Recently I’ve been preparing to mix my own glazes. I started stockpiling chemicals and raw materials last summer when a Laguna distributor in Michigan had a sale. Over Christmas I got a few books about glazes including Mastering Cone 6 Glazes and The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes. I looked through the recipes in these books and some that I found on the internet and drew up a list of raw materials that I needed to start testing recipes. Then I did some price checking for some online clay and chemical suppliers. (The pottery supply search helped!) [Read more…]
Triple Beam Dreams
triple beam scale
I’ve always wanted to experiment with glaze recipes and mix my own glazes some day. A couple months ago I got a step closer to making that happen in my very own studio when I purchased a triple beam scale. I wasn’t interested in paying over $100 for a new Ohaus scale so I monitored ebay for a while and finally got a used one for $20.44 which included shipping. For such a low price I wasn’t expecting it to be in mint condition and it wasn’t. It has a few dings and the metal tray or platform or “pan” is no longer attached. It also seems to be missing some weight under the pan which have been replaced by pennies and nickels. It didn’t come with the additional attachment weights or any other accessories.
The good news: it seems to function properly. [Read more…]
New Shelves in the Clay Studio
Over Christmas break I got a little time to work in the clay studio. I’ve also had school canceled a few days this winter so I’ve had a little extra time to put up shelves and get things organized.
new shelf – glaze area
I added a shelf at the top of the glaze area which I’m using for finished work and random objects that I don’t really use that often. Now I can use the two bottom shelves for glazes, chemicals and other glaze related tools and equipment. I might try to come up with a row of drawers or containers for storing chemicals.
new glaze area
I rearranged the small set of shelves on the floor and the table. Now I have better access to the whole table and I can move pots from the table to the long shelf against the west wall easily. And I feel like everything is less crammed into the corner. I haven’t glazed anything using this arrangement so I’m excited to try it out.
new shelf at the top
The other shelf I added is above the wedging table/workbench against the north wall. With this extra top shelf I have a lot of space to keep the stuff that I rarely use. Now I can use the easier-to-reach shelves for the stuff that I use regularly. Now I just need some more tools!
shelves near the sink
I also added one more set of shelves near the sink. I just bought the plastic, easy to put together shelves when they were on sale at Menard’s. I use them for drying plastic buckets and containers after I wash them.
Pottery Photo Backdrop
I just shot a few ceramics pieces on my new and improved backdrop which is part of the Collapsible Photo Booth for Shooting Ceramics. I had been using some gray fabric from the $1 bin at Walmart but I wanted something a little darker and a little more sturdy. I searched the internet but couldn’t find anything within my budget (as in “free” or “almost free”) so I decided to make my own. I had a big roll of pre-primed canvas at my disposal so I cut a piece to fit into the Collapsible Photo Booth for Shooting Ceramics and added a couple extra layers of gesso and then painted it gray. I had a feeling that the gray had a slightly blue cast and my suspicion was confirmed in the test photos. So I re-mixed the paint and added a little red and a lot of yellow to even out the blue cast. It’s not quite completely neutral gray now but it is a lot closer than the first attempt. Below you can see some photos of the whole setup. And soon there will be some photos of some actual pottery taken while using the whole setup!
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- Collapsible Photo Booth for Shooting Ceramics
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- ceramics photo backdrop
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- gray shades of the backdrop