I've decided to embark on a new project. Having recently set up my kickwheel (potter's wheel) in the basement, and having purchased an electric kiln, I've decided to make a few batches of work, and see how it turns out. If it goes well, perhaps I'll see if I can sell a little. That would be pretty cool, I think.
I figure that since I'm not using this site for anything else (and being an exhibitionist at heart), I might as well use this web page to plan my project and track my progress. Hopefully, with the possibility of someone watching and checking back from time to time, I'll do a good job of keeping up with it.
So, here goes. I better start with a plan... wait, I should have a goal. Then a plan. Let's see...
Goal: To high-fire at least one kiln full of pottery (and hopefully end up with a few pieces that I like).
That should work. Now I'll know when if plan has worked or not. Ok, let's see - best way to get there from here...
Plan:
1. Preparation - set up wheel, gather needed tools, mix practice clay, sketch out ideas, make samples, set up kiln
2. Production - buy good clay, make sets from best samples, make glaze test tiles, bisque everything
3. Glaze Testing - get glaze recipes, buy raw materials and a good scale, mix glazes, find high-fire kiln to test glazes
4. Finishing - choose glazes from test tiles, mix more glaze as needed, glaze everything, high-fire everything
5. Recording - keep good notes throughout process, take decent pictures of anything good that comes out of the kiln
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Eventually, I'm going to separate out my background / plan stuff onto its own page, and use the main page just for what's current. Perhaps I'll do that next week. For now, updates are below.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By way of update (Sunday, April 26th), I got some more clay and tools and my old wedging table (well, the table-top) from my parents last night. I still need to do some work on the batch of clay that I'm reclaiming (I got some junk clay in it, and I may need to screen out some bits of sponge, and some small sticks and leaves), but there is some more or less ready-to-throw clay in the stuff my parents brought down yesterday, so once I set up the table, I should be ready to start making a body of work... that's good news for anyone who starts following this project, because it means more pictures (more than zero), and fewer words.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
No update for the May 2nd & 3rd
weekend - drill. I've been working on the house lately - doing lots of
painting - and haven't made any time for clay. Oh well... the reclaim
clay will be good and aged by the time I get to using it (that's a good
thing for clay, by the way).
--------------------------------------------------------------------
May 9th - Doing some outside-the-house spring cleanup, and moving some of the new clay and tools (which have been sitting on the porch since my parents brought them down from the farm) to the basement, so that I can get to work with them. going to wedge up about a hundred pounds of clay this afternoon, and maybe start throwing... I really should probably do some more sketching first, though.