[Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

Tue Dec 6 02:29:33 UTC 2011

Hi Georgia,
You are so lucky to live near an art center. Where I live, I am 1 hours drive from the art center. I cannot go unless someone takes me, of course, and so far I have been really lucky because a friend goes, or my grand daughter goes, or my husband takes me. 

I am planning on buying a kiln and setting up my studio for making pottery. I do all my building in my home studio, then transport it to the art center. It is a LOT of work doing it this way and I decided, finally, to just go for it and get what I need and do it here. That is my plan for the upcoming year.

Have fun with it and just go ahead and give it a try at the wheel. It is fun, too.  Don't be afraid and you do not have to be strong at all.  The wheel does the work, you just guide it - 

Lynda

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ghkitchen 
  To: An exploration of art by and for blind persons 
  Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 6:42 PM
  Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

  Hi Linda,

  Thanks for the tips. Yes, art or therapy in my case whatever you want to call it is expensive. I go to our Art Institute which is  less than 2 miles away. The other  students take the class multiple times like I do, because they find it more  economical than to own the kiln, glazes and so forth. Now that I am so close, I feel I may as well continue with the classes.  I may  move out of the city and getting back to go to class could be difficult. I buy the clay in ten pound bags as you mentioned, some is $10 and the stoneware is $12. Going to class affords me help that I may not have if I were to work at home. I am doing it for fun and  plan to use or give away what I make. I have not started on the wheel yet even though the teacher has encouraged me to try it. I am not that strong and I had a real bout with my left hand back in 2008.

  We can bring things back to our homes to work on as long as we don't do production type work. Seems like I never get anything  done though. 
  Thanks again.

  Georgia     

  I am sure my husband would be great at pottery but he is real busy with his woodworking.  

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Lynda Lambert 
    To: An exploration of art by and for blind persons 
    Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 5:57 PM
    Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

    Hi Georgia,
    Rule of thumb, if it is ART it is EXPENSIVE. No getting around it - starving artists are a myth. 

    YYes, you can get a small kiln but it is also quite expensive. As for cost to run, today's kilns are very cost effective. They are totally automatic, and desinged to work very efficiently and they are not nearly as expensive to run as they were a few years ago. Of course, the smaller the kiln, the less expensive to run because it takes a lot less time to get up to temperatures, there is far less things in the kiln that you are firing if it is smaller, and so it is less expensive to run. Bigger kiln equals bigger costs.

    Yes, kilns are expensive - so is clay, and glazes are very very expensive.  You buy them by the pound, and need to buy a minimum of 10 pounds just to make a batch for dipping you stuff into once it has been bisque fired. Most pieces have to be fired twice, if you want it to be food safe.

    Art making is a very expensive enterprise - for sure.

    Hope this helps you.
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Ghkitchen 
      To: Tatiana Nisioti ; An exploration of art by and for blind persons 
      Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 5:05 PM
      Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

      Hi,

      Thanks for your encouragement. I really appreciate it. 

      Thanks,
      Georgia
        ----- Original Message ----- 
        From: Tatiana Nisioti 
        To: An exploration of art by and for blind persons 
        Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2011 4:48 AM
        Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

        Hi, Georgia, and veryone!
        As an undergraduate in Psychology, which means as oen who's been studying this field, let me tell you that: art, at any level it is expressed, either you make it as a beginner, or you are a... well known or famous artist, is therapy anyways!
        Keep going!
          ----- Original Message ----- 
          From: Ghkitchen 
          To: An exploration of art by and for blind persons 
          Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2011 1:22 AM
          Subject: Re: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

          Hi,

          I talked to this potter on the crafters list and she told me you could get kilns the size of a microwave oven. Folks in my class say they cost a lot to run though. I am just a beginner and at this point I am wondering if it is more therapy than art. 

          Best,
          Georgia 
            ----- Original Message ----- 
            From: Mike Welty 
            To: Artists-making-art at nfbnet.org 
            Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 5:44 PM
            Subject: [Artists-making-art] tips for getting clay fired

            Hey all,
            Not sure if any of you has really worked with this but I've wanted to get back in my clay work but my hardest problem is firing my works. would anyone have any suggestions about this, maybe if there's a tabletop kiln you know of or something?

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