The bowls weren't quite ready to trim so I sat down to make some lunch plates to go along with the order of bowls. About half of the clay was nice and soft and perfect for plates. The other half of clay is why I think my wrists seem to be hurting lately. The bowls are probably ready but I think I'm ready for bed so they'll get finished up tomorrow.
I catch myself planning my new studio in Austin every once in a while. I have no clue where it will be or what it will look like. One of the few things I'm fairly certain of is that it won't be attached to our house like mine is now. That's going to be a major change for me. But, I'll adjust.
The other thing that I am telling myself is that I will no longer be at the mercy of commercially mixed clay. When I started here I was all set to get a clay mixer but I never got around to purchasing one. And then, I just couldn't figure out where I would set it up. Now, it's way too late in the game up here to figure out a clay mixing setup so it's boxes and bags of clay for another year.
I also keep telling myself that my next studio will be neat and organized and I'll know where everything is kept, where all my tools are at the exact moment I need them and every glaze will be full when I go to glaze...or at least I'll have some copper when I need to mix one up.
Maybe I'll start with a clay mixing area and move on from there.
I've got another big post coming with my new studio wish-list. I'm not sure when that one is going to find its way here but maybe we'll make that post a nice big open thread with everyone's best setting up a studio suggestion...heck...let's start now...leave your ideas in the comments!
5 comments:
If I were planning a new studio, I would make room for two wheel areas. One mainly devoted to trimming and one for throwing.
How exciting to be planning a new studio, and you have a whole year to figure out the best options... Hope your wrists are feeling better now!
for me i would have two wheels, one for stoneware and one for porcelain because i hate cleaning up between the two. i also think the talisman(sp?) sieve is one of the best tools ever. i bought a whole bunch of rectangular-ish trash cans with pop up lids from walmart one time that hold about 1 and a half bags of raw materials and i built a big table that they could all sit under.
you know for clay mixing the slip method is really the way to go. put that clay mixer money into a pugmill(if you don't already have one.) a few weeks ago i mixed 600#'s of stoneware and 600#'s of porcelain in just over 3 hours with a huge bucket and a drill. way less labor than a mixer and it throws so much better.
i don't know what i would do without a separate wheel for trimming. and...i'm lucky that there is an extra wheel sitting in my studio that i end up using for white clay only. lin, a good friend who worked in my studio, bought a wheel a couple of years ago when she was making pots pretty often. i had traded her studio space in exchange for some help in the gallery. unfortunately, she went off and got an unrelated job and hasn't made pots in quite some time. her wheel gets some use whenever i'm working with porcelain or white stoneware.
i think i'm going to try that slip method for clay when i set up a space down in austin. i don't have a clay mixer or a pug mill. so...i'll start with a good pug mill and a big bucket and see what happens. that will be one of the pluses of a studio separate from the house. i don't think that evangelina would appreciate tables full of slip in the backyard drying out.
my dream space also has room for a dedicated photography area. lights, backdrop, tripod...it's always there ready to photograph a good pot.
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