Does training for a 1/2 marathon and potting mix?

Hmmmn, that would be a big fat NO!!!!
Every morning that I train, I cannot help but be extremely exhausted and useless the remainder of the day! Sadly, with my impending race next weekend, more training sessions means more useless days.
I did have one to two really productive days this past week.
First, I managed to clear 118 test batches of glaze. Yes, you read correctly, 118 batches of 100g glaze pots, built up over 2 years in my endeavour to find that perfect glaze and slip. Can you believe it took over 3 hours to scrape clean into plaster batt (to dry for easy dumping into toxic section of my local recycling/waste centre) and scrub the pots clean. Man, that was a workout in itself! However, what a great feeling it was. Not only did it open up space in my already cramped pottery, but it was a realisation that I had reached the end of my journey of researching, developing and testing.
Once thought of as the unreachable goal, I find myself emerging on the other side of that excrutiating long dark tunnel I have been crawling through for years. I feel like I can finally start enjoying the creative process again, now that I have some decisive conclusions about the clay, additives, slips and glazes I will be using going forward. No more juggling between 22 strains of stain concentrations tested amongst 6 different types of slips which lie under the choice of 15 different glazes, all of which can be applied on top of 11 various white clays. You get the point. The variables have narrowed to a manageable amount.
I have my chosen materials and batches of slip/glaze.
I know how my kiln fires - knowing the hot and cold spots and how best to fire my chosen materials.
I know the forms I want to make and sell.
I have even managed to simplify what it is that I am making - reducing the types of forms on offer, streamlining the making process to a more suitable level of ease.

This leads to the second productive day of my week: I actually started making my new forms and it felt so good just to create, knowing exactly what decoration I was going to apply rather than settling with some undeveloped glaze cover for the sake of finishing the form off. How great did it feel!!! Now I just have to fire and assemble the goods to see how they look!

So, from now on it is time to keep moving with my prototypes and emerge from my long retreat and show everyone what it is that I can offer the world.
A very exciting time! Perhaps all these years of slogging it behind the scenes with scores and scores of okay ideas always seemingly resulting in bad outcomes will actually start paying off!

So, after next weekend's big race, I can only imagine what more energy from reduced running will bring to the potter's wheel! I cannot wait!

Slide Silde Slippedy Slide...

Last week I worked my heart out making pots to fill up a test kiln firing. I thought I would apply some of my newly formulated coloured slips to see how they turn out once fired and glazed.

As promised, here is one set of mugs that I resolved the whole "how do you handle a slipped mug" thing. While I was pulling the handles, I was thinking about all the horror stories I have read on potters.org about semi-porcelain cracking issus with all sorts of appendages. Man, I was dreaming that that would be the only issue! This clay is a right pain trying to attach to itself. My Lord! After the trauma of attaching the stump to the mug, pulling the handle wasn't too difficult - the clay wasn't short like I thought it would be - Thank God!

Here are two examples of top handle attachments... I think the green one is much more stable and nicer looking! The pink one looks a bit weak.


However, attaching the bottom onto the slipped surface turned into a real problem. Again, I keep approaching things like my old stoneware so I didn't bother scoring the surface of the mug to get the handle securely attached. Well, that didn't work too well, it kept sliding off. And, me being the usual slow Jami, it didn't dawn on me to score! Doah! I just kept doing it the same way with the same bad result! It wasn't until I walked into the pottery a few days later when the wares were completely dried did I see a few of the bottom of the handles popped completely off!

Mugs before they dried and handles popped!

I never had this problem before! Goes to show how important it is to be aware and willing to adapt your tried and tested ways to new materials. Harsh lesson to learn.

Overall, the whole idea of pulling a handle off a partially slipped pot seemed to work. I think it really limits the form of the mug, a design consideration that is born entirely out of ease of handling rather than ease of use once finished. And this is somewhat backward thinking that I am not too certain about right now.

I did another set of mugs that I thought I would apply slip to the entire surface. As a result, I wouldn't be able to pull any handles off the pot, as the slip would be destroyed. I plan to research and make my own plaster mould for a handle that can be cast and attached quickly and mess free onto the slipped pot. I think it will be some time before I can get that sorted and tested.

In any case, here are the prototypes ready and wrapped now, awaiting that elusive cast handle:

Other items I slipped were a big shallow bowl which I threw to test the throwing, turning and drying behaviour of the new clay. I sure do love those chunky swirls. I DO hope they come through nicely under the clear glaze once fired.

Let me hear a shout out to all those potters who like their pots better leatherhard than fired!!!

A final exercise for the day was attaching my spout to my cylindrical body to make a big ole bottle. I had taken photos of that work in progress but wouldn't you know it, I managed to delete the darn things.

Anyway, this is the finished form before slip applied and after; it's a height of about 17 inches min:

Okay - off to get some more pots made!

To everything, turn, turn, turn....

There is a reason, turn, turn, turn....

Was that the Byrds who sang that tune? How appropriate! Saturday in the pottery was full of turning out both stoneware and semi-porcelain pots.

I found that all the semi-porc pots with the added molochite made for nice and easy turning, with an attractive tooth when scraped. The non-grog samples did well too, making a nice plain smooth finish which will be very useful for slip application. However, with that said, I am wondering if a little tooth wouldn't be better for the slip layer to adhere a bit better (I'm thinking about the DIY system of scratching gloss surfaces to allow better adhesion of paint, filler, etc...)

Will have to apply slip to both clay compositions and see!

Wow - this semi-porcelain can be tempermental in the turning stages as well! You really need to catch it at just the right leather-hard stage. A bit too soft and it really seems to "melt" and expand out of the solid mass it has become. A bit too hard and it chatters.

As I have read loads about the pitfalls of porcelain, one thing I am super worried about is application of handles, as these appendages seem to give loads of potters sticking issues when applied to porcelain bodies. Many potters recommend working with the clay as soft as possible. Others say SLOW DRY once handles are attached. Frankly speaking, I am not going to be working with pulling handles when the clay is leather soft - too difficult!!! I am just going to have to apply when firm, slowly dry and pray.

One interesting characteristic of this semi-porc clay that I have noticed is it's dislike of handcarving. Whenever I try to hand trim certain bits of the clay, it wants to crumble and break off into frayed segments, much akin to a fired pot shivering. How odd?! However, when I using turning tools with pressure on a fast turning wheel, no such problem occurs. Hmmn - anyone know why this happens? Anyone?

With all my mugs turned, I began to think about slip application and immediately stumbled upon a dilemma. Ultimately, I am going for a fluid, textured application of coloured slip all over the piece. Dipping of slip is not an option and I would imagine applying it after adhering a handle would only make for one messy outcome as the handle would only get in the way of the nice horizontal brush strokes I am trying to achieve over the entire piece.

The only solutions I can come up with are:

1. apply slip prior to "handling", but only in between the two points where the handle would stick to the pot


2. apply slip just below the top join of the handle (as lots of touching to get handle adhered here would mess the slip up completely). The bottom join is easy to attach to the pot without ruining the slip decor so that won't be an issue. This would result in all vessels having the upper 1/4 or 1/3 without slip. A design consideration not taken likely, because it would bear influence on all other forms in my repertiore when trying to keep the "look" cohesive.


3. apply slip all over and get a plaster cast handle to attach cleanly and precisely to the body without messing the slip decor

I'm leaning toward the cast handle even if I am apprehensive to do so. Apprehension is born out of worry that all those who have taught me to pull a good handle (and other professionals) would view my use of moulded handles as a way to overcome a lack of basic skills in handle making. Should I care? Probably not, but it does come into it a bit.

I'll be attaching handles tonight to some without slip, as I am also developing coloured glazes which I want to test out. Others I will go for the 1/4 not slipped look with a pulled handle and a final selection will be put aside for use with a plaster moulded handle...I'm thinking you nor I will see that outcome for some time! I'll post photos of all as they progress!

Another interesting development on Saturday was just how exciting it felt to make items that would test the strength and adaptability of this new-fangled clay when cut and joined into new shapes and forms. I found it very nice to alter and add bits to each other. I guess the proof will be in the pudding - once fired, confirming that no unsightly tension cracks appear.

Here is my "bubble" wall-hanging in the making, step one:

I'll be sure to post photos once glazed and fired.