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Whenever anyone decides to work on pottery or ceramics, they usually don't have a lot of money to invest or don't want to spend a lot of money. STOOL When I first started working with ceramics I was using a small picnic table. It seemed like I was always trying to scoot myself into a good position, it was also very awkward always having to step over the bench seat and besides that board seat got really hard after sitting there for a while. I even tried putting a cushion on there to sit on, but when scooting around, more times as not the cushion would fall off the board!! Also, I was either too close, too far, too low or too high. My advice is to get a good padded, adjustable stool with a back and foot rest, which will be worth it's weight in gold. BANDING WHEEL
Make sure you have a banding wheel. I tried turning my piece by hand when building, glazing and decorating and found that the outcome had much to be desired. Glazing goes much faster, decorating is easier, and pieces are easier to hand build when they are on a banding wheel. I also noticed the difference when I went to the raised style banding wheel. Getting the pottery off the table and more at eye level really helps. The more expensive and heavier banding wheels do work much better than the cheaper laminate ones, because their weight helps keep them spinning while you glaze or decorate your piece. For hand building though, I like the large diameter laminate style. TEST TILES Make test tiles. What I realized when I started making test tiles was that you could keep them around forever because they didn't take up much space. They usually are a bisque fired clay tile about 3" X 4" X 1/2", but as shown above they can be any shape and you just apply your glaze on and fire them. After they are fired make sure and number them and enter the number and info for that tile in your notebook.> Test tiles can be squeezed into almost any kiln load. They are so fast to make that you will begin to experiment much more. What if I layer this glaze over that? What would this look like really thick? What would this look like on red clay? Does this glaze look good on a textured piece? Does this glaze look better at Cone 5 or Cone 6? These are all questions your start asking yourself and actually finding out the answers to when you use test tiles. NOTES Keep a notebook! No matter how much you think you will remember, such as how thick you put on a glaze, what your firing temp and time was or even what glaze you used to begin with, believe me, you will forget!! Scraps of paper get misplaced, thrown out or lost. So use a spiral notebook or a three ring binder. Write down everything you do, as you do it. I would number my pieces and write down all the details of that particular piece, but what I have learned over time is that I never write enough detail. I always look back and there are things I wonder about, and things I wish I had written down. I am getting better tho!!! I am writing down more and more details, even the littlest things, while I am making and glazing a piece. I am trying not to let a piece leave my studio until I have recorded the results. Now instead of having a bunch of numbered pieces sitting around, I am taking a photo of the piece with a digital camera, god bless this invention! Believe me, these notes and pictures I am writing down and taking are paying off by saving me lots of time and headaches, besides giving me the ability to produce a certain look over and over. WITNESS CONES
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!!!
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All About Clay The best way of starting out is to take a few lessons. You will probably waste quite a bit in materials when you first get started. Figuring out how to truly make handmade pottery correctly and shape into what you want it to be can be quite an ordeal. The different tools that a normal shop will have can be fun to try. You will soon see which ones you like to use the most and then when you are ready you will know which ones to buy. With the help of the internet, you can now purchase most if not all of your ceramic and pottery tools and supplies online. We are located far from any well supplied dealers and yet working with reliable ceramic and pottery suppliers online has allowed us to recieve most of our orders within a timely manner. When you get all set up, just enjoy the hobby and have fun at it. Some people get pretty serious and start selling their creations at craft fairs and small stores, but others just like to create items for themselves, relatives, and friends. Whichever kind of handmade pottery you desire to endeavor, enjoy the hobby and have fun doing it.
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