New Tool! The Bat System

 I've been enjoying a new (to me) decorating technique: a heavy slip applications textured by hand. For some shapes this means throwing on a bat, even for small things, because there's nowhere to touch the pot that wouldn't mar the slippy surface. Bats take up a lot of space on my limited shelving, and I only have maybe 12? I needed a different solution. 
Enter the Bat System! The small, pop-out bat in the center allows me to use shelf space more efficiently while still not touching the pot when I remove it from the wheel. Here's a little video I made, or the slip technique & using the bat system to get the pot off the wheel:

The Week of Tools

 

I didn't mean for this to be the week of tools; it just shook out that way.

It started in one of my classes, when a student brought in a piece that had run badly in the kiln, with the bottom ground & smoothed beautifully. She had achieved this minor miracle using Diamondcore's grinding bats. I started musing about possibly getting a set myself - although, the way I fire, glaze runs and sharp bottoms are uncommon - when another student took me aside & offered to pay for half of the set if I would grind a bunch of bowls of hers that ran, that she was especially disappointed with. I took the deal & BOOM! there's tool number one.

Except.
Using those grinding bats is LOUD. And slow. And about a thousand times harder than just using a bench grinder, which I own.  I still think of it as my Dad's bench grinder...READ MORE

New Rollers, New Classes, New Stores!

Hello, yeah, it's been awhile...Not much, how 'bout you?

Whenever there's a long pause between posts, I get emails asking after my well-being. I suppose this is because I have been open about my struggles with depression. I love you guys for being such kind & caring people, to someone you've never met!  But, not to worry! - in this case I have simply been busy in the studio.  I have three new stores carrying Fine Mess Pottery! Remember Dotopia? Buyers seem to like it. I have three new accounts! I've delivered to Lisa-Marie's Made in Maine,

and will be delivering to two others shortly. In addition I have two sales meetings scheduled for spring. I've stopped making the ask, for now, because I want to make sure I don't over-book myself: a nice problem to have.

New classes begin next week! I have four at Portland Pottery - I think all of those are full - and two at Hallowell Clay Works, where I think I have room in my Monday night beginner's class.

Other new stuff: I made myself a couple of rollers!

While I do enjoy manufactured rollers - MKM wooden rollers are such beautiful little objects! - the resulting pattern, with its perfect regularity shouts "machine made" from across the room. This isn't always bad! The wheel is a machine, and leaves a similar unmistakable quality. I often enjoy the tension of crisp precision vibrating against the squishy, human qualities of handbuilt work. Sometimes, though, I want a pattern that millions of other potters don't also have, or a pattern with a softer quality more harmonious with the handmade vibe.

I demonstrated making rollers for my handbuilding class last week. This week they came out of the kiln, and we got to see what patterns they make! It's funny but you can't always envision what the roller will do, so even though I made these myself, they are still a surprise to me. I was pleased with my results.

Looky looky! 👀

Anyway! Thanks to all for asking about me, I am doing so well it scares me! (Moron that later.) Now I've gotta get dressed & head to class. XO L

FINALLY: Mug Rounders 4U!

Remember, like, a year ago (no, it was more than that...) when I told you I'd made myself a new tool? The Mug Rounder works like this:

This looks like a job for...The MUG ROUNDER!!

Oooo, look it's round again!

Press it in, lightly collar the rim inward towards the rounder, give it a little spank & a twist, and presto! Your inadvertent wonk has been corrected. (Also a good option: Embrace the Wonk!)

If you throw, you could easily make one, of course, but if you don't, or just don't feel like making your own, waiting through a bisque cycle, etc...you could always buy one of mine! I finally got around to listing them in my online shop. To be fair to myself, the main reason I didn't was because I was selling them to friends & students. I've caught up with the lucrative people-I-know market, so now I can offer them to the world at large. 😊

Rice Paper Underglaze Decals

One of the joys of teaching ceramics is it keeps me exploring new techniques. This week I brought to class some rice paper underglaze decals that I found online. I got them from The Ceramics Shop, but they appear to be discontinued there, so I found the original source: Ying Zhou Rice Paper decals. 

They are so easy to use!! Choose a design, cut the shape you want, press on the pot; wet the back, pat it down, let it dry, peel up the paper. You don't even have to peel up the paper, strictly speaking, if you are using it on leather hard because it will burn away in the bisque. My students loved them - I did, too! 

Probably did not need this much water. I might should have just used a damp sponge or soft, wet paintbrush. 

I pressed down gently with my fingertips, because the surface was curved & if the paper is buckled at all, or there are air pockets between the decal & the pot, those spots won;t transfer. Wait about 10 - 15 minutes for the paper to dry a bit. Doesn't have to be 100% dry. 

This is a slightly different dish - the left edge isn't a flaw, it was cut that way. 

You can also use these on bisqueware. 

Obviously they will want a transparent glaze on top. They are said to be suitable for cones 04-11.

The decals are (I guess?) adhered to the paper with honey, so they have a shelf life, and they are somewhat delicate and need to be stored with care so they don't flake off the paper before you get a chance to use them. As delightful and fun as these are, I sorta feel like I am cheating, using a manufactured design. Next I am search for a company that lets me upload a design and make custom rice paper decals.

After I have played with these a bit more. 😉

New Toy....er, Tool!

Good news! The second of our sponsored kitties, the shy, sweet Patcha, has been adopted. In celebration I treated myself to a new tool: the Bat Mate, from Xiem tools. Firstly, though, a question: why, why-o-why, did they not call it the Bat Mat? Hear how it trips off the tongue: Bat-mat. Bat-mat. Bat-mat.

I would have called it the Bat Mat, because that what it is: a circular chamois (I think?) mat with holes spaced for bat pins, that goes on the wheel head under your bat. It prevents the bat from doing that annoying shimmy thing while you are trying to center. I've been preventing that by smudging some clay on the wheel before putting the bat down, but that takes a minute, to make sure it's nice & even, and wastes a bit of clay. I have known about these for a while but was resistant to buying one because, as the the World's Cheapest Human, I didn't want to spend the nine-ish bucks for something that I could do without. I've changed my mind about that! My time has value, too, and a device that makes my studio work a little more efficient every day is easily worth the price.

After using it, I can say, it very effectively prevents the aforementioned annoying shimmy! It does not, however, solve the other problem I had hoped it would, of the bat being so firmly stuck down to the wheel that I need a tool to lift it up. I guess next I'll be needing a bat lifter. Or just keep using the paint scraper I keep by the wheel for just such purpose.

In other news, I placed the seed order today! Sugar snap peas, Czech black hot peppers, four sorts of tomatoes. Spring inches ever closer!

New Tool: Mug Rounder!

As you can see by the background, I've had this post in the buffer for a while! Sometime last summer, I made myself a new tool. (Actually made a whole bunch of them, thinking I might sell them, but I didn't get around to that either!) See, I do a lot of stamping and other alteration on my pots. I don't always mind if the piece is no longer round afterward- in fact sometimes it's the whole point! Sometimes I like the tension between the squishiness of the alterations, as with stamping, and the crisp machine-roundness that the wheel contributes. I found an easy way to get that back. It works like this:

Ooops, not round anymore!

No worries! Enter the Mug Rounder™ (J/K, you know I didn't trademark that shit.)
Gently press the mug rounder into the mouth of the mug. Once it's in place, give it a light spank. 

Et voilá, my mug is round once again! The mug rounder is just an enclosed thrown form. I made mine about 3 3/4" at the widest point, and they taper to accommodate smaller diameters, but obviously if you typically make wider-mouth mugs you could make one any size you want. It's only bisqued, because it needs to remain porous; otherwise it will stick to the wet clay and not release cleanly.

Hope you all are staying warm (or cool, if you are in Australia! Thinking of you, Tanya!)

Well, the Damp Box Works

So, remember last year when I came back from NCECA & made myself a damp box? (Quick reminder: it's just a rubbermaid container with a lid, from the supermarket, with about an inch of plaster in the bottom.)

I had mostly been using it to help students - often they pull handles and then don't have time to attach them in the three hour class period, but the damp box will easily preserve a handle until next week's class. In December I made a bunch of press-molded buttons and pendants, stored them in the damp box...and then promptly forgot about them.

Today - yet another snow day, no drought this year! - I was cleaning up my studio. Well: cleaning is maybe an exaggeration. I was picking things up from one place and putting them down in another, and I came upon the long-forgotten damp box full of buttons. They are as wet as they were when they went in. In fact, I am having to leave them uncovered for a while, because they are a bit too wet to finish the edges and backs. I'll finish these off, then drill the holes: tiny, 32nd/ inch holes for buttons, bigger, 16th/ inch holes for pendants.

Best part: I did the work so long ago, it feels like a bonus, like when you find money in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in a while. 😎😎😎😎😎

A Project for the New Year: House Numbers

Ugly, right? 

I've been meaning to make numerals for my address for a while. I still have the crappy hardware store numbers that came with the house when I bought it. There is no excuse for this, since this is such a quick and easy project! Finally, I am getting a round tuit, a thing I have been needing for a while.

Here's my slab, all rolled out. I like a rolling pin for this; I find it compresses better than either a slab roller or the toss & stretch method. (I am going to type variations on the word "compress" a tedious number of times, but it can't be said often enough: if you are making flat things, compression is key to avoid warping and cracking.) I roll on both sides, flipping often, in several different directions, because why? Congregation calls back: "COMPRESSION!"

Can I get a witness?

I especially like those big, heavy, solid maple rolling pins, but that is partly aesthetic. I love a good tool. But I digress. 

Once the slab is rolled to about 3/16ths of an inch, it's time for more compression! A flexible metal rib is best at this wet stage. Both sides, several directions. 

I used food coloring to paint out the numerals. 

Just for the pretty, I decided to texture my numbers with this roller I got from MKM tools. I make most of my own rollers, out of clay, but MKM has some nice ones. They are also just lovely little objects, so sometimes I can't resist. Again, beautiful tools make me happy. 

I place another bat on top of the slab while it is drying to a leather hard stage. My studio is quite cool overnight - low 50s - so it isn't necessary to cover it with plastic, but if yours is a more usual indoor temperature, you probably should drop a sheet of plastic loosely over top. The weight of the second bat, and the absorbency - do not use plastic bats for this! - will help prevent warping. 

If I need to turn the slab over, I do so by holding both bats like a sandwich and flipping the slab between the bats. 

Once the slab is early leatherhard, it's time to - you guessed it! - compress some more. Flip (using the bat-sandwich method) and compress the smooth side. A very bendy rubber rib is best at this point. I like those red gummy ones, I forget the manufacturer - Mudtools, maybe?

It's time to flip the bat sandwich again, then remove the top bat and cut the numbers.

Remove the slab from around the numerals, not the other way around. 

The edges will need extra attention - I run a fingertip over them to smooth and compress. Now: STEP AWAY FROM THE CLAY.

These will want to dry slowly with plastic loosely over top. 

Once they are firm enough that I can move them without bending them, but not yet brittle (a fairly narrow window, with thin items) I will want to make holes in them for the screws. I know, I know - thanks, Captain Obvious! - but I have been known to forget this step. 

I slide the numeral to the edge of the bat, so I can drill the hole while still allowing most of the piece to be supported. A drill bit makes the tidiest hole, but a fettling knife will work in a pinch. 

Now there's nothing left but the drying: again, slowly, lightly covered. On drywall, if possible; if not, a sheet of newspaper helps to wick away moisture from the underside, so the top doesn't dry faster and cause curling or warping. 

Now that these are in progress, I can't wait to replace the ugly old ones. It's a mystery to me why I waited so long to do this!

Stencils Part Deux: Making My Own

I played with the commercial stencils for a while, as I mentioned last post, and I like them, but to me they look conspicuously commercial. Though I like the crisp perfection of the image - the better to contrast with the softer qualities of my work - I want to personalize it.

One thing I discovered is that I don't really know how to make a stencil. I mean, it seems pretty straightforward - just cut out wherever you want to slip to go - but there are some mental twists in there. The shape you want is the negative space of the stencil, which is the positive space of the drawing on the stencil; and because the image is a cut-out, and enclosed negative space has to be connected somehow. I don't know, it just felt like trying to screw on the bat pin wingnuts from underneath, or throw with the wheel turning in the opposite direction: my brain doesn't work that well in reverse.

So I looked at lots and lots of stencils, which also gave me a sense of how detailed I could get. I am going for a lacey kind of a look, floral or otherwise botanically-inspired...let's see what we got.

I started my copying over an image I downloaded, with some minor changes, just to sort out how to use the tool. The wood burner tool did turn out to be a good way to cut the stencils, but makes an unpleasant smell, due to the melting plastic. Maybe I should switch to the exacto? (My brain: but but [shows me image of blood and flayed-open hand]) Ugh, maybe not. Anyway I think it would be hard to get the same detail & smooth curves that the woodburner creates. Its use is not entirely intuitive, though: at first I used it as you would use a knife, pressing against a cardboard surface. This created jagged edges and little bits of partially melted plastic in the open spaces. Solution? Hold the plastic sheet up in the air while I burn out the pattern.

Next effort:

At this point I noticed that burning against a surface was not making a clean cut

Finished burning the design by holding the plastic in the air.

A nice thing about making my own stencils is I can make sizes and shapes that work for what I need to do. The commercial ones were too wide and stiff to work well on three-dimensional surfaces, but I can design these to any shape that works. Need a stencil for the rims of bowls? Why yes. Yes I do. So I'll make one!

Now to test them out...

Hmm...a little blobbier than I had hoped. (I know, I know, I'm being Goldilocks here: this one's too mechanical, that one's too loose...but I am aiming for a sweet spot.) I see some potential here to add some detail with a sgraffito tool, so that's one way to go.

The woodburing tool came with different tips...maybe I should try and find a finer one. 

Here's a link to the woodburning tool.

Did you find this post useful? Drop a dollar in the tip jar in the column to the right!

Stencil Me In

You know who I love? Karen Dicenso! Karen is the voice on the phone (one of them) when you call Portland Pottery. (Like, say, when you call to register for the upcoming Raku Workshop! Seriously, do, it's gonna be fun.) She also teaches in the adjacent classroom during my Thursday pm class. We trade ideas back & forth.

Last week she had a good one: she brought a painting stencil to class, along with a "pounce" brush, and underglazed a slab with it. She then used that slab as the bottom of a thrown and altered form, and also to build a mug with the pattern on the inside. I loved the crisp qualities of the stencil image juxtaposed with the softness of the thrown oval, and the natural handbuilt wonkiness of the mug. I'm all about those tensions: human vs machine, tight v loose.

I wish I had taken a photo, but I didn't. Here's my version, though. I used thick porcelain slip instead of underglaze, to get more of a raised pattern. I also used a natural sponge to try and create more of a lacey texture; not sure how successful that was.

I call this my Georgia O'Keefe pot. Shake the Dew Off the Lily!

Because I all about those contrasts, the next time I tried this technique, I wanted to introduce a different quality of mark-making - my fave, slip-trailing. So the stenciled slip decoration is crisp, the trailed slip is squishy...I am sensing some possibilities here.

 

You can see the "pounce tool" here, in the slip cup. I use quotes because it's really just a bit of foam rubber on a stick! But it really does work better than a brush. You can get them literally anywhere. Okay, not literally: there probably isn't one in your coffee cup or nder your mother's couch cushions, or even at Hannaford. But any craft supply store will have them, as do Home Depot & Target.

This technique works best if you can stencil onto a flat slab - my efforts to stencil onto a thrown piece were...messy. It might work better with a small stencil, or a stencil cut from more flexible material, like maybe tyvek paper.

Those commercial stencils are all fine and good, but the thing I am really excited about? I bought a pack of blank stencil sheets! I also bought an exacto knife - those of you who know me know I am not fond of them, too many bad memories - but a friend told me they cut better with a woodburning tool, which I already have.

Going to try to create a stencil that captures the delicacy and profusion of bleeding hearts. Photos soon! I hope.

Did you find this post useful? Drop a dollar in the tip jar in the column to the right! 

The Tidbits

Often, when you attend a workshop or lecture, the best thing you learn is not necessarily the topic of the presentation. I call these little gems "tidbits," and I learned a great one at NCECA.

I was watching George Rodriguez in the Process Room - George makes these sculptural pieces that are just encrusted with springs. He said he preferred having the sprigs already made so he could work more immediately, instead of having to make a sprig, put it on, make another, put it on, and so on.

I like to work with sprigs, too, and I also find the making of the somewhat disruptive to my creative process - but they are tiny, and dry out quickly. Wrapping them in a bunch of plastic would work but it's sort of clumsy to dig into the wrap to use them.

So, here's the great idea that possibly everyone else has already thought of: a damp box! Not a giant cabinet lined with thick plastic, just a little rubbermaid container from the grocery store with a couple inches of plaster poured into the box. The plaster holds water but keeps it away from the pieces, the plastic prevents the moisture from escaping, so you get a perfect little humid environment. George said he has kept pieces for weeks in his damp box.

I made myself one, though I have yet to use it. It occurred to me while I was making that this would be even better for my students. My studio is at home, so timing is not a problem for me; but they only have a few hours a week in which to work. (Yes, they can come in during open studio hours, but most of them have other pesky obligations like work and families) It often happens that they will pull six handles, but only have time to attach four before 9 pm rolls around. Damp box to the rescue! Those last two handles will now keep until next week's class.

Here's mine. Just needs a cup of water, and it's ready to be of service!

A Roll and a Roll

After the installation of the storm door, which has been on the to-do list for ten years, I finally finished a wallpaper frieze in the guest room that I planned at least nine years ago. Like a lot of postponed projects, it was not difficult to do - it was getting started that was hard. That and, until recently, I didn't have $40 laying around to buy wallpaper. But hey, two items crossed off the long-term to do list! I'm on a roll.

Speaking of rolls, it took three full rolls of wallpaper to completed the project, and then I had to buy a fourth one and use only about three feet of it. But - silver lining, y'all - the wallpaper is flocked with a low relief pattern, so the leftover roll makes a nice clay texture tool (at least until it disintegrates from repeated dampness.)

It works best on a horizontal surface, So, I roll my slab first (remembering to roll in several different directions, and flip it over frequently while rolling, to evenly and thoroughly compress my slab.) Then I lay the wallpaper strip on the slab, and roll the pin over it. The relief is pretty shallow, so I need to roll firmly.

Then peel the wallpaper up....

Then cut the slab to size, and use it to build a cylinder.

The relief is quite shallow, as I said, so I might want to use some iron oxide to make it pop a bit if I am planning to use glaze on that area.

I've used the same 16" length of wallpaper to make 3 or 4 cylinders now, with no noticeable deterioration, so it looks like it will last a good long time. Lowe's sells these frieze rolls in many different patterns, about $10 a roll.

They make good wall decor, too.

Adding Promo Codes to Paypal Buttons

So, I was shopping online the other day, and looking to buy a t-shirt from The Gap. I found the shirt I was looking for, and I was sorely tempted to buy two, because I have one already and I know they are very soft, fit perfectly, blah-blah-blah. Didn't want to spend quite that much though, so I settled on a color, and went to on the complete the transaction. When I was partway through, it asked me for a promo code.

Huh. I know, generally, what a promo code is, but I had never used one. Just out of curiosity, I googled "GAP discount promo code" and discovered a code for that day, that I could type in and save 40%. Just because. No special reason.

I bought two shirts.

And I started thinking, what if I wanted to offer facebook fans a promo code? Or people who sign up for my as-yet-imaginary newsletter? Surely Paypal offers a way to do this.

Sadly, no, actually they don't. However! I discovered that you can add html code to your paypal button, to allow for the entry of promo discount codes. At webdesigneretc.co, John Futia has a code generator you can utilize.
This is good timing, because I have lots of nice pots left over from the pottery tour, and my website badly needs new items. I plan to spend some time this week updating, and maybe try out this discount-code code. Here's a test button I made; you can check out how it works with completing the transaction.

The coupon code is COUPON

Enter Coupon code

Whaddaya think? Pretty neat, huh? If I were doing this for real, I would use a script obfuscator, so people couldn't get the promo just by looking at the source code.


PS. That shirt is ridiculously cheap now. Maybe I should go buy some more! With a promo code! If it gets any less, they pay me to take it.
PPS. Okay, so it's doing this weird thing where it adds a dollar shipping and handling, which, NO. Obviously I will need to add shipping to pots, more than a dollar, but I thought that would be a separate line. Hmm. So, still needs work. I play with it this week, see what we get.