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Marian Williams Pottery
Marian Williams Pottery

Wheels!

Setting Up A StudioStudio and EquipmentTools and Equipment

The older I get, the more in love I fall with wheels!  So my sweet husband, Ronnie, has made sure that almost everything in my studio has wheels!  Sweet!  Here are a few examples of the wheels in my studio!

Wheels on plywood bases for my chemicals
This, I like to call, my “Bat Mobile”! Ha!!!
I use this to go to classes, workshops, guilds.  It fits the clay, aprons, etc inside and a paint bucket attachment (the cloth thingy) from the local hardware store (slit at the side with scissors) serves as a place to put my tools.
This was an old golf bag caddy! So my husband took off a couple of pieces, added a plywood base and now I have a great little cart for moving heavy buckets!  (See below)
This is the golf caddy/bucket mover in action!
This was found by a friend and will the newest addition to the studio when it has wooden shelves added to make a ware cart!
All in all, as potters, we must protect our health – our backs – as best we can!  So a few wheels added to our daily used equipment will only improve the odds!  Most of the wheels are recycled off other items (old office chairs, etc), but the cost of a few wheels is far cheaper than a hospital bill!

PotterLove: Roger Law

Amazing Potters
 
 
 
 
Holy Cow!  How is it that I have never HEARD of or SEEN any of the work of Roger Law?  His work is totally amazing!  The sculpturist carving of the clay, the detail, the artistry-what can I say…I’m not worthy, nor shall I ever be!
 
 

 
 
ROGER LAW

“Roger Law spent the 1960s and early 70s as an illustrator and cartoonist for newspapers and magazines all over the world, including theObserver, the Sunday Times, Private Eye andNewsweek. In 1975 he teamed up with Peter Fluck to produce 3D caricatures, to great success, and the pair then co-created Spitting Image, staying with the show for the entire 12-year run. Law now lives in Sydney”and makes ceramics.”

http://www.nakedflameproductions.com/index.php?action=vc&id=139

Roger Law Ceramics – this link takes you to his website, which highlights his amazing work.

This link features an interview with Roger Law and gives great insight to the artist.

Japanese pottery

CreationJapan

Isn’t this amazing!! Nothing changes!

“Three children sit in front of a shop cramped with ceramics and pottery. Inside a boy, probably an apprentice, is using a Soroban (abacus). Lots of teapots and cups can be seen. Under the eaves large plates are on display.
This photo is featured in Japan, Described and Illustrated by the Japanese, edited by Captain F Brinkley., with the text: “Porcelain and Pottery Shops. Japanese keramic art dates from about A.D. 1600, having been introduced by Korean captives. The variety of wares from the coarsest to the finest is bewildering to the uninitiated. Small shops for the sale of crockery abound everywhere, and, being tastefully arranged, are very attractive.”1
The photographs for this publication were sourced by Kozaburo Tamamura (1856-1923?), but it is not known who the photographer is of this image.”

1 Captain Brinkley, Frank (1897). Japan, Described and Illustrated by the Japanese, Shogun Edition.http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2vKU2b/oldphotosjapan.com/en/photos/56/ceramics-and-pottery-shop/

Glazes: Attention to detail

FiringGas - ReductionGlazesResults
It’s All In the DETAILS!!!
It’s all in the details!  That is a commonly used phrase, but how can it apply to glazes on pottery?  In Dick Lehman’s blog post , he writes about “seeing and appreciating the details”.
Do you see anything amazing about this test tile? (I know, it’s cracked!)  At first neither did I!   This was a test tile of Greg Daly glazes and most of them came out looking pretty good, but I saw no big “Wows!”.   Until I noticed one small little area where some magic occurred!

Thankfully on this tile I did take good notes!  So I know that to get that result I need to put Greg Daly S67 iron brown on the rim after pouring Greg Daly’s F Base Glaze on bowl. I then added Gary Huntoon’s Wash to the rim.

The recipe for Gary Huntoon’s Wash is:
50% gertsley borate
50% rutile
Make a very thin mixture and then use it in a painterly fashion, sparingly!
Thanks Gary for allowing me to pass this along!

Here is a bowl that I just recently fired that had this glaze combo on it!  It is much prettier in person, but hopefully this photo will give you a clue to how it looks.
I do think that the secret to achieving great glazes is in paying attention to the subtle differences and effects of layering glazes.
Greg Daly is a master at noticing the subtle beauty of a small section of a test tile – which can reward you with a great glaze effect.  He encourages all to look for the little areas that have magic!

A great resource for more information on washes and their use is at:  Click here

A Love Affair With Clay

Musings

Recently, my daughter, Liz, found some old photos of pottery that I did in the 80’s!!! They look pretty bad and the shot setup was horrible! But…. I was wishing I were a good potter, but I had  to postpone my involvement until a later date.

So now my “Love Affair With Clay” can resume!  And I decided to blog about it!

At first I simply called my blog: “Marian Williams’ Pottery”.  I changed the name of my blog to “A Love Affair With Clay” because that is what I am ultimately writing about – an obsession, a love, a jealous lover.  When I say, “A Love Affair”, I mean it.  I fell in love with clay a long time ago and she has been my secret obsession, happy to stay in the background, until I could give her time again.

I came across this website the other day and the author says it beautifully!  Have a read:  Barebente

In the blog post, she says:   “Throwing is a strange thing – some days I couldn’t even center, other days it was all a doddle. It is a sensual, earthy, deeply touchy-feely thing that seems to reflect moods, and ideally you should chose the task fitting the day. Clay is great material, and working with the elements is deeply satisfying. You create from earth.”

She goes on to say, “The kiln fires the gooey, soft, sensual clay into stone; it is a non-reversible process, and the object dies a little for me – I tend to lose interest in the finished product. It is the clay part of the process, and firing kilns that attracts me. The transformation is total, the pot will never leave earth, it cannot be broken down to the original materials. Ages hence, my pottery shards will still be around. Longevity. Infinity. A mindblowing thought – and one that (should) keeps potters constantly reminded to not fire substandard pots in the first place. We won’t get rid of them.”   Barebente

Third Firing of My Gas Kiln and Results!

FiringFiring a Gas KilnGas - ReductionGlazesResults

Before firing this time, I decided to get some expert advice from Ann Lee.  Ann has been doing pottery for over 30 years and is a wealth of knowledge!  Her kind ways and gentle nature have made her an institution of sorts in the Tweed and Murwillumbah, Australia pottery scene.  She is highly involved in both the Murwillumbah Potters Group that works at Fernvale and the Tweed Unlimited Arts at Banora Point, NSW, Australia.

Ann gave me great advice on how to read the gauges, how to adjust the gas flow into the kiln, and when to open the bungs to check for reduction.  I thought that I had listened well!  But…after firing and showing the pictures to Ann, she told me that I wasn’t supposed to LEAVE the bung open the WHOLE time!  I was just supposed to open it and check on it!  Cripes! I left it open the whole time! It’s a wonder anything good happened!  But, it did!  Hooray!

My besties, Liz (my daughter) and Ronnie (my husband), were not there this time! I fired the kiln completely on my own.
A few little wallabies stood by in anticipation – me too!
I stacked the kiln with more levels, heights of shelves, and packed it as full as possible.  Again, I used lots of cone packs.
I put the kiln into reduction at 850 degrees Celsius.
I opened the lower bung to check to make sure that I had a 3 to 4 inch flame coming out of the front of the kiln.  I did!  So I was in reduction!  I did not understand that I was to put the bung  back in – I left it out the whole time and the firing went fast.  I shut down the kiln and closed it up at 7 1/2 hours when the pyrometer showed 1280 degrees celsius and the cones had bent.  I had no way to observe the cones on the lowest shelf.
So…as you can see, the top cones bent, but the two lower shelves cones did not bend fully.




Here are some of the results from this firing. 
Messy, but some interesting results of overlapping.  Shino, royal blue and “other”.
I really like this one!  Greg Daly Opaque Green on the bottom and Greg Daly transparent green on the inside and top, with a wrap of copper red.
Peter’s Tenmoku with Emmanuel Cooper’s Chun on the rim.
Sprayed transparent blue.
I got some reds!!!
This platter was sprayed with floating blue and copper red.  The copper red reduced on half of the piece.
Another piece that reduced only of half of the bowl.  Royal blue dipped.  Waxed design, then copper red sprayed over the inside.
Copper red sprayed on top of royal blue.  Celadon on base
Bowl dipped in opaque green, then waxed inside and sprayed with another glaze! Wish I knew which one!  Damn!

Color Crush: Bob Hasselle Pottery

Amazing PottersGlazes
Source:  Bob Hasselle Pottery

Man oh man!!!! I do love colour!  So look at this!!! Bob Hasselle’s pottery and glazes just make me want to swoon!  I’ve been out of commission lately (back!*#@) and have only dreamed of making something so gorgeous!  Love the glazes, the colours, the pottery!

Yum!!! Gorgeous Pottery! Bob Hasselle Pottery

Check out his facie (Facebook Page).to see more of his work!

PotterLove: Gary Huntoon

Amazing PottersHandbuilding
Of all the potters that I know, have studied with, or attended their workshops, one stands head and shoulders above the rest.  His name is Gary Huntoon.
 I first met Gary when my friend, Judith Wagenseller of the House of Clay in Oklahoma City, and I attended a workshop at the Kerrville Arts Center in Kerrville, Texas.  We had a blast, returned the next year and became good friends with Gary.

Here’s a (very poorly set-up!) shot of a box I made at that workshop.  My daughter, Liz, found it in some old photos and scanned it for me (thanks!).  Not bad for early work, although Judith and I tried to “copy” his work exactly!  The washes used on this piece are a really wonderful addition to any glaze pallet and I’m blogging about that wash soon!

Gary and his “carpenter” tools for pottery
Gary Huntoon
Gary Huntoon’s Puffy Lids-Magic!
Source of pictures above
Gary’s work is impeccable.  His work shows the precision of a master potter, with many of his techniques resembling those of a master carpenter.  My personal favourites are his porcelain hand built mugs-sublime!
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