be accepting entries through Jan. 22, 2016 for the 21st San Angelo National Ceramic Competition. The event will take place at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, and is co-sponsored

by Darlene and John Williams and Trinity Ceramic Supply, Inc. For complete details, visit www.samfa.org ‰ The Art Students League of Denver, Colorado is accepting entries through Jan. 23, 2016 for delecTABLE: The Fine Art of

‰ Clayhouston is accepting entries through Feb. 1, 2016 from clay artists residing in TX, NM, AZ, and OK for its regional Southwest exhibition.

The show, entitled Clay: Body, Mind & Soul will take place April 2–29, 2016 and is open to functional and sculptural works where clay is the primary medium. Application fee: $35 for three entries.

For complete details, view the prospectus online at www.clay houston.org, or email info@clayhouston.org

‰ AMERICA’S CLAYFEST IV will also feature the fourth annual America’s ClayFest Art Show and Competition open divison for nonstudents, to be held at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, CA. This show celebrates the rich history of clay competition formerly known as Feats of Clay. Sergei Isupov and Leslie Ferrin will serve as jurors.

Entry deadline is Feb. 27, 2016. Visit www. a m e r i c a s c l ay f e s t . o r g for details, or e-mail questions to billszabo@ americasclayfest.org. [

To list your events, clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, or ceramic news items in Clay Times®, please e-mail complete details to: claytimes@gmail.com, or click the submission link at www.claytimes.com/contribute.html

The 21st San Angelo National Ceramic Competition April 15 - June 26, 2016 Juror: Christy Johnson, Arcadia, CA

Download the Call for Entries: www.samfa.org Entry deadline: January 22, 2016

Photo from 20th SANCC: Leeann Catanzaro, Green Luster Teapot

Sponsored by: San Angelo Museum Endowment for Ceramic Events Darlene and John Williams Trinity Ceramic Supply Inc.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

‰ The Art League of Lincoln, California and Blue Line Arts are accepting student entries through Feb. 27,

2016 for AMERICA’S CLAYFEST IV Student Art Show and Competition. The show will take place Apr. 20-May 28, 2016 at Lincoln’s Art Center Gallery, in the shadows of the historic Gladding McBean Clay Manufacturing Company. Clay artists currently enrolled in secondary school or college are eligible.

Log onto www.americas clayfest.org for the link to the “EntryThingy” application and prospectus, or email bill szabo@americasclayfest. org for further details.

Hot Stuff I News & Events

Dining — Third Biennial Exhibit of Functional Ceramics. The show takes place April 4-May 13, 2016 and will feature functional dining-themed works ranging from dinner sets and table decor to place settings, platters, and teapots. To enter, visit www.CallforEntry. org. To find out more, email s.schreiber@asld. org or call 303.778.6990.

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Clay Times Flashback: 20 Years in Print

BY POLLY BEACH

T

wenty years ago last spring I woke up with an idea that seemed to have popped up from out of nowhere: “The world needs a more down-to-earth magazine for potters,” I thought.

“But wait — I think I have the skills needed, so maybe I should be the one to publish the magazine?”

Back then, I’d been making a lot of claywork in my home studio while raising my young kids and working as a freelance graphic designer and editor. Having discovered a love for pottery in my senior year at WVU, I’d only taken a couple of clay classes before graduation. By the time I received my BS in Journalism, I still hadn’t ever mixed a glaze or fired a kiln.

I thought he was crazy! How was I going to manage to do claywork in our tiny little sunroom? By this time I’d become the busy mother of Cody & Josh, our two young boys, and co-publisher of a local tourist guide. I explained to Jim that to do pottery, I would also need access to glazes and a kiln, and I knew of no one in our rural community who had such things.

But that didn’t faze Jim and he had rekindled the fire. He knew that the simple process of throwing clay on the wheel was something that I loved by itself, kiln or no kiln. I resumed wheelthrowing practice ... but regardless, I was now on a mission!

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

The original monthly newsletter* (above) premiered in March, 1995, and focused on everything from the basics of wheel-throwing, handbuilding, and glaze I spent the next few years trying mixing, to pottery business marketing and craft show to meet other potters. At every Having relocated to Virginia dur- set-up. Claytime Companion readers offered enough Cruets and Vase Set by Shana Salaff, Ft. Collins, CO. Porcelain; cone 6 oxidation.crafts 6" x 20" xfestival 4". we attended, I ing the months following gradu- enthusiastic support and encouragement after rewould seek them out and ask ation, I did enroll in a pottery ceipt of 10 issues to spawn production of our first their advice. Eventually, I found class at the nearest community color magazine. It debuted as Clay Times (below) in December, 1995. *[Back issue PDFs of the original out where I could pay to have college (although it was almost an newsletters, designed for beginning and intermediate my work fired (albeit a ceramics hour’s drive from home). Thanks potters, are now available online at www.claytimes.com]

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to [recently retired] Bill Schran [Congratulations, Bill!], I was able to continue my clay practice there, and latched on to some new techniques for two quarter semesters.

But soon the “real world” took over, and I found myself working fulltime outside the home, and then back at home juggling work with raising kids. My preoccupation with clay fell to the back burner.

Fast-forward seven years to my 28th birthday, when my husband, Jim, surprised me with the gift of a potter’s wheel and a lump of clay, accompanied by my old slurry bucket and clay tools from the college days.

mold studio with paint-on glazes from little jars). Then one day someone told me I should subscribe to a ceramics magazine to learn where to get pottery supplies and equipment.

So I subscribed. And read. And discovered that I needed more information than I could get from that magazine. It was above my level — too technical, and focused on “ceramics” as opposed to “pottery.”

Meanwhile, Jim and I built a new home on 17 acres out in the middle of nowhere, and we now had room for a new (expensive) kiln. To me, buying

that kiln meant I would have to get serious about pottery. I simply couldn’t justify that sort of investment without putting it to certain use.

Then one day during a trip into town, I happened to drive past a young woman unloading boxes of clay from her pickup truck. I circled back to her studio and asked if that was real pottery clay!

She said she was a porcelain potter, who fired with wood. Before long, Judy Edmunds was giving me private pottery lessons and inviting me to nearby firings of her wood kiln. Judy helped me learn about firing both wood and electric kilns, and about working with porcelain, too.

I began to do claywork every day, and by the time my daughter Lindsay was born in 1992, I was selling my work & demonstrating wheelthrowing at crafts fairs. Then in 1994, I “got online” with AOL, and discovered a whole world of potters via the Clayart listserv. I became a “lurker” (someone who follows the conversations of participating newsgroup members, but doesn’t post any messages). I also became familiar with the names of the most knowledgeable folks about various subjects: Marc Ward for kilns and firing; Steve Branfman for pottery books; and Monona Rossol for ceramics studio health and safety.

And then dawned the morning when I woke up with the idea to publish the magazine. Rather than take a gamble on the huge

I invited Grace to serve as technical editor, and she accepted.

I invited Marc Ward and Steve Branfman and Monona Rossol to write regular columns on kilns and firing, pottery books, and ceramics health & safety, and they all accepted. The newsletter was born!

I mailed the first copy of the 8-page newsletter to approximately 200 people (most of whom were either Clayart members or members of The Clay Connection, a newly formed ceramics guild for folks in the DC area).

Not long afterward, I read about an upcoming raku workshop with Fran Newquist of Tin Barn Pottery.

I signed up for Fran’s workshop and met guest artist Rick Berman, an accomplished raku potter from Atlanta. Rick presented a slide show of other potters’ works, and I was spellbound! Like so many other potters, the immediate gratification of raku firing left me yearning for more, more, more! I brought my husband (and kids) to the second day of the workshop so Jim could figure out how to build me a raku kiln. Needless to say, I was raku-firing at home by the following weekend.

I also gave Rick a copy of my newsletter, which he read on the plane during his flight back to Atlanta. He called me afterward with some very encouraging words:

CT Trivia: Did You Know ...

• Clay Times was the very first pottery magazine with a Website • Clay Times was the first pottery magazine to be published online, in digital format • Clay Times was the first pottery magazine to regularly request and publish works by its readers in “The Gallery” department • Clay Times was the first pottery magazine with an online store • At NCECA 1997 in Las Vegas, exhibit hall attendees stood in line at the Clay Times exhibitor booth while clay artists Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, and Don Reitz simultaneously autographed the CT studio poster featuring images of their work • When Clay Times sponsored fave local Virginia blues band “Cactus Groove” to perform at the Charlotte, North Carolina NCECA conference, the band blew the speakers twice and had to await local equipment replacements before the festivities could begin (Thank you, Janet!)

• CT had to request alternative ads from legendary potter Paul Soldner more than once because a few of them were too “racy” for some of our younger readers (!)

• Ever since the very first full-color issue of CT was published in 1995, no fewer than 10,000 print copies per issue have been produced and distributed • More than 60,000 potters worldwide have subscribed to CT since its inception • Your CT issue mailing label always indicates your final paid issue, even if your subscription has lapsed or issues have been delayed or missed • You can tell if you have the most recent and previous CT issues by checking against the current issue number at claytimes.com • To date, more than 2.75 million clay enthusiasts worldwide have logged on to the CT Website at www.claytimes.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

I also signed up for a glaze workshop with Grace Lewis, a woman who had studied glaze chemistry with Val Cushing at Alfred University. Grace taught me things during that workshop that transformed me from a commercial glaze user into a glaze formulator.

cost of 4-color printing, I refined the idea to publish the newsletter as a “test predecessor” to the magazine. So I sent out my first message to the Clayart newsgroup, asking if anyone would want me to “snail mail” them a free newsletter on claywork. Before I knew it, I’d received enough encouraging replies to spawn the first issue of the newsletter, entitled The Claytime Companion.

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Flashback Clay Times: 20 Years (continued from page 15)

“I think it [the newsletter] is a great thing that you’re doing,” he said. Wow, I thought, this is great — an accomplished, professional, lifelong potter believes in the newsletter!

During the ensuing months, I received enough paid subscription orders to take the leap from “newsletter publisher” to “magazine publisher.” In the fall of 1995, at the first Virginia Clay Conference in Front Royal, Virginia, I rented a commercial exhibitor’s booth and announced that the newsletter would soon become a fullcolor magazine.

Rick Berman, Ron Meyers, and Michael Simon were presenters at that conference (known in subsequent years as the MidAtlantic Clay Conference). When I informed Rick that I intended to distribute the first issues of the 4-color magazine for free to more than 10,000 clay enthusiasts, he said I was crazy. Then he promised to help me ... and the rest is history!

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Thanks to Rick’s enthusiastic support and promotion to fellow clay artists, Clay Times was promptly embraced by the ceramics community. Clay world advertisers were supportive, too, thankful to have another way to reach our very unique audience of clay enthusiasts.

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Our super-talented and committed columnists, who still include Monona, Steve, and Marc, as well as Lana Wilson, Pete Pinnell, Vince Pitelka, David Hendley, Kelly Savino; and former columnists John Britt, Tony Clennell, and Bill van Gilder, have all served up a plate of ceramic knowledge that’s as relevant and useful today as it was 20 years ago.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to those columnists and our office staff, freelance writers, and featured artists — past and present — and especially to our longtime proofreader Jon Singer, who has persevered during what is often a painstakingly tedious process with an unpredictable schedule.

Our final thanks go to all of you readers and supportive advertisers, for remaining “stoked” and helping us keep the fire burning! Here’s to another 20 awesome years. [

Do you know who you’re looking at? Or which photos were taken when? Here’s what we received when we asked our columnists to submit then (1995) and now (2015) images of themselves and their work. (Check your answers online at www.claytimes.com.contact.html)

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

*Originally appeared in Jan/Feb 2000 CT. For puzzle answers, visit www.claytimes.com/crossword

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Perspectives I As Far As I Know CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

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Developing Rich & Beautiful Surfaces in an Electric Kiln

PART ONE OF A SERIES BY PETE PINNELL

T

here was a time not that long ago when many potters considered electric kilns to be a second-class way to finish ceramics. “Real” potters fired in gas kilns or wood kilns and often added salt or soda to their firing. Firing, it was felt, should involve FIRE and not just heat. Somehow a small silver box clicking away in the corner of a garage or basement didn’t have quite the same sense of drama as a 30-foot long wood-fired anagama.

Another thing that we don’t often see in publications is that many of pots from these atmospheric firings end up being less than beautiful. We love varied surfaces, but another word for varied is inconsistent.

Potters who fire in atmospheric kilns often struggle to make sure that those pots that aren’t magical are, at least, acceptable. This struggle has caused more than one wood/ salt/soda aficionado to rethink that approach to firing.

There were actually good reasons why potters preferred fuel-fired kilns. Atmospheric firing (what we do in gas or wood-fired kilns) can produce surfaces that are rich, complex, layered and varied.

The magical combination of high temperatures, slow cooling rates, reducing flames, oxidizing plumes and flux-rich vapors can result in surfaces that are breathtaking. We often see images of these pots in magazines and on Facebook.

If there is one thing that we can easily get from an electric kiln, it’s consistency. Computer operated electric kilns, in particular, can be remarkably consistent. On the other hand, electric kilns only supply one thing: heat. They don’t supply a reduction atmosphere, vapors, fumes, fly ash or any of the other things that can tend to result in beautiful surfaces in a fuel-fired kiln. So how do we create beautiful surfaces in an electric kiln when all of these aspects are missing? The secret is to think like an artist.

That said, these pots can tend to have sameness about them, with most of the colors being in the warm end of the color spectrum. You won’t tend to see many bright, cool colors from a wood-fired kiln, for instance.

On the other hand, this is one area in which electric kilns can truly shine.

Electric kilns may not easily produce the rich variety of warm tones that can come from a soda firing, but they can produce a range of colors that would be nearly impossible in an atmospheric kiln.

In all the years that I’ve been in art schools, I’ve never heard a painter say “I’m going to put my canvas in that box over the weekend. I sure hope it’s beautiful when I come back on Monday”. The very idea is ludicrous. The painter knows that the only way she will find magic on the surface of the canvas is if she puts it there. Similarly, the secret to getting beautiful surfaces out of an electric kiln is to thoughtfully

consider all aspects of the surface and apply the right things in a thoughtful way before you put that pot into the kiln.

How? As it happens, there’s a wide range of strategies and approaches that work very well, and they can be used in fuel-fired kilns, not just electric.

First, always consider the surface of the clay itself. There is no such thing as a lack of surface: every pot has a surface, and that surface has things to say. It may simply be what was left over from the processes used to fabricate the pot, which may be a combination of finger marks, rib marks, trimming, and joining. Each of these tells a story about the forming of the pot, and each can be interesting. However, a story told purposely is generally more interesting than one that occurs without thought, so the first step may be to simply look at the surface and think about what you’ve left there. The surface of the clay should be consciously considered and addressed. Sometimes it’s just a small step from leaving a surface to making a surface, but it’s a very important step.

A second thing you can do is look very closely at the glazes you’re already using and see what information those can provide you. Remember that you are never looking at just a glaze: you’re looking at the glaze as well as the glaze’s interaction with

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

Teapot by Pete Pinnell. Wheel-thrown and altered stoneware with weathered bronze glaze, fired in an electric kiln to cone 6.

A third thing you can do is apply the glaze in the way that shows it at its best. If the glaze looks best when applied very evenly (like a celadon, for instance) then you many need

to mix a larger batch of the glaze so your pot can be glazed by dipping. If droplets of the glaze look best then you might want to experiment with dripping the glaze on or even flinging it on in handfuls. Remember: the best way to apply a glaze is in the way that gives the best result.

Sometimes the secret to glaze application may be more subtle. At an earlier time in my career I used a lot of cone 10 reduction copper red glazes, which tend to be quite runny. Despite their tendency to run, I wanted to apply these glazes all the way down to the foot so that I wouldn’t have a white foot showing below the red glaze. After

a lot of testing, I found that the best way was to dip the pot while holding it straight upside down.

That way, the top entered the bucket of glaze first and departed it last, resulting in an application of glaze that was thickest at the top of the pot and thinnest at the bottom.

During the firing, the glaze would move downward, resulting in a fired glaze that appeared to be all the same thickness. When I got it just right, the glaze would cover all but the bottom eighth of an inch, yet (most of the time) not run off the pot.

Speaking of glaze thickness, the application of glaze also plays a

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

the surface of the pot underneath the glaze. A closer look will often reveal that the glaze looks best over certain parts of the pot. What were those? It may be where the glaze breaks over an edge, pools in a depression, thins out over a bulge, or collects in a droplet. Whatever it is, finding the spot where the glaze looks best will provide you with some clues as to how to treat the surface of the clay as well as how to best apply the glaze.

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Perspectives I As Far As I Know CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

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Developing Rich Electric Kiln Surfaces (continued from previous page) strong role in the fired quality of the glaze. A thicker application may be better, or even a lot better, than a thinner one. Some glazes can be quite magical when they are applied very thickly. How thick is too thick?

In all truth, you’ll never know until you try it. I like to make tea bowls for this kind of testing, since they can be quickly thrown and can fit into a blender for dipping the test glaze.

Leave about two inches of bare clay at the bottom of each piece and dip the teabowl upside down so it is thickest at the top. Fire the pieces on a ruined shelf or on a piece of a ruined shelf, in case the glaze runs or drips.

It’s not unusual for a glaze to crack (like a mud puddle) when it is applied in a very thick coating, and that cracking can sometimes cause crawling. In that case, begin by asking yourself if the crawling looks good — sometimes glaze “flaws” can be pretty nice. If not, then try applying your glaze in layers, allowing it to partially dry between layers. A trick I use is to force dry the piece in a microwave oven that I have in my studio: a couple of minutes on high (followed by a brief cooling) will often get the piece dry enough to apply another layer (warning: don’t do this if you’ve applied wax as it may trap the steam and cause the piece to blow up. I don’t use wax on pots that I’m going to microwave and I’ve never had one blow up).

Another trick for layering is to add a very small amount (perhaps a quarter of a percent) of CMC (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose) to the glaze. CMC is an organic gum that acts like glue for the applied glaze.

With CMC, a second layer of glaze can be added to the pot without it lifting the first layer of glaze off the bisque. The secret to CMC is to use no more than you absolutely must. Too much CMC will seal the surface of the bisque (as the glaze is

applied), resulting in a dipped glaze that remains wet on the surface of the piece, rather than quickly drying as the water is drawn from the glaze and into the bisque ware.

Besides applying the glaze more thickly, you can adjust the cooling profile of the firing to help make the glaze more visually varied and interesting. This is definitely one of the best ways for getting richer glazes from an electric kiln. The glazes in fuel-fired kilns are often richer because the kiln has thicker walls and heavier refractories, so cooling occurs much more slowly than in a small, thin-walled electric kiln. However, it’s easy to fire down an electric kiln, either manually (in a kiln with switches) or automatically in a computer-operated kiln.

Most of the characteristics that we describe as “richness” or “complexity” in a fired glaze are actually formed in the still-liquid glaze during the cooling cycle. If the glaze cools too quickly then there isn’t sufficient time for these changes to occur and the glaze can appear bland. During the cooling, glazes can form a wide range of microscopic crystals that result in matte surfaces, visual textures, and changes in color. There are even some beautiful affects that are the result of the separation of two different liquid glasses (imagine the separation of oil and vinegar in a salad dressing). These changes occur during the first few hundred degrees of cooling, while the glaze is still soft enough for its constituents to reform into new structures. In a low-fire kiln (cone 04), the changes tend to occur between about 1940°F (the approximate temperature of cone 04) and 1400°F. In a medium range (cone 6) firing, most of the changes occur between 2000°F and 1600°F. I first started doing this to my lowfire pots in the early ’90s, long before

I owned a computer-operated kiln.

Once the kiln setter tripped I lifted the tab and pressed the button to restart the kiln. I then turned the three kiln switches to low and let it fire an additional two hours. A low setting wasn’t enough power to keep the kiln from cooling — it simply slowed it down. That change alone made the surfaces far richer.

In a computer-operated kiln you can simply program an additional cooling ramp, or you can choose a temperature within these ranges and program the kiln to hold that temperature for a period of time.

Choosing a different temperature for that hold can result in very different glaze qualities.

It’s not at all unusual to hold a glaze for one to three hours. Like thickness, you never know what too much is until you’ve seen it. Not all glazes are improved by slow cooling or a long hold, so you’ll always need to test before instituting a wholesale change in your practices.

A very long hold — or a hold at too high a temperature — may cause a matt glaze to become too rough or abrasive. On the other hand, a hold at too low a temperature may do little or nothing. Like glaze thickness, the best results will come from testing and experience.

In the next issue I’ll continue this subject and provide you with additional opportunities for achieving rich and beautiful surfaces from an electric kiln. As always, you can reach me via e-mail at ppinnell1@ unl.edu. [ Peter Pinnell is Hixson-Lied Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. E-mail him at ppinnell1@unl.edu or contact him via his Facebook page at www.facebook.com.

an interview series by LANA WILSON Chandra DeBuse was full of spunk and originality at a recent Handbuilding Conference organized by Sandi Pierantozzi to benefit CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund). I was curious about her early aesthetic influences.

Lana Wilson: When did you first get into clay?

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Handbuilding with Chandra DeBuse

Chandra DeBuse: I tried loving clay, very briefly, during undergraduate school. Although I enjoyed making the messes, I did not have the maturity or discipline to stick with it. I was happy to escape that class with a B-minus! Fast forward a few years — I was working a stressful overnight job in human services and I needed a creative outlet.

The community clay studio was a perfect fit. I could not get enough!

Wilson: Did you grow up with an awareness of art by going to museums or doing art?

Above (front) and below (back): Squirrel Platter by Chandra DeBuse. To see the illustrated step-by-step process she used to make it, tune into Part 2 of this series, in our next issue of CT.

Wilson: Are there any other artists in your family?

DeBuse: My dad was an amateur photographer who would set up a darkroom in the bathroom. My mom was — and still is — interested in stained glass. I grew up in a DIY era, so one of my parents or my sister or I could always be found at

continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

DeBuse: Absolutely; despite growing up in very small rural town where cultural events were limited. My parents were both teachers with summers off, so we would load up the van and head across the country for a few weeks each year. They recognized that I loved to draw and make things, and they made sure we visited plenty of museums along the way.

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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Handbuilding with Chandra DeBuse (continued from previous page) the kitchen table with some craft project: wheat weaving, sewing clothes, rug-hooking, embroidery, or macramé. Creative expression was important in our family, but I don’t think I ever heard anyone label themselves as artists.

DeBuse: I have been working in clay for 16 years and started really figuring things out about five years ago when I was 2/3 finished with graduate school. I was on the verge of panic because I didn’t have a clear direction for my thesis project.

Wilson: Did you come to your current style of work early or did you have to go through various “periods” in your work to come to what you are making now?

Like most college campuses, the University of Florida is overflowing with squirrels. I had been thinking about a squirrel as a metaphor for chasing a goal and I began drawing cartoon squirrels in hot pursuit all over my pots. The project for my thesis show ended up being a playful installation of pottery forms that told a sequential story of achievement through the eyes of a squirrel.

DeBuse: Right from the start I was drawn to the vessel. Making functional pieces made the most sense to me and I have never seriously explored sculptural ceramics. I did go through a phase of making gestural teapots and vases that were raku-fired.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Wilson: How long did it take you to find “your voice?”

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The work I am making now is an offshoot from that core idea. Although I use a variety of characters and looser narratives,

I am still telling playful stories of determination, desire, and achievement.

Wilson: In a kiln load what percentage of “failures” do you have? How do you handle failures?

DeBuse: Failure just means I am trying new things and pushing beyond my comfort zone, right?

Recently, I had the luxury to play with a new red clay body. My failure rate in that load was about 60%, but I was excited about every single piece.

With my current white claybody, I have tweaked my firing schedule and I try to minimize variables to get the maximum success rate from the kiln. Cups have been a reliable form, and I make sure I have around 20 cups in every firing.

I experiment a lot with the surfaces of my cups, trying out new surface compositions or new characters and

Wilson: Do you think you are more interested in form or surface or equally interested in both?

DeBuse: Above all, forms have to be strong. It’s really disappointing to see great surfaces on weak or poorly crafted forms.

Because I’m exploring narrative and pattern through surface illustration, it’s the first thing people respond to, but it’s only the first step in understanding an object. Hopefully there will be a time, during use, when the surface takes a backseat to form and function. Getting form and surface to play nicely together is an ongoing challenge.

Wilson: How do you evaluate your work, and what sort of questions do you ask yourself as you look at your work?

DeBuse: Using my own cups, bowls, plates, and jars provides many opportunities for evaluation. I’ve made changes to handles, weights, depths, and glaze surfaces after using my pieces or seeing them in use.

When I first started participating in online national cup shows, I had not considered how the composition of the surface narrative would be read in one image. I made some changes to my work based on how

— Chandra DeBuse

the photographs looked in that first show. Cups are best staged for photographs with the contour of the handle clearly visible from the side.

Previously, when I was illustrating a narrative on a cup, I would wrap the image around the entire exterior, including the bottom. Sometimes the most important part of the story could only be seen by viewing the cup at a strange angle. Now, I try to consider how the piece will be photographed when I’m composing the surface. It’s still important to me that the entire 360 degrees of the object be considered, but my compositions have become more “frontal” and easier to read through a photo.

Seeing a large grouping of my work displayed at a show or gallery provides another opportunity to evaluate. Each of my pieces has a lot going on! I’m always reminded of ways to make the work look better in a grouping by leaving more quiet space and larger fields of color in select areas on individual pieces, without sacrificing the individual personality that each piece has.

Wilson: How do you go about growing with your work or changing it?

DeBuse: I sketch and draw actively and think about narratives I want to explore through my work. I have a lot of ideas and am easily seduced by novelty, so working completely through an idea is more of a challenge for me than changing techniques or clay bodies or glaze palettes.

Wilson: What are your glaze formulas and color formulas? Do you use some commercial products?

DeBuse: My go-to base glaze is “EM Satin”. It takes color well and fits both my white and red clay bodies.

I like how the surface changes from satin to glossier, depending on how quickly the kiln cools. [Turn to “Great Glazes” on p. 28 of this issue for the EM Satin formula.]

Amaco Velvet Underglazes have been a studio staple for me. I especially like Chartreuse, Velour Black, and Radiant Red. I use these, along with Mayco Squash Yellow Underglaze, all over the surfaces of my work, including the bottoms of my pieces because they won’t flux out and stick to the kiln shelf at cone 6.

I also love Stroke-and-Coats by Mayco for pops of intense color. I have been really enjoying Cutie Pie Coral and Orange-A-Peel lately.

I water down the commercial products and use them more like watercolor washes to fill in the lines of my drawings.

Wilson: My final question: what is wheat weaving?

DeBuse: “Wheat weaving” is one of the “straw arts” that celebrate the harvest. The straw arts range from functional woven hats and baskets to cornhusk dolls to decorative braided strands of wheat, woven into small sculptures that hang on the wall or are placed in a shadow box. It is a crunchy craft that was very popular in the late ’70s and early ’80s in the rural midwest.[ Tune in to our next Clay Times issue for an illustrated, step-by-step look at Chandra's creative process. Columnist Lana Wilson may be reached at lana@lanawilson.com.

Lana’s Website for workshop information and images is www.lanawilson.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Photographing the work provides another level of evaluation. Because most people will see images of my pots before ever seeing them in person, it’s important that they photograph well. Sometimes I’ll take a photo of a piece in the leather hard stage and study the photo before I decide how I’ll approach surface.

Sketching works the same way.

Sometimes figuring out composition on a two-dimensional rendering provides a clearer understanding of the three-dimensional object. It can be less overwhelming.

“Failure just means I am trying new things and pushing beyond my comfort zone, right?”

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

narratives. I am not always thrilled with the decisions I’ve made, but I can usually learn from my mistakes.

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Cascading. 14" x 8½" x 8½".

Porcelain fired to cone 6 ox./electric.

Chris Lively, Blacksburg, VA.

2015 Strictly Functional Pottery National

Pumkinned Ewer. 8" x 6½" x 4½". Dirty porcelain fired to cone 10 in reduction by Tina Gebhart, Gettysburg, PA.

For the 23rd consecutive year, the event showcased and celebrated the utilitarian aspect of claywork, with

the criteria that entries must be designed for purposeful use as well as aesthetic appeal.

Best of Show was awarded to Matthew McGovern for his fluted white Vase [cover inset image of this CT issue].

Second Place went to Doris FischerColbrie for her Flax in Winter plate [pictured on p. 27]. All in all, a total of 110 works were selected to appear in this year’s exhibition and sale.

Although the live show has ended and most of the pieces were sold to the public, images of the works and info. on their makers may be viewed online at http://www.strictlyfunctional pottery.net/sfpn2015.html Additional inspiring print images of works from SFPN 2015 appear on this CT issue’s table of contents pages 5-6, plus pages 24, 26, and 27. To learn more about the show, contact codirectors Amy Burk at 717.490.6144 or Kevin Lehman at 717.509.7547, or email kevin@klpottery.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

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uror Matt Long, Associate Professor of Art and Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Art at the University of Mississippi, selected the featured works for this year’s Strictly Functional Pottery National show and sale. The exhibition, presented by the Market House Craft Center, took place Sept. 25-Oct. 31 at Kevin Lehman’s Pottery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Table Place Setting. 5" x 8" x 8". Porcelain gas-fired to cone 10 in reduction by Carol Hurwitch of Adelphi, MD.

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2015 Strictly Functional Show & Sale (from previous page)

Small Plate with Arrows, ½" x 6" x 6". Screen-printed porcelain fired to cone 10 in reduction by Megan Mitchell, Gilmanton, NH.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Text Vase with Red, 15" x 6" x 6". Stoneware wood-fired to cone 12 by Maureen Mills of Portsmouth, NH.

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Carbon Trap Shino Bottle, 7" x 4" x 4". Grolleg porcelain gas-fired to cone 10 in reduction by Greg Jahn & Nancy Halter of Billings, MT. Mug, 4" x 4" x 3". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in reduction by Noel Bailey, Waitsfield, VT.

Flax in Winter, 3" x 19" x 19". Stoneware gas-fired to cone 10 in reduction by Doris Fischer-Colbrie.

Second Place Award winner in this year’s Strictly Functional Pottery National show and sale. [ 27

Great Glazes EM Satin Glaze (Cone 6 ox.)

by Eric Mirabito furnished by Chandra DeBuse (more about Chandra on p. 21-23) Silica 20% Nepheline Syenite 20 Whiting 20 EPK 20 Frit 3124 20 TOTAL 100% add: Bentonite

2%

for color, add your choice: Mason Stain 4% to 7% For more great glaze recipes, order the “Great Glazes 1 & 2” collection of over 100 glaze formulas! Available from the online store at www.claytimes.com/store.html

Spectrum Glazes CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Introduces three new lead-free metallic finishes for Cone 5; Gold, Gold Rain, and Mirror. In addition to our popular Pewter and Oil Spot, we think you’ll be impressed by the newest metallic additions to our Stoneware Glaze line when you give them a try.

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BY MONONA ROSSOL

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alc is a natural mineral that has been mined and used for centuries as a cosmetic and personal hygiene product. It is also a common clay and glaze ingredient.

Unfortunately, This mineral is one that could be contaminated with asbestos. The industrial and ceramic talcs mined in upstate New York

by RT Vanderbilt are those most associated with this hazard.

The Mines are Closed We probably do not have to worry much about exposure to New York talc. RT Vanderbilt Company closed these mines in 2009. Today, I only find their products such as NYTAL 100 or Ceramitalc when there are old supplies in storage room or bins in potteries or schools.

The story you have heard about the talc probably stops there. However, because the latency period for developing mesothelioma is roughy 20 to 40 years, this problem is not going away anytime soon. It is only fair that you know that there

Seven More Cases The two jury verdicts were delivered in 2006 and 2007 and the second was upheld on appeal in 2009. Since that time, I know of no other lawsuit in which Vanderbilt has been before a jury. But I have now been retained in seven more lawsuits — ones I can’t tell you about. I have been advised that when cases like these settle, there are confidentiality agreements involved. But without these stories, how can I convince ceramic artists and teachers that they are at risk? How can I alert those who still have old stocks of this talc in their studios?

I consulted my lawyer and lawyers for some of the plaintiffs in the mesothelioma lawsuits about what I am allowed to say. The consensus is that I can divulge how many cases I’ve been retained in and some basic information about the activity that exposed the plaintiffs to the dust.

I can say that these people include an artist, ceramics teachers at levels from children’s classes to college, and people who did crafting or teaching at home. In these cases, RT Vanderbilt is or was (some have settled) one of the defendants.

Ten Cases in Total These seven cases plus the two jury trials makes nine. But there is another that I can write about.

In 1980, I interviewed my very first

mesothelioma victim. She was a doctor’s wife who had a small ceramic doll business in Port Ewan, New York. She used talc-containing slips and died of mesothelioma at age 54 in August of 1981. I wrote a short obituary for her in a newsletter called Art Hazards News. This means there are ten cases of mesothelioma in people exposed to RT Vanderbilt talc of which I am personally aware.

Other Talcs Is upstate New York talc the only one containing asbestos? Clearly it is not. Research shows that there are other talc deposits in which asbestos is a contaminant, and one of these studies was on cosmetic talcs: Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women, Ronald E. Gordon;* Sean Fitzgerald;* James Millette,* International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Volume 20, Issue 4 (October 2014), pp. 318-332 Cosmetic talcum powder is known to cause lung fibrosis and has been suggested as a causative factor in development of ovarian carcinomas, gynecological tumors and mesothelioma. This study was designed to fill in the gaps in the data connecting talc to mesothelioma.

But there are two important issues in the study for ceramicists.

1. The identification of the asbestos in talc is shown to require expensive and difficult tests.** I don’t know if these tests have been done on the continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

The New York mines were closed shortly after juries in two separate lawsuits decided that deaths from the asbestos-related disease, mesothelioma, resulted from exposure to the talc. The Plaintiffs in the first trial were the family of a man who was a potter at the time he was exposed to the talc (I was one of the expert witnesses in this suit).

The other was a woman tile-maker.

[See the July/August 2008 issue of Clay Times for a complete description of these trials.]

are several more such cases of mesothelioma.

Studio I Health & Safety

Should We Be Using Talc-Free Clay?

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Studio I Health & Safety

register today to join

Tom & Elaine Coleman guest presenters at

2. The study identified three different contaminated mines used to make the talcum powder.

February 3-6, 2016

“... The talc used by this cosmetic company that manufactured and distributed the talcum powder was from three distinct regions: the Willow Creek mine in Southwest Montana, the Regal mine near Murphy, North Carolina, and imported talc from the Val Chisone region of the Italian Piedmont ...

These three mines all contained asbestos fibers; anthophyllite, and tremolite.” - pp. 318-319

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For full free access to the digital version of Clay Times, please update your e-mail address now at www.claytimes. com/e-mail MarcsPotteryTools-2inchBlockAd-OL.pdf CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

ceramic talcs on the market now.

Gulf Coast Clay Conference

ATTENTION Clay Times Print Subscribers:

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Talc (continued from previous page)

Which other talc mines might also be contaminated with asbestos? I really don’t know. I do know that RT Vanderbilt representatives said their talc was asbestos-free for over 50 years, and still say so. Yet, since 1980, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has consistently said that RT Vanderbilt talc does contain asbestos. The cosmetic talc suppliers also say their talc is asbestos-free, and there are mineralogists who will testify in court both for and against the premise that there is asbestos in various talcs.

In fact, the two juries in the 2 2/4/14 6:57 PM Vanderbilt trials were not asked to answer the technical question about whether the long, thin mineral structures in the talc met the mineralogist’s definition of asbestos. They were only asked to look at all the evidence from the studies of Vanderbilt miners and millers, the animal tests, and other data to decide whether or not the talc causes asbestos-diseases like mesothelioma. In both cases, they agreed that it did beyond a reasonable doubt.

What Should We Do Now? I suggest when the issue is this serious and there are opinions on both sides, that we err on the side of caution — especially if we teach young people or children who can’t be expected to make an informed decision about whether or not to take this risk. Fortunately, all of the major ceramic suppliers offer talc-free clays. There are many talcfree clay body and glaze recipes to choose from, too.

Footnotes: * Gordon works in the Department of Pathology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

Fitzgerald is with SAI Laboratory, Greensboro, NC, USA and Millette is with MVA Inc., Duluth, GA. Their study was paid for in part by lawyers for asbestos plaintiffs but no funds were provided for writing the manuscript. The laboratories doing the analyses are available for hire by both defense and plaintiff clients.

** The asbestos was identified using transmission electron microscope (TEM) formvarcoated grids to determine the concentrations of one brand of talcum powder directly, on filters, from air collections on filters in glovebox and simulated bathroom exposures and human fiber burden analyses. The grids were analyzed on an analytic TEM using energydispersive spectrometer (EDS) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) to determine asbestos fiber number and type. [ Monona Rossol is an industrial hygienist/chemist with an M.F.A. in ceramics/glass. E-mail her at: ACTSNYC@cs.com

Making a Ceramic Baker’s Muffin Pan

teXt & Photos by bill Van Gilder

ways; sift, screen, mix, or blend. We then form something with the mix, sometimes kneading it first. Next, we might glaze or decorate it, then finally bake or fire it. One we will eat; the other we’ll eat from. Food and clay are like brothers and sisters: each emerges from similar making methods, but manifests with very different end results.”

Fig. 1

D

Necessary Supplies

Optional: • • • • •

8-oz. piece of clay [support for pointer] a pointed chop stick a texture tool an edge-rounding tool round cookie cutters

The Project Making a muffin pan involves a bit of repetition throwing, and some handbuilding and assembly … nothing too challenging, but the end result is seldom seen and always gets a ‘That’s so cool!’ reaction. That reaction makes the project not only useful but very marketable, if that’s where your interest lies.

Your students can partner up for the making of their pans with one doing the throwing while the other prepares the hand-built parts. Our claywork is often a solo event, so creating partnerships to get things done gets everyone involved, no matter what their skill level.

With your class, clay, tools, and a small erasable board at your wheel, share these two thoughts with your class: “There are lots of similarities between making pots by hand and baking food. Both start with a recipe of some sort, which tells us what materials we’ll be using. We weigh or measure the materials, then combine them in similar

Then talk about the techniques of making multiples of similar pots; “Once you’ve established in ‘your mind’s eye what you’re going to throw, use the first pot to establish the details: the height and width, both top and bottom; the shape of the rim; and the pot’s overall form. So, make your first pot and use your ruler and other tools to establish its size and shape.”

It typically takes making a couple of cups before the proportions and measurements are completely sorted out and a rhythm of making is established.

Here’s a tip that I think I’ve talked about in a previous CT column; “To make pots that look alike — and that’s the goal when making your muffin cups — start by using the same quality and weights of clay. Then use the same tools, in the same order, with the same hand motions. Note that if you vary one or more of these from pot to pot the end results will also vary.”

At this point, pull up your small erasable board and diagram the project (Fig. 2). It’s important that students follow the measurements that you draw and describe. Why? Because a muffin recipe is measurement-specific, and we want to create cups that are sized to hold a complete recipe mixture: not too big and not too small. Students will need to refer to your board drawings to get the needed sizes as they move through the project.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015 CLAYTIMES·COM n AUTUMN 2011

• (8) 10-oz. pieces of throwing clay [to make the cups] • (1) 4-lb. piece of clay [slab] • (1) 1-lb. piece of clay [trimming pad] • (1) 6-oz. piece of clay [for attachments] • water and a small sponge • a ruler • an undercut rib tool • a cut-off wire • a trimming tool • a piece of canvas • (2) small ware boards • a rolling pin and 2 sticks • a fettling knife • a short, ½"-diameter dowel

o you like to bake? Or do you have students who like to bake? If that’s the case, here’s a simple and very use-specific project to share with your class: making a baker’s muffin pan (Fig. 1).

In Form I Teaching Techniques

Pre-holiday Kitchen Project

31 27

In Form I Teaching Techniques

Throwing the Cups When When you you eventually eventually get get to to the the assemassembly bly part part of of your your pan, pan, you’ll you’ll be be using using the the six six most most similar similar cups cups you’ve you’ve thrown. thrown. As As mentioned, mentioned, the the first first two two cups cups you you make make are are trials; trials; so so making making eight eight cups, cups, one one after after the the other, other, is is the the wheel-project wheel-project goal. goal.

Fig. 6

Fig. 2 Fig. 7

Fig. 3

CLAYTIMES·COM 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015 nn AUTUMN 2011 CLAYTIMES·COM

Fig. 88 Fig.

32 28 28

Fig. 4 Fig. 99 Fig.

There There are are two two details details to to keep keep in in mind mind as as you you throw throw your your eight eight cups: cups: the the inteinterior rior walls walls of of each each cup cup will will need need to to be be as as smooth smooth as as possible possible — — the the fewer fewer fingerfingertip tip ridges ridges on on the the wall, wall, the the better. better. Also, Also, the the wall wall of of each each cup cup will will need need to to flare flare outward outward slightly slightly from from floor floor to to rim, rim, with with no no overhanging overhanging edge edge at at the the inside inside rim. rim.

This This allows allows you you to to remove remove your your baked baked muffins muffins easily. easily.

After After you’ve you’ve thrown thrown your your first first or or second second cup cup and and established established the the details details and and sizes, sizes, set set up up aa simple simple gauge, gauge, or or ‘pointer,’ ‘pointer,’ on on your your wheel. wheel. A A pointer pointer is is used used in in place place of of aa ruler, ruler, saving saving aa lot lot of of time time when when meameasuring suring your your wet wet pots pots [see [see commercial commercial Fulwood Fulwood Measure Measure tool tool ad ad on on page page 7].

7]. To To make make your your own own temporary temporary pointer, pointer, press press aa 6-oz.

6-oz. ball ball of of soft soft clay clay to to your your wheel wheel tray tray edge edge at at the the 12 12 o’clock o’clock position. position. Then, Then, press press the the end end of of aa chopstick chopstick or or aa similar similar long, long, thin thin stick stick into into the the clay clay with with the the point point of of the the stick stick positioned positioned very very closely closely to to the the rim rim of of the the cup. cup. Throw Throw the the rest rest of of your your cups cups and and size size them them identically identically by by stretching stretching each each cup cup rim rim to to the the pointer pointer tip tip (Fig. (Fig. 3).

3). Be Be aware aware that that ifif you you bump bump or or move move the the pointer pointer tip tip at at any any time, time, itit will will need need to to be be repositioned repositioned to to maintain maintain your your desired desired measurements. measurements.

As As aa finishing finishing step step on on each each of of your your eight eight cups, cups, use use your your rib rib tool tool to to remove remove the the wet wet throwing throwing slip slip from from the the outside outside wall. wall. The The resulting resulting tacky tacky wall wall surface surface will will allow allow you, you, using using dry dry hands, hands, to to pick pick up up each each cup cup near near its its base base and and move move itit from from the the wheelwheelhead head to to aa ware ware board board (Fig. (Fig. 4).

4).To To complete complete your your project project demo demo within within one one class class peperiod, riod, force-dry force-dry your your eight eight bowls bowls to to aa soft soft leather-hard leather-hard state state in in the the sunlight sunlight or or with with aa blow-dryer, blow-dryer, ifif possible. possible. While While that’s that’s taking taking place, place, move move everyone everyone to to aa workworktable table and and demo demo ‘Handbuilding: ‘Handbuilding: Part Part 1.’

1.’

Making the Slab Following Following the the diagrammed diagrammed details details on on your your erasable erasable board, board, roll roll out out aa 33//88"" thick, thick, rectangular-shaped rectangular-shaped slab slab using using your your

Fig. 55 Fig. Fig. 10

Fig. 11

Fig. 12

two sticks and a rolling pin. Create your 14" x 11" slab on a small piece of canvas placed over a ware board. For a bit of visual interest, you can texture your slab by pressing a sheet of embossed wallpaper across its surface (Fig. 5). After decorating, you’ll then have to flip your slab over and onto another canvas-coated ware board. Why? Because during the next step, your muffin cups are going to be attached to the undecorated side of your slab. (If you’re not decorating your slab, this additional flip-step isn’t necessary.) It’s a building process, and decorating your slab is just one of the many options you have when making your pan. Set your slab aside and move your demo back to the wheel and your eight leather-hard cups.

of each cup at the points diagrammed as small circles in your drawings. Place one small ball of clay at each point, and use your short piece of wooden dowel to press each ball tightly to both the slab and the cup wall (Fig. 8).

Trimming, Assembly, and Finishing Before you attach your cups to the slab, the base of each cup will need to be trimmed, or lightly ‘skimmed’ round and smooth. Using your 1-lb. piece of clay, throw a ½" thick trimming pad on your wheelhead and use your rib tool to flatten and skim it dry. Attach each of your leather-hard muffin cups to the pad, then trim and smooth each foot edge, one after the other (Fig. 6). Next, take your cups and your bowl of water back to your work table for ‘Handbuilding: Part 2.’

With your cup rims now in place and marginally attached to the slab, use the last piece of clay listed in the supplies list on p. 27 to make 18 small balls, each about ½" in diameter. Use a small, wet sponge to dampen the slab and the lower wall area

Next, use a small cookie cutter or your fettling knife to punch or cut a small hole through the slab at the center of each cup (as in Fig. 9). This releases the trapped air caught between the cups and the slab, and makes the next step a bit easier.

Now use a large cookie cutter or a fettling knife and, as carefully and cleanly as possible, cut away all the slab clay that covers each cup opening (Fig. 9). Trim all the way to the inside rim of each cup without cut-

As with every project you demo in class, there are usually lots of creative options. Part of my personal clay philosophy is, “There’s no right or wrong way to make pots — there are only different ways.” Sharing this outlook with my students has certainly opened doors and pushed the envelope of creativity, overall.

Some options to share with your class when making muffin pans? I can think of lots of them, like: making a circular, thrown slab instead of using one that has been rolled out and squared ... or leave a random, loose edge on your rolledout slab to give it a more ‘clay-like’ look ... or add handles to your pan ... or make muffin pans with only two or four cups ... or, keeping the recipe amount in mind, reduce the thrown size of each cup, and make a cupcake-like pan with eight cups in the layout. As I said — lots of ideas.

“So, decide what size and style of muffin pan you’re going to make, follow the needed measurements drawn on the board, prep your clay, and let’s go to work!” [ * Bill Thisvan article is a “20th Anniversary Flashback” Gilder has been a full-time potterreprint since from the the Autumn/Winter 2011 issue of CT. For the full Clay Times 1960s and teaches pottery-making workshops. He may collection of Bill van Gilder’s “Teaching Techniques” how-to be reached by e-mail at vangilderpottery@earthlink. pottery project series, visit www.claytimes.com/store.html. net.more His about potters’ Gilder Tools, isvideos, available For Billtool andline, his van pottery, workshops, and via the online store at www.vangilderpottery.com. potter’s tool line, visit www.vangilderpottery.com

JuMBO PuMPkIn MuFFInS wITh CInnAMOn/nuTMEg TOPPIng courtesy Buddha’s Baker of Frederick, MD — www.buddhasbaker.com 2½ C all purpose flour ½ C sugar • ½ tsp salt ½ C packed brown sugar 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda

2 extra-large eggs 1 C canned pumpkin (not pie mix!) ½ C buttermilk ¼ C canola oil 1½ tsp vanilla extract

Topping: 2 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven 375° F. Grease wells and top of jumbo muffin pan with butter or non-stick spray. (Don’t forget to do the top of the pan.) In a large bowl, combine the first 7 [dry] ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the next 5 [wet] ingredients.

Gently mix wet ingredients into dry mix, just until blended — don’t overmix! Fill muffin wells 3/4 full. Sprinkle each with topping. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan. Let cool on rack. Makes 6.

n AUTUMN ·COM CLAYTIMES·COM nCLAYTIMES 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER2011 2015

Again, following the diagrammed measurements on your board, pick up one cup at a time, dip its rim into water, and position it onto your slab, firmly pressing each cup rim tightly to the slab (Fig 7). “Now we’ve got to create a really secure cup-to-slab attachment. This is actually an easy step — just work slowly and neatly.”

Before you flip your pan over to finish the top side — which is the next step — note the diagrammed measurements again, and cut away the excess clay from the outer edge of the slab to define the outside dimensions of your pan (as in Fig. 8). Place another ware board over and on top of the bottoms of your cups; then carefully flip your pan over and upright, keeping the whole thing securely sandwiched between the top and bottom ware boards. Then remove the top ware board and the canvas.

The last few steps: Use an edge-rounding tool and your small sponge to round and smooth the four outside edges of the slab (Fig. 11). You may want to score a shallow line near the rim of the slab as a decorating element (Fig. 12), or use your small wooden dowel to create a series of small indented notches completely around the slab edge. Finally, flip your pan back over and allow it to dry upside down.

In Form I Teaching Techniques

ting into the rims. Work slowly here — repairs take a lot more time! Then, use your small, damp sponge to smooth the slab edges where they meet the inside rims (Fig. 10).

33 33 29

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Porcelain place setting by Shiloh Gastello, Portland, OR. Email: polychrome@comcast.net; Website: www.facebook.com/shilohgastelloceramics

34

Skyscraper Series, Number 5.

6" x 6" x 30". Stoneware with flashing slip and natural ash; wood-fired to cone 10.

Giovanni DeFendis, Pocatello, ID. Website: www.def11001.wix.com/defendisceramics#!

Mia Handbag. 9" x 8½" x 4". Handbuilt of two stoneware clay bodies; fired to cone 5 electric.

Metallic-glazed zippers and clasps; clear-glazed interior; unglazed exterior for “leather” look.

Feather accent gray underglaze. Verna Witt, 9903 Heritage Oak Lane, Marvin, NC 28173.

Email: verna@carolina.rr.com; Website: www.marvingardensstudio.com

Submit images of your claywork to The Gallery!

Send your high-quality color print, slide, or 1050-x-1500pixel (minimum) digital image to: The Gallery, Clay Times, P.O. Box 17139, Amelia Island, FL 32035; or e-mail to claytimes@gmail.com. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, Website and/or e-mail address, type of clay and glaze, firing method, and dimensions of the work. (Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you need photo or slide returned.)

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery

Pictured at left: Resting on Her Hollow Form. 18" x 9" x 26".

Polychrome high-fire earthenware by Scott Stockdale.

Email: ststockdale@yahoo.com

Pictured below: Sharing Set of Dishes. 15" x 10" x 9". Handbuilt and wheel-thrown porcelain decorated with underglaze and glaze, fired to cone 6 in an electric kiln.

Jeni Hansen Gard, 1451 Bradshire Dr., Columbus, OH 43220.

Email: hansenjeni@hotmail.com; Website: jenihansengard.weebly.com

CLAYTIMES 2015 CLAYTIMES··COM COM n n 20TH 20THANNIVERSARY ANNIVERSARY ••AUTUMN AUTUMN //WINTER WINTER 2015

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36

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

BY VINCE PITELKA

It has been ten years since I’ve written on this subject, so I think it’s time for a recap and update ... In most ceramics programs or community studios, we often find only minimal tools and equipment for glazing. Your work will benefit greatly if you have the proper gear.

Shop Talk I Tool Times

Tools for Glaze Mixing and Application

Tools for Mixing Glazes In this section, I am not addressing tools for mixing glazes from scratch, but rather those for bringing a glaze into suspension when it’s been sitting for a while. Occasionally you come across one tool that works so much better than any other available, and that’s the case with the JiffyMixer model ES drill impeller-mixer attachment (pictured, top right).

We occasionally encounter a glaze that settles rock-hard and even the Jiffy Mixer won’t touch it. Such a glaze needs to be adjusted or

abrade down through hardest settled glaze. Be forewarned that it will go right through the bottom of your glaze bucket if you’re not careful. Hanson impeller mixers are available from Axner and other ceramic suppliers.

For the best efficiency with any impeller mixer attachment, use a plug-in 3/8" VSR (variable-speed reversible) electric drill rather than a cordless, and get one with a high top speed. Stick with quality brands like Makita, Bosch, Ryobi, Dewalt, Hitachi, etc. The Bosch 1006VSR is only $55 and has a top speed of 2600 RPM, far faster than most cordless drills, and you don’t have to worry about whether the battery is charged.

If you routinely mix glazes and slips or need to blend recycled slurry, get a good VSR drill and a Jiffy Mixer

Hanson Plunge Mixer

continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

You’ll find a variety of inexpensive impeller mixers at the home improvement superstore, but the cheap ones with the “quick spiral” are far less effective and will splatter glaze in your face if you go full speed on your drill. The Jiffy Mixer ES costs $50, but it’s all stainless steel, and an examination of the “cage” structure reveals that it moves material up, down, and in from the side. It’s the only design that removes stiffened glaze from the sides of a bucket as well as from the bottom, and it does so without any risk of abrading into the bucket itself. Jiffy mixers are available from amazon and some ceramic suppliers.

reformulated, but in the meantime, the Hanson Casting #003 plunge mixer attachment (pictured below) has nubs on the bottom that will

37

Shop Talk I Tool Times

Tools for Glaze Mixing and Application (continued from previous page) model ES and leave them together as a unit, always available for those uses.

For small amounts of glaze, slip, or slurry, a plunge-blender (stickblender/immersion-blender) works best. Don’t waste money on the expensive ones because abrasive ceramic materials will kill them just as quickly as the cheaper ones. We get the best longevity and service from the $35 Cuisinart CBS-75 Smart Stick.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

For a low-budget solution, a large wire whisk works well and can be homemade from 1/8" wire. Many people report good results with a common toilet brush, but these only work well with glazes that are easily brought back into suspension. Glazes settle according to particle weight, and if you leave any residue on the bottom, what you have mixed into suspension is not the true glaze.

38

Brown Dipping Tongs

Kemper Dipping Tongs

Tools for Glaze Application I’m planning an upcoming column on brushes, and thus will forego them here. Among the most common glazing tools, the standard redhandled Kemper dipping tongs (pictured above) work fine for small items. Baileypottery.com item #C-128115 is a Chinese spring-loaded set of dipping tongs that looks interesting, but I have not used them. Sturdier dipping tongs adapted from ChannelLock pliers cost about $25 and are adjustable to accommodate different wall thicknesses. The precise, sturdy hinge mechanism feels far more secure when dipping larger objects.

You can find them at aardvarkclay. com as the Brown glaze tongs, or at vangilderpottery.com as the Channellock glaze tongs. Japanesepotterytools. com has some very interesting steel dipping tongs in the “glazing” section, but all their prices are listed in yen.

A common dilemma in clay studios everywhere is how to glaze large bowls and plates. Many people spray them, but even very large plates and platters can be dipped effectively in the right container. With all plates and platters, if you dip straight in and back out vertically, you get a much thicker accumulation of glaze at one edge. Instead, pour the glaze into a low, wide vessel, and for plates and serving bowls up to 14" diameter a

plastic or metal oil-drain pan from an auto parts store works well.

A wide, round-bottom container will allow very large bowls and platters to be glazed with a relatively small amount of glaze, and the best options are large mixing bowls and woks. On amazon you can find 30-quart mixing bowls 23" in diameter for around $30.

If you’re serious about glazing really large platters and bowls, go to webrestaurantstore.com and order the Town 34730 30" Hand-Hammered Wok for $60. Thirty-five years ago I acquired a 36"-diameter wok, and my students and I have been using it for glazing large bowls and platters ever since. Grasp the bowl or plate from opposite sides with your fingers against the rim, dip one edge in, tilt and swirl the bowl or plate around in the puddle of glaze to cover all surfaces inside and out, and follow through and remove it continuing in the same direction so the first edge to hit the glaze is the first to emerge.

Touch up the finger marks with a brush. With a little practice, you can evenly coat bowls or platters of almost any size in three or four gallons of glaze in a giant wok or mixing bowl.

Spraying is the standard method for glazing larger or awkward forms that cannot be dipped, and this must be done either outdoors or in a proper

Having tried just about every spray system available with an eye towards studio practicality and efficiency, my preference is a gravity-feed HVLP (high-volume-low-pressure) spray gun of the “conversion gun” type.

As compared to HVLP guns with a dedicated turbine providing the air, a conversion gun runs off a standard air compressor, and you can use the compressor for many other things.

I’ve been recommending the “Tool Force A-C1 2-in-1 HVLP gun” (don’t get the Tool Force touch-up gun) offered on amazon for about $30, but they are extremely popular and often out of stock. You can find this gun on eBay and possibly some other sites, but similar models from other brands are available.

When purchasing an air compressor, get at least 2 HP with oil lubrication

and a cast iron compressor barrel and make sure it puts out at least 4 CFM (cubic feet per minute) at 90 PSI (pounds per square inch). That would be an inadequate if you were painting cars, but when spraying glazes we stop and start frequently, giving the compressor a chance to pump up the tank and catch up.

Avoid compressors advertised as oilless, oil-free, or maintenance-free, because they’re cheaply made and won’t last much beyond the warranty, while an oil-lubricated compressor with a cast iron barrel will last a very long time. Good choices on amazon for a small, portable compressor of this type include the “Rolair FC2002” for $250, the “Senco PC1131” for $200, or the “Makita MAC2400 Big Bore” for $339.

These units are direct-drive with the compressor rotating at motor speed, and thus they are noisy and have a little less longevity than a belt-drive compressor that runs at a lower speed and will last a lifetime.

If you plan to do a lot of spraying and especially if you’ll use compressed air for other purposes, save your pennies and upgrade to a belt-drive compressor with a larger horizontal

As always, I welcome opinions regarding items mentioned in my columns, or suggestions for tools or subjects I might cover in the future. I am particularly interested in domestic tool-makers, so please do contact me if you know of any I have neglected. [ Vince Pitelka is professor of clay atTennessee Technological University’s Appalachian Center for Craft, an active participant on the Clayart Internet discussion group, and author of Clay: A Studio Handbook.

Feel free to suggest topics for this column or contact Vince through his Website at http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Look for a gravity-feed HVLP gun that has a needle and nozzle at least 1.8mm and preferably 2.0mm — no smaller. Such guns are often advertised for use with primer and other thicker media. Choices on amazon for around $50 or less include the “Titan 1.8 HVLP Primer Spray Gun,” the “Vaper 19018 Gravity Feed HVLP Spray Gun,” and the “2 in 1 HVLP Primer Gun with 1.4 & 2.0 Nozzle” from I S Import. The latter looks absolutely identical to the Tool Force gun and even uses the same photograph in the ad. There are no customer reviews yet, but if it were me I’d chance it and then write a review. If you get a 2-in-1 gun be sure to change over to the large needle/ nozzle set appropriate for spraying glazes or slips.

HVLP Gravity Spray Gun

or vertical tank that will give more spraying time before the automatic pressure switch turns the compressor on. A 20-gallon horizontal-tank wheeled unit is practical if you need to move it around, while a vertical unit takes up less floor space. A good portable horizontal-tank unit on amazon is the “Puma Oil-Lube Belt Drive Single-Stage Portable Air Compressors Model No. PK5020” for $570, and a wheeled vertical unit is the “IngersollRand Garage Mate model P1.5IU-A9” for $560. For a higheroutput stationary vertical-tank unit, check out the “Puma BeltDrive Stationary Vertical Air Compressor - 60-Gallon Vertical, 3 HP, Model No. PK6060V,” a very good deal at $500.

Shop Talk I Tool Times

spray booth, either homemade or a commercial unit. Laguna’s Pro-X Seamless Spray Booth for $768 is a good choice. In any case, be sure to wear an appropriate respirator with a P-100 dust filter, such as the 3M 6000 Series Half Facepiece Respirator for $16 at amazon.

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Crystalline Matte Glazes

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

STORY, ART, & PHOTOS BY BRIAN GEIER

40

Pictured, this page: Teapot, 7½" x 6" x 5".

Opposite page, from top: Bottle, 7½" x 4" x 4".

Yunomi, 3½" x 3" x 3". All works were made by Brian Geier and fired to cone 10 in oxidation.

T

he focus of my pottery is to make decorative and functional wheel-thrown forms with matte crystalline glazes. I prefer the characteristics of matte glazes because the surface is smooth to the touch, and they are more subtle in appearance than glossy glazes. I also like smaller crystals and subtle variations in the background color of the piece. I think that when combined, these features make the piece feel more organic and natural.

One source of inspiration for these glazes is from the Ocean Jasper mineral. It is a member of the quartz family, and it forms spheres of small crystals throughout the piece. When it is cut and polished, it can look just like a great crystalline glaze. Also like the glaze, no two pieces are ever the same.

I took my first ceramics class in middle school.

We only briefly used a wheel, but I had an interest in wheel-thrown pottery from that point on. My next pottery class

was not until college.

That is when I really got hooked. Although I did not major in ceramics, I took a pottery class every semester that I attended college.

All of my pieces are thrown porcelain. The glazes are brushed on the pieces or poured.

I also make rings and glaze catchers for each piece. This is because crystalline glazes run at high temperatures.

It is important to make sure that the rings fit exactly to the bottom of the piece. Both surfaces must also be completely flat. I attach the ring to the pot with a mixture of EPK and alumina. I also make sure to glaze over the seam between the pot and the ring. This allows the glaze to flow more easily across the seam during the firing.

This allows for an easier separation afterwards.

After the firing, I tap the ring with a hammer until it separates. I then use a Dremel tool with a diamond disc to grind the bottom of the piece smooth.

My work is singlefired to cone 10 in an electric kiln. Starting out in ceramics, everything I made was bisque-fired. It was not until I took a workshop from Steven Hill that I realized that single firing was a good option for me.

Since then, I have only single fired my work.

The speed of the temperature rise slows gradually as the kiln reaches cone 10. It starts out at about 500° per hour, and then slows to about 100° per hour for the final part of the firing. Then I turn off the kiln until the temperature drops to 2000° F, and hold it there for about 90 minutes. After that I

shut the power off to let it cool naturally.

It took me a long time to develop a matte crystalline glaze that I liked. Once I did, I learned a lot more about the glaze by working with it over and over again. You start to learn how a particular glaze behaves under different circumstances, and how to get the best results from it. My favorite thing about crystalline glaze firing is that it is always exciting to open the kiln.

Every piece comes out differently, and you never know what you will get. [

Questions or commenter? Email the author: questions@ briangeierpottery.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

I wait until my pieces are bone-dry, then I glaze them by brushing or pouring. After that, I let the glazed pots dry for several days to make sure the moisture evaporates as much as possible.

My firing schedule is very simple. I still use an old manual electric L&L kiln that I inherited from my grandmother, who used to make porcelain dolls.

It is probably about 25 years old now and still

going strong, although I do have to replace the elements often. I hold the temperature at about 175° Fahrenheit for an hour.

Then I turn the kiln to medium for about a half hour, until the temperature reaches about 300°-400° F. Following that, I just turn it to high until peak temperature is reached.

41

Resources I Classified Marketplace

Classified Marketplace Classes

Opportunities, cont.

For Sale, cont.

• Throw like a pro! Hone your craftsmanship with this proven method. I will teach you in your studio. Your skill will grow substantially. See reference letters at: Jepsonpottery.com; neverleavetheplayground.com

Emergency Relief Fund. Log onto studioprotector.org for details on how to get help from the arts sector, relief providers, and your community. The site, created by artists for artists, also offers strategies for becoming better prepared to deal with or avoid craft emergencies altogether.

utensils, hand-dyed silk, original leather & fabric handbags, allnatural soaps and soy candles, garden art, and more! Everything is priced below retail. A great home-grown option for holiday gift giving, or pin to your own wish list. Shop online at www.claytimes. com/artstore.html

• Arts Community seeks smart, happy people — Intentional, sustainable, artsoriented community located in the NC mountains near Penland School of Crafts. Forest preserve, hiking trails, organic farm site, green-built houses. Makers and appreciators of clay (and other arts) welcome! Visit us online at www.HighCove.com

• Order print and digital back issues, original potter’s t-shirt designs, and more — available exclusively from Clay Times!

We’ve also got the Great Glazes I & II collection of glaze recipes, Teaching Techniques how-to article PDFs by Bill van Gilder, and lots more great gifts for clay lovers at www.claytimes.com/store.html

Events • Join guest presenters Tom & Elaine Coleman in Pensacola, Florida this winter for the Gulf Coast Clay Conference! When: Feb. 3-6, 2016. Fee: $95. For details, log onto www.kilnwalk. org or call 850.939.2744.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Opportunities

42

• The Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition is an annual juried ceramic competition for Kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) students in the United States. Designed to showcase the best K-12 ceramic work made in the country, the exhibition takes place in a different city each year in conjunction with the annual conference of The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA).

Visit the 19th annual show in Kansas City, Missouri, March 1619, 2016. For complete details about the show and the entry process, log onto http://www. k12clay.org/ • Emergency relief and recovery resources for artists affected by recent South Carolina flooding and California wildfires are available from CERF, the Craft

For Sale • One 24-cu-ft Bailey shuttle gas kiln, $1000 or best offer — Buyer must disassemble and remove.

Available mid to late December.

Located at Hinckley Pottery, 1707 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20009. For more information and to make arrangements, call Sam at 202.745.7055 or email sambeangordon@gmail.com • Looking for original-yetaffordable fine arts and crafts handmade in the U.S.? Choose from various one-of-a-kind clayworks by potters Susan Filley and Dick Lehman, as well as unique wearables and decorative home accents including: Native American sterling silver jewelry, hand-blown glass, hand-carved wooden kitchen

Wanted • Wanted: Studio Pottery by Ruth Perdew — E-mail tom.turnquist@ comcast.net or call 303.988.0442.

Ruth Perdew was a great Denver Potter in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. [

Reach tens of thousands of active clay artists with your message in Clay Times!

Classifieds as low as $ 75 Display ads as low as $ 151 YOUR PRINT AD in any issue EARNS YOU a FREE 3-MONTH AD ONLINE!

Order your Clay Times classified at www.claytimes.com/classifieds.html or call 800.356.2529 for display advertising

Resources I Books & Videos

A Potter’s Garden REVIEW BY STEVEN BRANFMAN

A Potter’s Garden: An Artist’s Approach to Creative Garden-Making by Robin Hopper, photography

by Judi Dyelle and Robin Hopper. Additional contributions by Kehler and Sarah Hopper.

Smashwords Publishing e-book — $9.95 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/502522

T

his is a first for me ... actually, two firsts: reading an e-book and reviewing an e-book. To be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for Robin Hopper being the author, I probably wouldn’t have read it.

It’s not that I have any objections to e-books.

On the contrary, if the e-book phenomenon brings more literature into people’s lives, then I’m all for it. For me, though, I am drawn by the magnetism of the book as an object, both visually and tactilely. I love handling the book, feeling its warmth, turning the pages, touching the surface of the paper, and resting it in my lap. The physical presence of the book as an object helps me connect with the writer, the subject, and the theme. It puts me in a certain place. The e-book doesn’t do that for me. But having gotten that out of the way ...

A Potter’s Garden: An Artist’s Approach to Creative Garden-Making is a unique book. Robin opens the book with an introduction and preface that

These early experiences are not to be minimized or taken lightly. Robin was a child of WWII, living under the bombing of London and often fending for himself with minimal adult supervision. He was drawn to art, and as a teen, his reaction to the death and destruction he’d witnessed as a child led him to devote his life to the opposite: making beautiful things and surrounding himself with the same.

A Potter’s Garden is organized into five parts. Part one, “Garden Tour,” introduces us to and takes us on a virtual narrative and visual tour of the author’s home, his “Chosin Pottery” studio, and his garden. He quickly explains the origin of the name he has given his garden: continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

If you aren’t familiar with Robin Hopper, you must either be a very young potter just getting into the clay world milieu, or you’ve been squirreled away in your studio, isolated from the greater clay world. Robin is an internationally known ceramic artist, teacher, and workshop presenter. He has authored a collection of what could arguably be the most important and influential books for the contemporary potter, including The Ceramic Spectrum, Functional Pottery, and Making Marks.

He is also responsible for the updated edition of Daniel Rhodes’ classic book Clay and Glazes for the Potter. Enough about Robin.

explore the origins of his home and garden. Also shared here are references to his childhood and early life, which have served to shape his future creative endeavors.

43

Resources I Books & Videos

Book Review: A Potter’s Garden

(continued from previous page)

“Many years back, I was giving a slide lecture on the garden for the local Horticultural Society.

Someone asked how I would describe the garden style. I quickly thought about it. I am a transplanted ANGLO. The gardens that I love most in the world are in JAPAN. The acreage had wonderful CANADIAN native plants from huge trees to ground covers. The instant description was that the garden style was “ANGLOJAPANADIAN!” Robin shares the connections he has discovered between ceramics and gardens, and how the history and culture of Japanese art, craft, and horticulture have shaped his garden’s architecture and designs. The images of his gardens with all their splendor are communicated in a most sensitive and tranquil fashion, while at the same time offering technical information about garden details of concept, composition, plant choice, and

“I live in Paradise, surrounded by awe-inspiring beauty, both natural and manmade. It is a constant source of material and ideas to do the work that I always hoped for.” — Robin Hopper

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

decorative elements. One of the advantages of the e-book format is the ability to zoom into the photos. I found myself doing this throughout the reading of the book.

44

In Part Two, “The Big Picture”, Robin describes the content of the garden using anatomy as a metaphor. He thinks of the garden as a large organism, like the human body.

He sees each garden — not only his garden, but all gardens — as living, breathing, and interacting creatures. A garden has bones, organs, circulation systems, muscles, and skin. A garden has clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, and perfumes; and engages in movement. We continue to walk through his grounds amidst inspiring pictorial images.

Of all parts of the book, Part Three, “The Artistry of A Garden”, may be the section that novice ‘art-gardeners’ can relate to best. Here, Robin connects drawing, painting, printmaking, theater

design, and his lifelong devotion to ceramics — plus the disciplines of photography, sculpture, architecture, and art history — to the structure and environment of the garden. He introduces us to the attraction that his gardens offer to deer, frogs, raccoons, butterflies, and a myriad of birds including herons, hummingbirds, kingfishers, woodpeckers, wild ducks, and “countless other species.” This section concludes with a detailed list of the onsite native plants in his gardens.

Pictures? Hold onto your hats!

Robin begins Part Four, “The Garden As A Source of Ideas”, as follows: “I live in Paradise, surrounded by awe-inspiring beauty, both natural and manmade. It is a constant source of material and ideas to do the work that I always hoped for.”

He goes on to share how the garden has helped to influence his vessels, ceramic sculpture, and glaze paintings. [Don’t even ask me about the pictures. ] A Potter’s Garden ends with an enviable image gallery of the gardens, with photos taken by Judi Dyelle, Robin’s photographer/potter wife; and a bibliography of books and magazine articles that Robin has found useful in the development of his garden.

To categorize A Potter’s Garden: An Artist’s Approach to Creative Garden-Making as a how-to reference for garden design is to state just one small aspect of this book. To call it an inspirational journey into the intimacy that an artist shares with his surroundings would be a bit more accurate. He guides us through his world as if we’re on a tour of creativity, expression, passion.

After taking this tour, reading his words, and seeing the images, you will fully understand. I’ve known Robin for more than 25 years, and reading A Potter’s Garden has brought us closer together.

I’m proud and honored to have Robin as my friend.

Read this book, and he’ll be your friend, too.

[

Steven Branfman is an accomplished potter, author, and teacher of pottery and ceramics at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, and proprietor of The Potters Shop and School.

He may be reached by e-mail at: sbranfpots @aol.com

Do Your Homework

T

his is the article that, though I write it every year, might still save a new reader much heartache and money. If you are planning on building a kiln, I hope this will head-off the biggest mistake a new kiln builder can make. Hell, I see some experienced kiln builders make this mistake. The mistake?

and number of burners you think. This is something you should know. If you don’t know, you don’t have an adequate plan and are not ready to proceed. You need to do the math…

Btu/hr. per cubic foot of kiln space… Different burner outputs based on the gas you are using and the available pressure… it’s a word problem and if you don’t have the Assumptions. numbers, you can’t answer the problem. I’ve seen It goes something like many people have to tear this… “When I was in down kilns they just built school, we had a kiln with and start over because four burner ports, so I’ll put they just assumed… two burner ports in each side.” Or, ….“My buddy, Joe In my experience, I don’t Fakeash, has a great kiln see too many kilns that that he fires on propane. are the exact replicas I’ll build the same, exact of one another. There thing… I’ll just use natural are slight differences; gas instead.”… And, then, materials, location to there is always…“This prevailing winds, altitude, guy in a YouTube video gas supplies, etc. I’ve shows how to make a seen many a situation great kiln out of old, where someone says discarded refrigerators. they built the same kiln I can save a bundle!” as their friend, but their kiln doesn’t work. After some gentle probing for information, it is discovered that, “Well, I made it a brick bigger each way, but that shouldn’t matter”…

Assumptions.

I was on the phone today with a professor who needed a quick quote on burners for a grant project. I need to know dimensions, construction

Our professor says, “Oh, probably a 50-in. cube… or maybe a 60-in. cube.”

I stop him with, “Whoa... Is it 50 inches or 60 inches?”

Our harried professor replies, “I’m not sure yet; why does it matter?

I just need a quote.”

I do my quick back-of-theenvelope math, and inform our professor, “Well, a 50in. cube is about 73 cubic feet and a 60-in. cube is about 125 cubic feet. That’s a huge difference.” We then work through shelf size and number, and bag wall placement. We come up with a kiln that is 28 cubic feet. Twenty-eight, 73, and 125 are all vastly different sizes. What’s another brick or two in dimension sizes?

Assumptions.

The great thing about the Internet is everyone can participate. The horrible thing about the Internet is everyone can participate. It is easy for anyone’s backyard anecdote to become a universal truth by means of a smart phone video.

I’ve seen some beautiful and awe-inspiring things on YouTube… I’ve learned

new ways to separate an egg, and laughed at sad cats. I’ve not seen much revolutionary kiln building. Remember the old adage, “If it seems too good to be true…”

Study. Plan. Study some more!

Building a kiln is a large undertaking. Unless you are a seasoned kiln builder, don’t assume. Don’t assume a similar setup will spell out all of your slightly different details.

Don’t assume what worked for you or someone else in a relatively similar situation will work in a new situation.

Finally, consider those short videos on YouTube as a peek at someone’s experiment, not as a road map for you to sink big bucks into. The time to plan a kiln is before you build it. I see far too many folks assume that the kiln-building plan is about the bricks alone.

After the kiln is built, they’ll decide on burners.

Bad assumption! [ Marc Ward is owner/operator of Ward Burner Systems in Dandridge, Tennessee.

He may be reached via the online catalog and Website at: www.wardburner.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Assumptions that are made about things similar to the above statements are what lead projects into trouble. Burners are not an afterthought that you plug into the kiln after you finish building. Just because you’ve seen a kiln with two burners, or four burners, or more, it doesn’t mean that the kiln you are building, in your location, with a specific gas supply will use the type

materials, firing range, and time range to give an accurate BTU figure and then recommend burners. I ask, “What are the internal dimensions?”

BY MARC WARD

Shop Talk I Firing

What You Need To Know Before Building A Kiln

45

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Poster image Clay Times s & instruc tion by columnist "Teaching Techni ques" Bill van Bill to Gilder.

To invite present an instruc workshop tional for your or guild, ceramics call (301) school vangilderpotte 416-2970 or ry@earthlink e-mail: .net.

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With winter nearly upon us here in the U.S., it’s time to bring indoors from the garage or other unheated work / storage areas any supplies that could suffer from exposure to freezing temperatures. Clay, glaze, and wax resist are some of the items you shouldn’t allow to freeze.

to finish it. In cases like this, try removing the bat from the wheelhead (before using a cut-off wire), turning it upside down, giving a firm shake to re-build the form, then suspending it between two chairs until the pot dries to a firmer consistency. Then return the bat to the wheelhead and further refine the form as desired.

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TO SUB SCR CALL 1.80 IBE TO CLAY WWW.C 0.356.2329 OR TIMES, LAYTIME VISIT S.COM DISCO

UNTS STUDENTS AVAILABLE FOR & BULK CLASSROOFULL-TIME M ORDE RS!

Clay Times® Studio Poster Reprints!

46

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CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

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Nitride Nitride&&Fines FinesBonded BondedKiln KilnShelves Shelves Custom Manabigama Kiln Refractory Packages P.O. Box 716, Lithonia, GA 30058 Phone: 678.336.7090 Fax: 678.336.7094 Email: LRS@LarkinRefractory.com

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Measure the pot’s mouth (or gallery) immediately after throwing to leave less chance of inaccurate measurements caused by shrinkage. Lids that are slightly too large at the leather-hard stage can be twisted or ground against the pot’s gallery to assure a tight fit. Lids that are too large for this can be trimmed to fit ... but the lid that’s too small can’t easily be enlarged: save it for your next pot. [ To view more helpful clay studio tips, visit www. claytimes.com — where a new tip appears each time you log in!

Check out these listings to find local programs for wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculptural techniques, & more …

Classes are listed alphabetically by state

COLORADO

FLORIDA, cont.

Spinning Star Studio — 427 East Colorado Ave., Studio 129, Colorado Springs, CO 80903; http:// www.spinningstarstudio.com; jennifer@spinningstarstudio. com. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, raku firing, classes for adults; wheelchair accessible wheel available. Open studio is available as well as electric kiln rental for firing up to cone 6.

Morean Center for Clay — 420 22nd St. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712; 727.821.0516; www.MoreanArtsCenter.org; valerie.scott.knaust@ moreanartscenter.org. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children. Children summer camps and week-long adult camps.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

GEORGIA

Hinckley Pottery — 1707 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20009; www.hinckleypottery.com; info@ hinckleypottery.com. Our studio offers ongoing classes on the potter’s wheel for all skill levels. Wheel-throwing, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, classes for adults and children, tools and pottery for sale.

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center — 980 Briarcliff Rd., Atlanta, GA 30306; 404.874.9351; www. callanwolde.org; gdair@callanwolde.org. Located in Midtown Atlanta, Callanwolde offers basic and intermediate wheel and handbuilding classes for adults, as well as electric, gas, raku, and soda firing, plus guest artist workshops.

FLORIDA Boca Raton Museum Art School — 801 West Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33486; 561.392.2503; Fax 561.361.8306; artschool@bocamuseum.org; www.bocamuseum.org/ artschool. We offer handbuilding, wheel-throwing, clay sculpture classes for kids, teens, and adults as well as classes in jewelry, painting, and photography.

Craft Gallery & Dixie Art Loft — 5911 South Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach, FL 33405; 561.585.7744; fax 561.585-0476; www.thecraftgallery. net; potteryme@comcast.net. Gallery, studio & kiln rental.

Glazes, clay, glass, tools, books, equipment, and art. Classes in glass fusion, enameling, silver clay, wheel-throwing, hand-building, and Architectural sculpture. Workshops by guest artists.

Johns Creek Arts Center — 6290 Abbotts Bridge Rd., Building 700, Johns Creek, GA 30097; 770.623.8448; Fax 770.623.6995; jcacinfo@bellsouth. net; http://www.johnscreekarts.org. Located in Johns Creek, GA, the Johns Creek Art Center provides ceramics instruction for adults and youth with wheel-throwing, handbuilding, summer camps, cone 06-6 electric firing, and guest artist workshops.

MAINE The Red Door Pottery Studio — 44 Government St., Kittery, ME 03904; 207.439.5671; exfpottery@yahoo.com; www.reddoorpottery.com.

Year-round classes, all skill levels, monthly workshops, private lessons, retail gallery, shows. Wheel-throwing,

handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

MARYLAND The ClayGround Studio & Gallery, LLC — 3715 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21043; 443.812.1158; claygroundonline.com; clayations46@ yahoo.com. Pottery classes for all ages, with wheel throwing, handbuilding, and electric firing. We do birthday parties, scout troops, home school and corporate team building events.

Renaissance Art Center — 9250 Gaither Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20877; 301.987.0377; www.rcarts.com; info@rcarts.com. Pottery classes for all ages, teaching wheel throwing, handbuilding, and glazing techniques. Electric firing. Our new studio features 12 wheels and over 2000 s.f. of studio space!

MASSACHUSETTS Purple Sage Pottery — 3 Mechanic St., Merrimac, MA 01860; 978.346.9978; www.purplesagepottery. com; iris@purplesagepottery.com. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture; electric, gas reduction, and raku firing; guest artist workshops; classes for adults and children.

MISSISSIPPI Bodine Pottery & Art Studio — New location: 432 West Frontage Dr., Wiggins, MS 39577; 601.928.4718; www.bodinepottery.com; hukmut@ bodinepottery.com. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, kiln building, PMC (precious metal clay), week-long clay camps for adults and summer clay camps for kids. Also a clay supplier and gallery, featuring the work of ten Mississippi artists. continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Carla’s Clay Inc. — 1733 Northgate Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34234; 941.359.2773; www.carlasclay.com; cobrien@carlasclay.com. Classes for adults and children in wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric and raku firing. Guest artist workshops; retail supplies and gallery.

Hudgens Center for the Arts — 6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Bldg. 300, Duluth, GA 30097; 770.623.6002; Fax 770.623.3555; info@thehudgens. org; www.thehudgens.org. The Hudgens is located north of Atlanta and offers year-round fine art classes. Wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, classes for adults and children, open studio for students.

Resources I Classes

Community Pottery Classes

47

Resources I Classes

MISSOURI

NEW YORK, cont.

VIRGINIA, cont.

323 Clay — 323 West Maple Avenue, Independence, MO 64068; 816.254.7552; http://www.323Clay.com; kimberly@323clay.com. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults, classes for children.

The Painted Pot — 339 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231; 718.222.0334; www.paintedpot.com; mail@paintedpot.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

Kansas City Clay Guild — 200 West 74th St., Kansas City, MO 64114; 816.373-1373; www.kcclayguildstudios.org; kcclayguild88@yahoo. com. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes and “pottery parties” for adults and children. A fun, family atmosphere for novice through advanced ceramic artists.

NORTH CAROLINA

Nan Rothwell Pottery — 221 Pottery Lane, Faber, VA 22938 (near Wintergreen); 434.263.4023; www.nanrothwellpottery.com; info@nanrothwellpottery.com.

Wheel-throwing, gas firing, salt glaze firing, guest artist workshops, plus two- and three-day workshops focused on wheel work or decorating and firing functional pottery.

NEW YORK Artworks at West Side YMCA — 5 West 63rd St., New York, NY 10023; 212.912.2368; ymcanyc. org/westside; kmissett@ymcanyc.org We are a friendly, supportive studio on Manhattan’s Upper West Side offering classes and open studio time in the visual arts. Wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, stained glass, watercolor, drawing, and beading. Classes for adults and children.

BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center — 10-34 44th Drive 1st Floor, Long Island City, NY 11101; 718.784.4907; ellen.day@brickhouseny.com; http://www. brickhouseny.com. Spacious, fully-equipped studio, yearround adult classes, ceramic artist rental shelves, pottery for sale.Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, private parties.

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

Clay Art Center — 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY 10573; 914.937.2047; www.clayartcenter.org; leigh@ clayartcenter.org. Clay Art Center kindles a passion for the ceramic arts and provides a community for that passion to flourish. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children, community arts programming.

48

Clayworks on Columbia Inc. — 195 Columbia St., Brooklyn, NY 11231; 917.428.3128; ddmcdermott@rcn.com; www.clayworksoncolumbia.org.

A not-for-profit clay studio now in its 16th year. Classes for adults & children in wheel-throwing, handbuilding, and sculpture; featuring electric firing plus rental space and gallery for students and members.

The JCC in Manhattan — 334 Amsterdam Ave., 76th St., Brooklyn, NY 10023; 646.505.5715; sorr@jccmanhattan.org; www.jccmanhattan. org/artstudios. The Upper West Side’s community ceramics center with classes for everyone at every level! Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

We also offer classes for children with Special Needs, private lessons, birthday parties, and bench time for registered students.

Dan Finch Pottery — 5526 Nursery Lane, Bailey, NC 27807-9492; 252.235.4664; http://www.danfinch. com; dan.finch@earthlink.net. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults. Demonstrations and workshops for groups (school, church, civic). Quarterly day and evening classes available in a collaborative and nurturing environment at Finch Farm.

TEXAS Eric Orr Clay — 22 Blackjack Lane, Lewisville,TX 75077; 940.241.1242; ericorrclay.com; ericmuddorr@ yahoo.com. A complete teaching studio for lovers of clay and glass. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, glass fusing and slumping, classes for adults and children. I work with you individually and endeavor to take you where you want to go on your clay/glass journey!

SUNIN Clay Studio — 13473 Wetmore Road, San Antonio, TX 78247; 210.494.9100; suninpottery@ sbcglobal.net; suninclaystudio.com. A teaching and working pottery studio offering classes, equipment, supplies, gallery/ shows and creative encouragement. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children, sculpting classes and retail products.

VIRGINIA Art Pottery Studio — 4810 Tabard Pl., Annandale, VA 22003; 703.978.1480; artpottery@earthlink.net; www. potteryart.biz. Year-round classes, Summer Clay Camp, Group, Private. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, classes for adults and children. Scouts, Cancer Survivors, Special Needs. Sculpture, Specialty workshops: "Wine, Cheese, Pottery!"; "Parent & Child!" ALL LEVELS. Mainly Clay — 217 N. Main, Farmville, VA 23901 (beside Green Front Furniture). Pottery wheel and handbuilding classes, open studio, supplies, gifts, and jewelry; 434.315.5715; butlerp@mainlyclay.com; www.mainlyclay. com. Amaco & Standard dealer, Brent wheels, Shimpo slab roller, and Skutt electric kilns. Located in beautifully renovated historic building with upstairs rental space available for events and workshops.

Manassas Clay & Tin Barn Pottery Supply — 9122 Center Street, Manassas, VA 20110; 703.330.1040; www.manassasclay.com; manassasclay@aol.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture, glazing, raku.

PFAC — 101 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606; 757.596.8175; mpreble@pfac-va.org; www.pfac-va.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children. PFAC offers the opportunity to explore clay with a variety of techniques and processes.

Round Hill Arts Center — 35246 Harry Byrd Highway, Round Hill, VA 20142; 540.338.5022; info@ roundhillartscenter.org; www.roundhillartscenter.org; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing, classes for adults and children, summer camps, also classes for all art mediums.

Mention Clay Times for a 10% discount on your first class!

Open studios for students.

Workhouse Arts Center Ceramics Program — 9504 Workhouse Way, Bldg. 8, Lorton, VA 22079; 703.584.2982; www.workhousearts.org or www.workhouseceramicsarts.org; dalemarhanka@lortonarts. org. A collective and highly dynamic environment with the goal of promoting ceramic art through research, education, and outreach. Resident artist program and classes for adults (ages 16 & up) and children (5-15 years old) in wheel-throwing, handbuilding, ceramic sculpture, tile making, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, visiting artist workshops, corporate retreats, and workshops for Girl /Cub Scout troops.

WISCONSIN Adamah Clay Studios of Bethel Horizons — 4651 County Highway ZZ, Dodgeville, WI 53533; 608.574.8100; e-mail: artventures@bethelhorizons.org; www.bethelhorizons-artventures.org. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, wood firing, classes for adults and children.

Weekly pottery classes, affordable summer intensive weeklong workshops, beautiful views, & university credits.

WYOMING Potters Depot LLC — 75 East Benteen St., Buffalo, WY 82834; pottersdepot@msn.com; www. pottersdepot.com; 307.684.4555. We have a beautiful gallery and offer pottery classes for adults, teens, and kids. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops. We are located at the foothills of the beautiful Big Horn Mountains and provide a large selection of clay bodies and tools [ LIST YOUR POTTERY CLASSES IN PRINT AND ONLINE for just $129 per year at: www.claytimes.com/classes.html

BY KELLY SAVINO

J

ust short of 100 years ago in a small Michigan town, while the snow swirled outside the hospital window, a newborn baby girl opened her eyes and took her first breath.

Her parents counted her fingers and toes, and named her Helen. She was bundled into a handmade quilt next to a large soapstone which had been warmed on a hearth, to keep her comfortable for the long cold buggy ride back to the farm.

A baby’s hands are elusive things, floating mysteries that the small brain slowly learns to use, piloting thumb to mouth, gripping a rattle, grasping a mother’s finger. But once they begin to reach, they become our tools for exploring — and changing — the world.

My own mom grew up tended by those hands, diapers changed, hair brushed, dresses washed and wrung and hung out to dry, ironed, and buttoned. And still there were cherries and apricots to pick and pit and can, pies to bake, seeds to plant, weeds to hoe, pickles to preserve.

And a farm woman’s hands weren’t always doing the pretty chores.

Helen’s mother had taught her how to swing a chicken by the head, pluck

When I remember being a child on her farm, it is her hands I remember the most. Wrinkled and freckled and worn, they were still soft and usually smelled like the onions she chopped or the fish she fried. She kept a pellet gun by the back door, for the ever present grackles that stole from her fruit trees and gardens, and her kitchen was always full of canning kettles and steam, preserving summer before the snows arrived.

She made kettles of navy bean soup, fussed over grandpa’s clothes when he wore his good shirts in the wood shop or went fishing in his church pants. Grandma was always swiping at my grubby face with a dishrag, combing brambles out of my hair, picking “hitchhiker” burrs off my clothes or wiping sticky pine sap off my skin with lighter fluid and a rag.

She taught my little hands the way she taught my mother’s. I knew how to clean a fish, peel little onions for pickles, pluck and gut wild ducks and dip them in hot paraffin over a campfire. My grandparents taught us to navigate the north woods, picking wild berries of every sort in places only the bears knew about. Grandpa made wine and grandma made jams and pies. We learned to spot and identify edible wild mushrooms at a very young age. Grandma did a little cross stitch and bead work, but didn’t have much time for hobbies.

They played Euchre in the evenings when the work was done, and she could shuffle like a champ.

I remember sitting in the pew of the country church, looking at my young hands, my mother’s more seasoned ones beside me, and grandma’s

elderly ones beside hers, and realizing that this was where my hands would go… freckled, wrinkled, the patina of age and the lines of their use etched more every year.

Elisabeth Kübler Ross once said that when we grow up loving old faces, we will love our own as they age. For me, this describes the relationship with hands. I have learned to love a hands-on relationship with the world, making when I could buy, fixing and decorating the ragged and worn, turning lawns into veggie plots, building kilns and recycling clay. The more we are bombarded with words and words, media and text, radio and chat, and the drama of verbal communication, the more I retreat to the quiet of a studio to shut off my thoughts and let my hands explore and express in clay, color, texture.

If work is love made visible, then perhaps instead of the well worn heart shape we use to symbolize love, we should look to the hands as our connection with the world and each other. These days my students are mostly adults, but I can’t resist bringing troops of Brownie Girl Scouts or Cub Scouts into my studio and putting wet clay in front of them. They can’t resist reaching, squeezing, poking, and exploring this fascinating substance. Then my hands show their hands some of the possibilities of clay, and their positive energy recharges mine.

A few weeks ago I sat holding my Grandma Helen’s hand for the last time. She was 99½, and tired, and continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015

In a fading, sepia photo, little Helen’s hands were carefully posed for a portrait, folded together in her lap, soft and pale. But farm life is a hands-on experience. Hands were for writing school lessons, mending and sewing, feeding chickens and gathering eggs. She milked cows and pulled weeds, and sat in the shade with her mother, snapping green beans or helping to shell green peas into an apron.

and gut it so it would end up a crispy brown Sunday dinner on the platter.

Opinion I Around the Firebox

Hand in Hand

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Opinion I Around the Firebox

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Hand in Hand (cont. (cont. from from page page 49) 49)

Index to Advertisers Bamboo Tools.........................................50 Carolina Clay Connection.......................50 Clay Times Products.................2, 3, 30, 46 Clayworks Supplies................................50 Continental Clay......................................28 Dolan Tools.............................................12 Euclid’s Elements....................................51 Evenheat Kilns........................................36 Fulwood Measure...................................12 Giffin Tec’s Lidmaster.............................46 Great Lakes Clay & Supply Co...............50 Gulf Coast Clay Conference...................30 Herring Designs......................................50 Hi-roller Vertical Slab System.................36 Japan Pottery Tools................................39 L & L Kilns.................................................4 Larkin Refractory Solutions....................46 Mayco.....................................................22 MKM Pottery Tools.................................36 NCECA Conference 2016.......................10 Olympic Kilns .........................................12 Paragon Industries....................................7 PCF Studios............................................50 Peter Pugger.............................................9 21st San Angelo Clay Competition........13 Skutt Kilns...............................................52 Spectrum Glazes....................................28 Strong Arm Centering Tool.....................30 Ward Burner Systems.............................50 To advertise in Clay Times®, log onto www.claytimes.com/advertise.html

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ready to be done with this life.

She was warm under a quilt in the quiet of the evening, with the snow swirling outside, and I pondered the sheer math of a hundred years of busy hands. How many asparagus snapped, clothespins pinned, beets pickled, egg cracked, meals prepared, dishes washed in a century? How many babies comforted, shirts laundered, hunting and fishing camps fed, mason jars full of summer sun’s sweetness lined up on pantry shelves? I held her hand as she released her final breath, closing the circle that began with baby Helen’s first gasp at birth. It was hard, and beautiful, and an honor to be there. It’s a special kind of midwifing, waiting with loved ones as they move on to whatever is next.

And ever since then I have been looking at my own hands, with gratitude and awe. My son’s hands at the piano, my daughter’s hands with a sketching pencil, the hands in the studio showing the hands of others how to work glass, wool, clay, metal, wood into something of use or beauty. It’s a narrow window we have, just a century, and our hands begin untrained and often end arthritic, but in between there is so much work to do: making, fixing, planting, sculpting, caressing, crafting, building, tending, and the never ending process of handing our skills along to a younger set of hands. [ Kelly Savino may be reached via e-mail at: ksavino@bex.net

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