Marian Williams, Author at Marian Williams Pottery

Are You Too Obsessed With Pottery?

My anniversary was last week. I found myself annoyed that my husband wanted to “do” something on our anniversary – like go to lunch and hangout – all DAY!! on a WEEK DAY!!! I could be throwing pots, loading the kiln….doing something fun that I wanted to do!!!

My husband pointed out to me that I’m OBSESSED with pottery…that I when I’m not actually “doing” pottery, I’m looking at the web at pictures of pottery, reading blogs, researching glaze recipes, etc. Or reading books about pottery. Or wanting to go to a gallery opening. Or going to buy clay and supplies…Then I realized – (and I really, really HATE to say this!) but he is RIGHT!!!

SO I’ve decided to make a big attempt to improve on my dispersal of my time and energies. This has been going on for about a week and I’m actually surprised how relieved I feel. My compulsion to do pottery has been overwhelming (and I must admit that I’m writing this while watching TV on a quiet Sunday evening – seriously, I’m taking time off!).

It’s become sooo bad that there are times that I don’t do my hair for days, wear the same clothes 3 days in a row (they are just going to get dirty again!), and avoid housework for weeks at a time!! And let’s not even talk about my weight gain and lack of concern about that area of my appearance!!

Tracey Broome writes a blog which I follow and she recently has come to some of the same conclusions. I guess the stars are aligned right that we are feeling the same on this matter. Here’s what Tracey had to say about this in a recent blog post titled “Enough is enough” – it’s awesome by the way!

Enough is enough

“For the past ten years I have been completely obsessed with clay. Learning how to throw on the wheel, how to hand build, to mix glazes, sell my work, get in galleries, get in good shows. I even took a workshop on kiln building. I know a lot, I’ll never know enough, and definitely will never ever know all there is to know about clay. But all this learning and obsession has pushed many things aside, including my appearance. Dirty clothes all the time, hair that barely gets brushed, dirty fingernails,worn out shoes. Charming right? I have had no interest in fashion or shopping and my eating habits sort of took the same path. I was shoving in whatever I could grab at the drive through on my way to the studio, or not eating lunch because I was involved with my clay. Well, I’m just about tired of this lifestyle and ready for a change. The hair brushing is still an issue, but I have been putting on some cute clothes and wearing better shoes. I just braid my tangled hair and no one knows the difference! If you look back at the photos of me at the beginning of this blog, you can see how the pounds have piled on and really in a very short time. I was around 135 when I started this blog!” Tracey Broome’s Blog post

I can so relate to everything she said!!

I’ve made a decision to change. Here’s what I’m doing: (I know, HORRORS!)

Actually taking a shower each morning.
Wearing makeup when I go out.
Wearing jewellery! (I love my jewellery! but I NEVER wear it anymore!)
Wearing clean clothes in public.
Wearing nice shoes in public.
Eating better-going to lose weight!!! No bread, no chocolate, no cokes!
Taking time to do other things in my life, like writing, teaching, consulting.
And spending quality time with my family!!!

I feel like this is true confession. But sometimes it’s cathartic to put things in writing.

I hope that this isn’t a “forgotten” promise to myself. It can only make things better!

And like any “love affair”, there are those seminal moments that create changes. Here’s to change!

Luv,

Marian

Pit Firing: Step-by-step Instructions

Here are the step-by-step instructions on doing a pit firing! It was great fun! Fast, easy, and interesting results!

I know that this is a far step from the high fire glazes that I’m striving for and it does take me in another direction, but…it’s available! So I take advantage of these opportunities to learn!

Here are the pics and steps at the Murwillumbah Potters Group.

Ann Lee is the leader and guru of all things pottery!

Click on each small pic and it will go to a slide show and a larger version of all the pics!

Ann Lee getting ready to take pots from the studio to the firing area.

Shirley Featherstone examining the state of the kiln prior to loading it. The remains of the past firing had to be shovelled out.

Sheets of old corrugated tin were laid over the bricks on the bottom of the pit fire kiln.

The edges of the pit were lined with hard wood pieces.

Ronda Luland loading her pots into the pit.

Claire Byrne and Ann Lee preparing a piece by wrapping in foil and adding combustibles such as copper wire, seaweed, and copper carbonate.

Pots are placed in the sawdust. Next to the sawdust with no protection, pot will be black.

Copper Carbonate is sprinkled around each pot and throughout the kiln. The copper gives the reddish colour on the pots.

Here is the loaded pit prior to adding pine cones.

Murwillumbah Potters – (L-R) Ronda Luland, Lorraine Emmanuel, Claire Byrne, Shirley Featherstone.

Ronda Luland pouring pine cones into the pit.

Pine cones are the next level.

Claire Byrne carrying more pine cones!

Ann Lee making sure all pine cones are in place.

Pieces of wood are then added ontop of the pine cones.

A “hole” has been left at one end of the pit and is filled with shredded paper-highly combustible.

Ready to light the pit fire!!! (L-R) Shirley Featherstone, Ronda Luland, Claire Byren, Lorraine Emmanuel, Ann Lee.

It is lit!

It’s alight!

Burn, baby, burn!

Ann Lee showing how much air the fire needs.

The tin is vented with bricks to allow the flame to catch hold.

Lowering the tin a bit.

Leaving just a small edge up to allow air flow.

As I drove away, you could really see the smoke!!

Opening the pit by moving the pieces of tin.

The result!

Lovely result!

Ronda Luland’s lovely little carved pot.

Ronda Luland and her pot! Happy!

My pot with copper on the rim! Nice!

Cool oil spots on some pots!

Got lots of black and good variance of colour.

Oil spot on this side of my jar.

More pots out of the pit fire.

…and more…

…and more!

Chill and be chilled,

Luv,

Marian

Creating Pottery Tools From Recycled Items!

Studio and Equipment Tools and Equipment Tutorials

As most potters know, you don’t throw anything away as you might could use it for something!!! in the pottery studio!!!

Here are a couple of ideas for creating homemade pottery tools from recycled items in your home.

First: I use used water bottles with a drinking lid for storing and dispensing slip and paper clay made from the clay slop of the clay that I am currently using. It’s a bit of a no-brainer, but works well for me! and I had forgotten about it until I visited my studio in Texas a few months back and there it was! So useful!

Use a drinking bottle to store slip and paper clay. Brilliant!

Second: I make scoops for my glaze chemicals from any type of plastic bottle that has a handle. The ones that are made from a plastic that is a bit heavier work best. Milk cartons are pretty flimsy. The ones from detergent, etc work best. I’ve shown what they look like in the pics below:

Recycled Plastic Bottles With Handles Make Great Scoops!

Homemade Pottery Scoop in Glaze Chemical Bin.

Bet you have figured out something even cooler!

If so, let me know and I’ll put it in my next “pottery tools” blog post!

Cheap as!

Marian

Raku! Using My IKEA Trash Bin Wood-burning Raku Kiln With Propane

Firing Raku

The raku kiln that I built in the Stefan Jakobs Raku Kiln Workshop (Click here to read about that!) has been wonderful! I’ve really enjoyed “trying” raku and learning! But…IT IS SO MUCH WORK! You seriously cannot leave it for a minute! It requires lots of stoking and lots of little twigs of wood! It is fast though!

Samantha Scout insisted on "helping" with the stoking! — Samantha Scout insisted on “helping” with the stoking!

So I decided to try using propane to fire it up! And it worked a treat! The trick is in patience! Wait til you get that glassy glow!

Here are some photos of the results!

Refire of a high fire pot with copper lustre.

Lorraine Emmanuel's bunny! — Lorraine Emmanuel’s bunny!

Crusty Lusty on three--footed tray. — Crusty Lusty on three–footed tray.

Crusty Lusty and Copper Lustre on a leaf.

Can’t wait to try more!

U 2 Raku!

Luv,

Marian

Latest Glaze Firing Results: I’m Depressed!

Firing Gas - Reduction Glazes Results

I was so pumped about this latest gas firing of my kiln! I had new burners and I thought that this would solve all my problems! As of late, I’ve been experiencing 14 hour firings and in some cases, I haven’t reached temperature! So…new burners! Problem solved! NOT!!!

I know that I’m being overly critical of the results, but after all this time, I would have hoped to have consistently good results. So I’ve had to take a good look at what is happening and make some adjustments.

Firstly, I’m still TESTING!!! That is ok and a necessary evil, but not on every piece that I put into the kiln! and the overlapping and combining of glazes that I have no idea how they are going to respond! I have so much glaze on my kiln shelves it is pathetic!

As a result, I did a huge culling of the 36 plus pails of glaze that haunt me. They call to me, USE ME! and I do and I’m always sorry. So they have gone in the tip. I can always make more glaze.

Resolutions for glazing:

1. Only one glaze on the back side of a piece.

2. Only use known glazes on the outside of pieces.

3. Keep overlays to a minimum.

4. Be consistent in my making and glazing until I have good results, then move on.

Sounds so basic and easy when I write it down, but, believe me, I have created monsters out of my clay work!!!

Here are some photos of the results! Be sure to click on the small pic to enlarge it!

This tumbler turned out great!

This plate had potential…until it cracked! Guess I unloaded too soon!

I love this look, but it ran badly!

This tenmoku-over sprayed with tea dust turned out really nice.

This bowl is “eh”-and it ran on the back side!

This tenmoku sake set turned out great! but I put a blue edge on the rims–gone???

This is nice- black with waxed design and sprayed glazes. It is much larger than it looks-but a foot is coming off. Damn!

Ground this little pitcher’s foot-ridiculous amount of glaze on the shelf!

Here is the bottom of that little jug.

So UGLY! How could I possibly have glazed it worse?

This platter is ok on construction but,….I used Iron and a clear glaze….HELP!

Another sad tale…iron oxide and a sprayed glaze that is non-existent! UGLY!

This sugar and creamer set looks ok after alot of grinding!

All that said, I made a new piece today…NEVER say DIE!!! I will conquer the GLAZE MONSTER!!

In conclusion, I made a new tray...don't give up! — In conclusion, I made a new tray…don’t give up!

Peace out!

Marian

I Can Do It!! A Large Handbuilt Bowl!!

Creation Handbuilding

After taking Helen Charles Workshop last month (Click here to see that post), I decided it was time to try my hand at making one without her supervision!

I was so impressed with the large bowl that a complete pottery virgin made that I decided to see if I could make one too.

This was the drawing and measurements that I worked from. As you can see, I have trouble following a map!

I decided to extrude pieces rather than coil and flatten. This speeded up the process.

I tried using a smaller torch, but found that on a piece this large it is too small - not adequate at all. — I tried using a smaller torch, but found that on a piece this large it is too small – not adequate at all.

I used a raku torch and propane canister to dry the pot as I built.

Here is the photographic record of my efforts.

Looking down into the inside of the bowl.

Side view of my bowl

Covered in plastic. There was so much condensation that I had to remove it.

I placed it on a high shelf in the enclosed part of my studio for slow drying.

Now what to do with this large bowl? Popcorn, ice cream…planter…or object de art?

Pot big or go home!

Marian

My Current Inspiration!

Creation Inspiration Musings Studio and Equipment

What is it that inspires you to go to the studio everyday and make art?

For me, it is a variety of things, but mainly images that get me going! Here are a few that I believe start my fire!

Photo frames, posters and a pic of my beautiful daughter, Liz!

I use a memory card filled with pottery images I like on a photo frame.

Some of my work displayed helps me think about what I need to make.

Beyond Mugs!

Creation Setting Up A Studio Studio and Equipment

I started throwing this week and found myself making mugs! Gee whiz! Can’t I get past that? I keep trying to push myself and find myself falling back into the COMFORTABLE ZONE!

So I took those mugs and altered them! Finished product is a sugar and creamer set with a tray and spoons!

I also made a sake set! My first and it definitely needs work. Next time!

Ronnie covered another table for me beside the slab roller-you can NEVER have enough work surfaces.

Hope this finds me moving forward!

Reach for the stars – or at least the top of your brain!

Copper Red and Royal Blue Pottery Bowl, cone 10 reduction

Copper Red Glaze Recipes – Cone 9 and Cone 6!!!

Copper Reds Glazes Recipes

Need more Copper Red Glaze Recipes?! I can’t seem to get enough!!! Here are previous posts on the topic of Copper Reds: Click Here!

I’m not sure most potters (and definitely most people!) understand the obsession for copper reds. Basically, it is the adventure of seeking something that is hard to find – a true treasure!! That’s the fun of it!!! Steve S. Saroff explains the passion well in a guest post on Carole Epps’ blog, Musing About Mud.

When going through some old Ceramics Monthly journals, I came across a couple of interesting articles on Copper Reds!!

This article gave some recipes for Cone 9 Copper Red Glazes that had some interesting hues and effects!

Although many of the chemicals are not ones that I normally use, it might be worth giving them a try.

Here are the recipes:

A Rogue's Gallery of Reds-Page 1 — A Rogue’s Gallery of Reds-Page 1

A Rogue's Gallery of Reds-Page 2 — A Rogue’s Gallery of Reds-Page 2

Crazy tho….found another article on Electric Kiln Copper Reds – Cone 6!!!! and I’ve worked so hard to get them in high fire gas reduction!!!

No matter, one of my best copper reds is a Cone 6 recipe that I use in the high fire reduction to cone 10 and it works great!

Here is a link to the recipes in the article onMore Electric Kiln Copper Reds by Pearson

Notice the number of seconds for the piece to be dipped/submerged!!

Interesting in the instructions the amount of time to “dip” the piece is significantly longer than I usually dip a piece – and it is different for each glaze – up to 10 seconds!

Good to find more copper red recipes!! I may give some a try! The quest for copper reds continues! Let me know what you think and if you have tried any of these recipes!!!

Upward and onward!

How To Handbuild Large Pots: Helen Charles Workshop

Creation Handbuilding Tutorials Workshops

I recently attended a workshop taught by Helen Charles on handbuilding large vessels. The workshop was offered by the Gold Coast Potters Association with Lynette Rogers as the convenor. Short version: IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

I never actually WANTED to hand build GIANT POTS! I am a thrower!

But when I saw the offering, I signed up! I really didn’t think much about what I wanted to make and there in lies the problem! I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to make!

My Drawing of the Pot I Hoped to Make and the Measurements.

So I quickly made a drawing on the back of the workshop handout!

Once we had decided on what we wanted to make, we then had to MEASURE the drawing! Cripes! Maths! Hate math! But…I did it! By multiplying each measurement by an increment (I did 3), the final pot will be, say 3 times, as large as the drawing. Works like a champ!

Helen Charles Demonstrating The Process Of Drawing Your Pot and Measuring It. Her Pots Are On the Right Side of the Photo.

And…that is ONE of the secrets to successful large pot building! We had to measure each step of the way and then correct if we were off course.

The other secret was to use BRT-a groggy raku clay that didn’t need slipping or scoring!

The final secret is to dry the pot as you are building it with a gas burner. This permits you to work more quickly and the pot can sustain the weight of each addition of clay.

Helen Charles Demonstrating Drying Your Pot with a Gas Burner.

The pot is built by rolling out coils, then flattening them with a rolling pin. These are then attached to the pot.

Helen Charles Demonstrating Rolling Out Coils to Make Slab Coils.

Blog Tip: On any of these small pics, just click on them and it takes you to a larger pic and then it will run a slide show of the pics in that group.

Here is my pot and the progression of building it:

My Pot: 1

My Pot: 2

My Pot: 3

My Pot: 4

My Pot: 5-leaning!

Marian Williams With My Pot at Its Critical Juncture!

My Pot: 6 Helen (The MASTER!!) had to come in and straighten up my pot and help me decide on a “new direction” for the final pot!

Helen Charles and Marian Williams with the Final Product!

Marian’s Pot-FINAL!

Ultimately, I had to have the MASTER!!! help me out as it had gotten off course!

Helen is a genius and helped me re-engineer my pot. She also SAVED!! several other pots!

Here are all the pots at the halfway point:

Kirsten Hague midway on her large jug.

Helen Charles and Paul Button with his vessel.

Claire Byrne’s umbrella stand.

Anne Mossman working on her large vessel.

Ann O’Connor’s pot mid way.

Robyn Roylance working on her large pot.

Midge Johansen working on her big nude pot.

Lynette Rogers working on her big vessel.

From Left: Camilla Murphy, Anne Mossman, and Wendy Hodgsen at the mid-way point.

Sandra Tafe’s Big Jar!

Marian Williams with my almost complete pot.

Here are pots in progress:

Kirsten Hague making coils and working on a handle for her jug.

Robyn Roylance adding coils to her pot.

Claire Byrne making great progress on her umbrella stand.

Camilla (first time potter!) with her lovely large potato chip bowl!

Lynette Rogers getting to the top edge of her pot.

Paul Button started on a SECOND vessel!

Midge Johansen’s sculpture pot now has boobs!

Sandra Tafe’s pot is getting much taller!

Marian Williams pot is almost done!

Kirsten Hague is wondering if the braided rope adds to her pot??

Here are pots being presented and critiqued by Helen and the group:

Paul Button presenting his gorgeous (pot 2) bowl.

Paul Button presenting his lovely altered form.

Ann O’Connor’s amazing jug-great handle!!

Claire Byrne’s umbrella stand turned out wonderfully.

Robyn Roylance’s pot was covered in fantastic flowers and leaves!

Kirsten Hague’s large pitcher/jug turned out great!

Lynette Roger’s large vessel was just gorgeous!

Midge Johansen’s nude vessel was fantastic!

Wendy Hodgson’s large envelope/package vessel was too cool!

Camilla Murphy’s big bowl was just incredible!

Anne Mossman created two (count them!!!) amazing vessels!

Marian Williams’ – yep, there it is!

Helen Charles class is awesome! I highly recommend it!

One of the most enviable students was a total newbie to clay, Camilla.

She built the most amazing large bowl! I told her that she should be very proud of herself as most people’s first pot is an ash tray (at best!). In fact, that is what I want to make next! A great big bowl.

So I went to Picasso’s Ceramics and Brad loaded me up some BRT!!!

Pot on, my pretties!