About.com Pottery

Do You Fire Electric?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:27:25 +0000

More and more potters are firing in electric kilns, For those of use who learned using fuel-fired kilns, we sometimes get caught up in the wonders of reduction glazes and firing without giving electric kilns a chance to strut their own stuff.

The American Ceramic Society's book, Electric Firing: Creative Techniques, explores the possibilities in using an electric kiln. In reviewing it, I found a lot of great ideas on how to draw the best out of my kiln and the potential it has.

Do you fire electric? What do you wish you could do in your kiln? What things have you found that make electric firing a great way for you to go? Please, tell me in a comment!

Do You Fire Electric? originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 14:27:25.

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WW - Mishima

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:07:25 +0000

Photo � 2009 Beth E Peterson

This is a mishima bread cloche. Have you ever heard of mishima? (Hint: I don't mean the city in Japan.)

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WW - Mishima originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 01:07:25.

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Potter Gives Healing to Children

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:50:58 +0000

Filipino potter Jon Pettyjohn began studying pottery and ceramics in the early 1970s and was one of the first contemporary potters working in the Philippines. The article, A Dance with Clay and Fire, details Pettyjohn's travel with clay through his life, including becoming a co-founder of the Putik Association of Philippine Potters.

At present, Pettyjohn and the Putik Association are working with disadvantaged and abused children. Through clay, he is helping them to learn to cope and heal from trauma using the therapeutic effects of pottery.

For myself, I have used my art to express things I could not easily put into words. Has clay helped you or someone you know to cope with stress, trauma, depression, or other problems?

Potter Gives Healing to Children originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 10:50:58.

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NCECA Conference and Pre-Conference Events

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:17:46 +0000

Put this on your calendars now and reserve the dates for some great pottery sharing! The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) is on its way!

Pre-conference event: March 29 and 30, at Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA (just north of Philadelphia). "Making Through Living--Living Through Making: Studio Pottery in 2010" will explore how to make a living making pottery. Go here for more info and to pre-register.
March 31-April 3, 2010: The 44th Annual NCECA Conference, to be held in Philadelphia, PA at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For full information, see the Conference's main page.

NCECA Conference and Pre-Conference Events originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:17:46.

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Show & Tell About Your Favorite Pot

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:36:45 +0000

Photo � 2009 Beth E Peterson

Share your favorite pot with others! You can both show us and tell us all about it.... It's easy and fun!

Show & Tell About Your Favorite Pot originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 09:36:45.

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Kids, Clay, and Traditions

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:07:19 +0000

Potter Jane Osti, a member of the Cherokee Artists Association, recently got together with bunches of kids to help them make Christmas ornaments from clay. Not only was this an opportunity for Osti to introduce a new generation to clay's magic, but also a way to affirm their shared cultural roots.

The kids used rocker stamps, sharpened chopsticks, and cut-outs to decorate clay disks cut from slabs. Decorations included Southeastern-Woodland designs and the Cherokee syllabary -- designs that were developed in the original Cherokee homeland of the southeastern United States.

The finished ornaments will be sent to the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, OK and will be used on a "Tribal Holiday" student tree for the Philbrook's annual "Festival of Trees." (You can read more about it here.)

Do you have kids or have younger relatives and friends? How could you show them something magical this holiday season? Can you think of ways that perhaps you could incorporate a hanging ornament project into it, the way Osti did?

Kids, Clay, and Traditions originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 08:07:19.

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WW - Mystery Pot!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:26:31 +0000

Image Courtesy of blackdachshund / Pottery Forum

Can you guess what this bowl is used for? Take a guess and leave a comment, then go to the Pottery Forum to find out! (Would you like to throw your own?)

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WW - Mystery Pot! originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 05:26:31.

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Confused over Cones?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:03:15 +0000

Pyrometric cones are a fundamental tool for those who fire pottery. If you are new to pottery, or firing pottery, be careful to avoid some common confusion.

It's all about the zero! --- That zero (often spoken as "oh") in front of a number makes a huge difference! For example, there is a difference of 425 degrees Fahrenheit between cone oh-seven and cone seven.
The word "cone" is often notated as a triangle or by a "^" --- so cone seven looks like ^7 and cone oh-seven looks like ^07.
Be aware! There are different cone systems. In the US, Orton cones are the standard. In Europe and other countries, the cone standards are slightly different. If you are sharing with potters outside your area of the world, it tends to be wisest to stick with temperatures, noting Fahrenheit (F) and Celsius (C), with both parties understanding that heat work is what we potters are really after.

Confused over Cones? originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 09:03:15.

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Robin Leventhal Dinnerware?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:54:25 +0000

I don't watch Top Chef as a norm. Perhaps you do. If so, You probably know who Robin Leventhal is...one of the contestants on this cooking competition reality show.

Did you know she was working on her Master of Fine Arts in ceramics when she became enamored of cooking? (I sure didn't...but then, I didn't know who she was until a few days ago.)

Well, Leventhal was recently culled from the contestant herd. What brought her to my attention was her exit interview on the TV Guide website. At the end, she says, "I'm putting my art lifestyle back to the forefront of my goal and doing design work that will hopefully transform into a dishware line. As a ceramics artist, I never really made functional ceramics. My pieces were sculptural. But now I'm really embracing the notion integrating food and the dining experience."

Having heard a bit from my sister (who does watch the show), I am experiencing a bit of trepidation at the thought of a Leventhal dinner or Leventhal dinnerware. What do you think?

Robin Leventhal Dinnerware? originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 08:54:25.

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Incan Pottery Techniques in Stanford

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:39:36 +0000

The Stanford Archaeology Center Pottery Workshop Series consists of six campus-hosted pottery replication events. In these workshops, early clay and firing technologies used in the Americas, Europe and Anatolia are examined and replicated. The second workshop of the series centered around a serious dilemma involving pottery.

The Incan Empire was overthrown by Spanish conquistadors in the 1530's. Ravaged by disease and unrest, by the 1570's, the people needed relief. The Taki Unquy priests opposing the Spanish told the people that these evils were a result of them no longer following the old ways of religion. They needed to begin their worship and offerings again.

The offerings needed the fine pots that had been made before the conquest, but those potters stopped working 40 years before. They were now gone. The indigenous potters in the 1570's began trying to find ways to replicate the pottery from before.

This ancient, short-lived revival was recreated in the second workshop. Authenticity to the original potters was preserved, from importing the raw, stony ceramic material from the Incan pottery production site of Choquepukio in Cuzco to the use of alpaca dung and pine needles as a firing fuel.

The full article makes for fascinating reading, especially if you are interested in potters from the past. And if you are in the Stanford area, you may want to see about attending some of the upcoming workshops! Email Melissa Chatfield (chatfield at stanford dot edu), the research fellow in ceramic geoarchaeology who is presenting them, and ask to be put on the workshop mailing list.

Incan Pottery Techniques in Stanford originally appeared on About.com Pottery on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 08:39:36.

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