Studio Tips
A Potter With a Paycheque?
This post is based on an email I sent out this past Fall about my journey from a struggling studio potter to starting my dream job as a studio technician to reluctantly growing out of that position and quitting my job in order to teach online classes full time.
A Clay Reclaim Process Using a Pugmill/Clay Mixer
If you run a community studio or your personal studio is high production, you probably have a lot of clay scraps to deal with. This article will describe the clay reclaim process we use at the very busy pottery studio where I worked as technician for 6 years.
How to Make a Cone Pack
In this post, you’ll learn how to make a cone pack using pyrometric witness cones set into a coil of clay. Cones are important for measuring the heatwork of your firings.
The Air Bubble Myth
There’s a common belief in ceramics that leaving pockets of air in your clay, either due to insufficient wedging or by creating an enclosed form, leads to explosions in the kiln. The belief is often communicated in these ways: “Poorly wedged clay containing air bubbles will explode…”
12 Tips for Managing Glazes at a Busy Pottery Studio
Glaze Management 101. It’s a lot of work to run a school or community pottery studio. There are a lot of moving parts to look after. I’ve been a studio technician for 5 years now and it’s a very busy and rewarding job. As the technician, I’m taking care of all the behind the scenes…
A Week in the Life of a Ceramics Studio Technician
What Does a Ceramics Studio Technician Do? Since 2015, I’ve been a ceramics studio technician at a community pottery studio. We run 14 classes per week for both adults and children. We also have an open studio drop-in program where 60 registered members can…
How to Calibrate Your Kiln Sitter for Accurate Firings
If you’re anything like me, then your first kiln wasn’t or isn’t going to be the digital programmable kind. Many of us start out with a manual kiln that we got second hand. I have 4 different sized kilns in my home studio and none of them are digital or programmable.
A Low Tech System for Recycling Clay Scraps
As clay artists, we’re so lucky that we can reduce the amount of waste we produce by reclaiming or recycling our unfired clay. When we make something that cracks, warps or doesn’t look how we wanted it to, we can reclaim our clay, bringing it back to its original state so…
How to Make a Good Kiln Wash to Protect Your Kiln Shelves
Kiln wash is a material that you can paint onto your kiln shelves. It looks very similar to a glaze when being applied. It acts as a barrier to prevent unexpected glaze runs or drips from ruining your shelves. Kiln shelves are made of a hard material that is similar to…
Temperature vs Heatwork – Why We Use Witness Cones
I receive a lot of glaze questions and the first question I generally ask in return is “What did the cones look like?” Knowing whether the kiln was over- or under-fired is important for diagnosing many glaze issues. Sometimes I’m told a kiln temperature in response. But…
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Recent Posts
Glazy Demo – Adding Recipes and More
Why Specific Gravity Isn’t Listed on Glaze Recipes
5 Reasons Why Your Large Batch of Glaze Doesn’t Match Your Test Batch
A Potter With a Paycheque?
A Clay Reclaim Process Using a Pugmill/Clay Mixer
How to Make a Cone Pack
Commercial Glazes vs Mixing Your Own – A Cost Comparison
Troubleshooting Commercial Underglazes
99 Cone 6 Glazes You Can Try
The Air Bubble Myth
What Glazes Can You Make with Limited Materials?
How to Measure Specific Gravity – Clay Week 2020
12 Tips for Managing Glazes at a Busy Pottery Studio
How to Fix a Hard-Panned Glaze with Epsom Salts
How the Water in Your Glaze is Affecting Your Results
A Week in the Life of a Ceramics Studio Technician