Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Training seminars have been scheduled all across the country over the next few months. Slots are filling fast. This certification is by the Ceramics Artist Guild (CAG). If you are interested in becoming a certified judge for ceramics competitions, contact the Cag at www.ceramicartistguild.com
Here is the current schedule:
Vallejo, CA 6-10-2010 Salt Lake City, UT 6-15 (tentative, it may get moved to Phoenix) Denver, CO 6-18-2010 Oklahoma City, OK 6-22-2010 (FILLING UP FAST) Atlanta, GA 6-26-2010 (ALMOST FULL) Washington DC 6-29-2010 Boston, MA 7-1-2010 (FILLING UP FAST) Buffalo, NY 7-3-2010 LaCrosse, WI 7-8-2010
Bismark, ND 7-10-2010
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
I was very excited to attend the annual Ceramic Show in Atlanta this past weekend.
It was wonderful to see an increase in exhibits as well as the number of people attending. Ceramics is indeed growing again.
Walking down the aisles, I was inspired to present a number of new products and new themes to this site and will do so over the course of the next few weeks, so check here frequently to see what is revealed.
There were many new molds, exciting techniques and new products (well, new to me). Hopefully, they will be new to you and will excite you as they excited me.
Monday, February 15th, 2010
The technique of salt glazing was discovered sometime in the 14th century in Germany. The process was originally used with low-fire ceramics, but quickly became a favorite technique with stoneware. Western Europeans used the salt glaze process in salt kilns quite extensively during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Americans have produced salt ware since early 1700s in Pennsylvania, Virginia and American Stoneware became the predominant American houseware during the 19th century. Today, North and South Carolina are well known for continuing salt fire production.
Salt firing is one ceramic process that was created outside of Japan and carried to their culture in the early 1900s. This method is one that is continuing to be used for experimentation and creativity in the field of ceramics and pottery. Modern potters and ceramists continue to explore many of the old techniques. One should keep in mind that this method is hard on contemporary electric kilns in that the fumes are corrosive and destructive to the kiln interiors. Most craftsmen opt to use gas kilns, specialty or home made kilns when using various salt methods.
To read more about this process, click here
Monday, January 18th, 2010
The Plan
Regardless of what kind of ceramic endeavor you choose to pursue, you need to start with a plan. You need to have an idea of what kind of business you want to set up and then follow a design to achieve that goal. Some of the things you will need to address include:
1. Create a Name 2. Secure a web domain 3. Make a budget 4. Obtain a checking account 5. Licensing and legal matters 6. Secure a location 7. Lay out floor plan 8. Gather fixtures 9. Order stock and supplies 10. Set up method of inventory control 11. Set up method or record keeping 12. Turn on utilities 13. Set up the store
14. Advertise opening
To read more about these steps, click here.
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
Introduction
You fell in love with ceramics as a hobby and you heard that you could make some money from it. It is tempting, why not do it? Or better yet, DO IT! This is the first of a series that will be designed to help you start a ceramic business.
There are many ways to turn your hobby into a business venture, but I don’t recommend you just jump in without doing some research and some homework. There are many ways that you can garner an income from doing something you love; but make sure before your turn from a hobby/business into a full-fledged income making business you know what you are doing.
The Internal Revenue Services has strict guidelines as to what is a hobby and what is a business, you are advised to get acquainted with all tax issues from the get go. But before we move on to that part of your new enterprise, lets analyze some of the ways you can make money with ceramics.
Presented here are several types of ceramic businesses. They cover all gambits from small enterprises to a large, full-fledged operation.
To see the rest of this seminar, click here.
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
There are many ways to fire your clay. Artists experiment and develop new firing techniques and methods all the time. There are two primary methods most commonly referred to as Oxidation and Reduction firing. In addition there are offshoot methods like wood/pit firing and salt glaze firing. Included in the reduction firing there are additional techniques which will be discussed further in other articles, like Raku, Horse Hair, Bone/ash, etc.
Knowing how Oxidation and Reduction firing works, will help the ceramist to better understand the other types of firing as well as many techniques.
Oxidation Firing
Most commonly, the ceramist will use the Oxidation type of firing for their ware. This is typically done in an electric kiln; but can also be done in gas or propane kilns. In this process, the kiln has adequate oxygen to interact with the glazes during the firing stage. The results are most typically bright and rich colors.
Most of the commercial glazes on the market are designed to develop specific colors under the conditions of Oxidation firing. This firing can be accomplished at low or high temperature ranges. Oxidation results are predictable in that they will match the color intended by the manufacturer when fired to the temperature suggested by the manufacturer.
For final results in the color to be achieved, it is necessary for the presence of adequate oxygen during the last part of the firing process.
Reduction Firing
Most usually, reduction firing is favored by potters and is done using gas, propane or other fuel burning kilns or methods. Reduction firing is the exact opposite of Oxidation firing. It is the lack of oxygen in the last part of the process that is critical for the desired effects. Fuel burning kilns give the artist control of how much or how little oxygen enters the firing chamber and when. Preventing oxygen from interacting with the glaze maturation creates unusual and sometimes unpredictable results. There are many popular techniques that utilize reduction firing such as Raku, Horse Hair, Salt Glazing, and more.
The corrosiveness of these methods makes them undesirable for electric kilns.
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Submitted by Mal of L’Oie Peintre in France:
In writing this article I have made two presumptions, rightly or wrongly, that you are already familiar with the firing process of an electric kiln fitted with a kiln sitter, or that you are investigating the possibility of purchasing your first kiln fitted with an electronic controller and have already read Majik’s article on “How To Fire Your Kiln”. By saying this it will save a lot of repetitive comments on firing techniques.
I also wish to make it quite clear that I am in no way associated with, or connected to any kiln or controller manufacturer.
So firstly what are some of the advantages of electronic controllers?
1. Firing to whatever cone temperature you require can be done without the use of pyrometric cones. So, you no longer need to have a wide variety of cones to fire at different temperatures. You simply pre set the cone number that you require and the kiln will cut off at the appropriate temperature. This is very useful if you are like myself and experiment firing glazes to different temperatures to those recommended by the manufacturers, or if you want to use potters glazes which are not always fired to the more commonly used cone 06.
2. The start time can be delayed to suit your personal needs. If you have a studio or shop that is open to the public you don’t normally want to have the kiln firing when you have clients or students present. So the start time can be pre set to when you are closed and you don’t have to be there to start the firing process. It will then run through the firing cycle until the pre set cone no. is reached.
3. This facility can also be used to take advantage of “off peak” electricity, thus reducing energy bills and helps to make you a little more Eco friendly
4. If you wish to change the rate of fire or ramp normally slow, medium or fast, this can also be done without your being present.
5. There are certain glazes and techniques that require a “hold time”; again this can be pre programmed into the firing cycle according to your requirements.
6. Choosing your firing time carefully enables you to fire the kiln according to ambient temperatures. By this I mean that if you are working in a warm or hot environment, i.e. S. California, Texas, Caribbean etc, then the kiln can be fired overnight and not in the heat of the day. Or on the contrary if you live in Alaska, the firing can be timed to finish just before you start work, so that the kiln heat has already warmed the workplace.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Indeed, it is not to soon to plan for the upcoming ceramic show season.
Phoenix AZ —- Jan 8 – Jan 9 San Bernardino CA —- Jan 15 – Jan 16 Orlando FL —- Feb 4 – Feb 6
Atlanta GA —-Feb 26 – Feb 27
Many companies offer special discounts for pre-show orders, so get with your favorite companies now and verify their attendance to the upcoming shows, their new products and for new mold releases.
Now is the time to get a jump-start to provide your customers with the newest and the latest items available. Get those budgets made, start saving $$, pre-advertise if you find something new and exciting for you customers.
Surf that net and reel in the savings.
Monday, December 28th, 2009
If you are in the business of ceramics, at any level, a new trade magazine is being launched in January.
BLUEPRINT was originally a newsletter for the CAG (Ceramic Artist Guild) and is now expanding to a full online e-magazine.
BLUEPRINT will be published Jan, Mar, May, July, Sep, and Nov 2010 the opposite months of when CERAKANVAS is published.
BLUEPRINT is FREE, as well as membership in the CAG. But you must be a registered member of CAG to get your password to acess the site. You can register today at http://www.ceramicartistguild.com
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
The Raku technique has its origins dating back to the 1500’s in Japan. Historians feel it was probably developed by Koreans under Japanese rule but the circumstances remain a mystery. Raku is a firing process that has been primarily associated with pottery, but in the last couple decades, ceramists have increasingly explored and experimented with the technique with positive results. So positive in fact, that it has recently become very popular with those artists involved with cast-ceramics. The exciting thing about Raku is that no two pieces turn out exactly alike.
The primary difference with Raku and other (glazed) finishing techniques, is the firing process. Normally ceramics and pottery ware are loaded into a cold kiln and the temperature is raised slowly until it reaches a set maturity level usually controlled with pyrometric cones, or electronic controllers. This process can take anywhere from 8-24 hours to complete the heating and cooling cycle. The Raku technique requires the item be either pre-heated and then loaded in a hot kiln; or loaded into a cold kiln with a fast heating process. The ware is ‘finished’ when it is removed from the kiln after reaching temperature in as short a period as 15-25 minutes. Sometimes, some effects can take considerably longer, but most normally it is a fast firing process.
Temperatures are not controlled by cones but rather by the ‘experienced eye’. Raku firing is always done on pre-fired ware, or bisque – NEVER on greenware.
When the glaze is ready, it is in a molten condition. The items are then removed with the use of long tongs and gloves and then they are plunged into some form of combustible material such as dried grasses, leaves, shredded paper, straw, etc. Each type of material creates different effects on the finished piece.
To read the rest of this article, click here.