Drawing Inspiration with Slips, Stencils, and Sgraffito
Bakersville, North Carolina, is a pretty idyllic place, especially if you are a potter. Not only is there a big clay community, but there is breathtaking beauty all around from which to draw...
View ArticleThe Carved and Slipped Surfaces of Matt Repsher
An interest in architecture and geometric design combine in the forms and surfaces of Matt Repsher’s vessels, jars, mugs, bowls, and sculptures. From the choice of clay -- a red bricklike body -- to...
View ArticleHow to Ensure Proper Cup and Saucer Fit
I love the making forms that go together, like salt and pepper sets, or cups and saucers. It is a fun exercise to come up with forms that relate and fit together, both functionally and aesthetically....
View ArticleStack and Slam Wire Wedging: An Efficient and Easy-on-the-Wrists Way to Wedge...
Today, in an excerpt from our newest free download Successful Tips for Buying and Using Pottery Clay: How to Select the Right Clay, Estimate Your Clay Needs, and Test Clays for Better Results, Michael...
View ArticleHow to Make an Animated Salt and Pepper Set
Sets are a great way to have fun with form, and a wonderful project if you like to make animated work. Jen Mecca sees her salt and pepper shakers as characters that need to interact and relate to one...
View ArticleHow to Fire A Gas Kiln Efficiently: Hal Frenzel Answers this Burning Question
Most anyone can figure out how to mix gas and air to produce heat in a kiln. What takes a little more expertise is firing a kiln with efficiency, regardless of what type of firing is being done. In...
View ArticleThe Right Angle for Approaching Geometric Ceramic Sculpture
Many years ago, while handbuilding a large form, ceramic artist Marcia Selsor was struggling to support two slabs that she wanted to join at right angles. So, she set out to build a custom tool to...
View ArticleUsing Simple Components to Make Complex Pottery or Sculpture
Scott Dooley's work looks to be anything but simple, with its wild angles and off-kilter shapes. But if you break it down to the basics, you learn that it is just made up of a lot of simple parts. In...
View ArticleProductive Play: How Playful Experimentation Leads to Fun Pottery Forms!
Learning to play in the studio can have its rewards, especially when new and unique forms are discovered. As is evident in her work, Chandra DeBuse embraces play in the studio. How else could she...
View ArticleHow to Make Magic Rice Paper Transfers for Pottery
A couple NCECAs ago I bought some rice paper transfers from a supplier at the conference. They are super fun to play around with and very easy to use, but as with anything commercially made, they are...
View ArticleWhy Trim? A Simple Way to Define a Foot Without Trimming
Trimming is one of my favorite parts of wheel throwing. But with my limited time in the studio, it is an extra step that I sometimes wouldn't mind avoiding. But if you skip trimming, you have to make...
View ArticleTwo Kilns That Make Smart Use of Waste
By it's very nature, our art form is not the greenest of artistic endeavors, but happily, many ceramic artists and organizations are taking it upon themselves to try to lessen their impact on the...
View ArticleTips for Stocking A Ceramic Glaze Pantry
I have been using commercial glazes lately, because I have been working out of my home studio since I bought myself a kiln last year. This has been working okay so far, and some of these commercial...
View ArticleHow to Enhance Texture with One Versatile Glaze and Some Colorants
Glancing at Scott Dooley's pots, you might not immediately think there was just one glaze recipe used. But it's true. By using a copper wash under one base glaze with a variety of colorants, Scott...
View ArticleShared Space: A Potter Shares Her Space with Another Artist in Transition
When Eric Serritella decided to move to North Carolina from New York, he had the conundrum that most of us face when moving - where to set up shop. He decided to rent space while he settles into the...
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