Tool Review: Bevel-o-Matic

I picked up some new tools at NCECA last month. One of the tools that I bought from Bracker's is the Bevel-o-Matic from Todd Sholtz of Claystamps.com. I had wanted to talk with Todd about his new tool, but I kept missing him. So I brought it home from Pittsburgh and started using it... without any directions. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to use it, and I instantly loved it. After I got home that night, I checked in online to see what sort of info was up about this new tool. That's where I discovered that I was using it incorrectly. Oops! But I liked how it worked and I'll have to play around with it some more to see if I want to change my ways.

The Bevel-o-Matic is a simple tool for beveling the edge of a leather hard slab with a razor sharp cutter at a 45 degree angle so you can create a clean, sharp mitered joint. I've used several other bevelers that are designed with an angled wire to cut the edge but I didn't love them. For the way that I use a beveling tool, I prefer the Claystamp.com beveler's sharp razor edge better than the wire ones.

Here are some images of the Bevel-o-Matic in use:

Above you can see how I used the tool. (correct/suggested usage is the last photo). I hooked the metal Bevel-o-Matic over the edge of the table and pushed the leather hard slab over the tool. The clay is easily cut away leaving a very clean beveled edge. Caution: By using it this way, you do have the possibility of cutting yourself. I did like how hooking the bevel tool over the edge of the table allowed me to have lots of resistance and made it easy to cut a slab that was pretty firm.

I have all the parts for my box waiting to be joined with the nicely beveled edges:

The parts went together perfectly thanks to good measuring and nicely beveled edges.
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Here is the proper way to use the Bevel-o-Matic. You're supposed to drag it across the top of the clay instead of hooking it onto the table and running the clay over it.

Thanks to Bracker's for this photo.

Of course there are other options for beveling, and you don't need a special tool...but I appreciate a tool that makes a job a little easier. If you're a big hand builder, and you've been using this tool regularly, I'd love to hear from you.

Another note on Claystamps.com... I wrote about this company 3 years ago on this blog after I got a signature stamp made: A Potter's Mark: Signing Pots.

Peace, love and leather hard pots.

One of my favorite moments when I'm making pots is that moment in time when the clay has firmed up enough to handle without distortion. The moment when you can take a trimming tool to the bottom of the pot and you get nice long ribbons of trimmings that don't gum up your tool.

Normally, the moment in time when the pots are perfect for stamping, carving, slipping and trimming is a moment that I experience in solitude with my pots. But I thought that I would try to share a bit of this moment with you. Below are some images of cups that I made today. They are freshly stamped and awaiting a second trip to the wheel for trimming.

You can see in the image (below) on the left that the soft clay is impressed deep enough that you can see the stamping on the inside of the cup. I hope that you can get a sense of the depth of the stamping from the image on the right from the pictures (click on them to see the image larger). The clay has to be dry enough that the stamp doesn't stick to the clay, but soft enough to get a deep impression without cracking. More to come on this series in future posts!

I know that I am not alone in my love of leather hard clay. I see lots of freshly made pots in the posts of my fellow clay bloggers! I have put together some pictures (and links) from their sites to share with you.
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Eleanor Hendricks of Fenelon Falls, Ontario, shared some great pictures on her blog last week illustrating her love of the process of making. She ended her post with this question:

Does anyone else sometimes treasure the process more than the finished products?

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Amy Sanders, of Charlotte, North Carolina, shared this image on her blog of her carved plates. What beautiful lines! As usual, with pots, it's all about the timing!

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I love how these drying beer cups from Euan Craig caught the sunlight in Mashiko, Japan. The perfect moment of leather hard met the perfect moment of sunlight streaming in his studio.

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Cheryl Alena Bartram of Golden, British Columbia, shares this great image of tumblers on her blog. I can imagine the board of cups going on and on and on and on.... I have been known to base the amount of pots that I throw in a sitting based on the length of a board or the size of the table.

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Douglas Fitch makes pots "in middle of nowhere, north of Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom," far from my studio in Chicago. But when I see these images of the rough leather hard pots I think I can smell the mustiness of the clay... and that's a great thing.

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I find that there is little more satisfying in a day's work that a table covered in finished pots.
John Zhender (from my home state of New Hampshire) posted this satisfying image of finished banks and lidded cups on his blog:

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Look at these gorgeous plates that Ron Philbeck made at his studio in Shelby, North Carolina! I think I have to throw some plates tomorrow...

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One of my favorite clay books is A Potter's Workbook by Clary Illian. The images in the book are almost all photos of leather hard pots. The focus is on the forms without any distraction of decoration or firing technique. If you make functional pots, I highly recommend adding this book to your collection.

Updates and shout-outs!

I had a bunch of things piling up that I have been wanting to share with you, so I decided to compile everything into one big shout-out blog post. Enjoy!

Some (blog) updates from me:

• I have been tweaking my blog template and have made some small but good changes. I updated my ceramic blog links. It's now connected to my blog reader so it will be automatically synced and up to date from now on. Just head on over to the right side of the blog to check out all the great links.
  
  
• I have changed and added the categories on the side of the blog too. This way you check out all the How-to's & Tutorials in one place or all the posts about Soda Firing in one place too. Hopefully this will make it easier for folks to search the archives (they're pretty big!).
  

Some shout-outs:

• The Salt/Soda Firing discussion group/ social network is really taking off. If you're interested in salt and soda, I highly suggest that you join this group! There are some great potters that have joined (including my friend Gary Jackson who finally has images of his work up online). I'm excited about the sharing that happening (slip and glaze recipes for soda!!) and for it to continue to evolve and grow.
  
  
• My friend, Jayson Lawfer, has left Chicago for Italy and has started a new company: The Nevica Project. It's focus is bringing collectors together with art. The focus of the art, at this point, is on ceramics. From Jayson:
  

  "Creation is the first step. Though it is no doubt one of the most important steps, it is also the connection between artists, patrons and dealers that make the art environment a complete circle."
  

• My friend Machiko Munakata is an amazing ceramic sculptor who has taken her talents into a new direction. She's making these amazing felt foods, like this yummy plate of yakisoba to the left. You can find all of her creations on her Etsy site. The plate that her creations are displayed on is from Kristin Pavelka. Machiko has been my biggest cheerleader for me to join Etsy. I've taken one step closer and set up my page. There's nothing for sale yet, but that's to come next week (after taxes!). Update: Machiko's work was featured on Boing Boing today.
  
  
• Lindsey Holmes, a potteryblog.com fan, told me about what looks like a great show. Lindsey works for Hedge Gallery in San Fransisco. The gallery has an exhibition of Welsh potter, Paul Philp's work that will be on display through mid-May. Thanks for the tip!
  
  
• Cattle Barn Clay Co. is a new clay company that was started by fellow Earlham grads Billy Cooper and Li Hunt-Cooper. It's located in Royal Center, IN (sort of between Indianapolis and Chicago). They specialize in raw materials and new and used refractories. And their prices are really great. Kiln shelves that are up to 50% off retail prices. Check it out!
  

Empty Bowls - Scranton, PA

This is something that I had to share with all of you....

A couple of days ago I got an email newsletter from my friend, Jordan Taylor. He shared news of a new show of sculptural work which I am excited about. He also announced of a local Empty Bowls project that is being held in Scranton, PA on May 4. This particular Empty Bowls fundraiser is one that Jordan is donating 1000 bowls to. I'm blown away yet not surprised by his incredible generosity.

If you happen to live in north east Pennsylvania, here is a bit of information about the event (from Jordan's newsletter):

Meals on Wheels will host an “Empty Bowls” dinner May 4, 2008 1-3pm at Marywood University, Nazareth Hall, Multi Purpose Room (formerly known as the Crystal Room).

A $10 donation will purchase a bowl of soup, and you get to keep the bowl. The bowls, consistent with Taylor’s work to date, are wood fired, made largely from materials gathered and processed locally, and are microwave-dishwasher-oven safe, lead free, and non toxic. Each bowl is individually decorated by a different Scranton area art student.

Contact MOW Scranton director Linda Steir 570-346-2421 mow110@hotmail.com for inquiries.

Empty Bowls is an international movement that began in the early 1990’s and has since raised millions of dollars in donations to help hungry people. It was founded by several school teachers in Michigan whose students asked for help in raising money to help the local hungry. As a group they decided on a fundraiser dinner of simple soup and bread, served on dishes made by the students in their art class. www.emptybowls.net

Taylor had participated in several “Empty Bowls” events by donating and by dining before becoming interested in staging an event in Scranton. In 2006 Taylor was a visiting artist at a “Craft and Social Conscience” session, run by one of the founders of the Empty Bowls Movement, at the Penland School of Crafts, NC. Taylor’s experience at that session inspired him to reach out to the MOW chapter in Scranton.

I'm truly inspired. But I have to remind myself that it's important to act on the inspiration and put it into action. This week I plan on calling my friend, Joanna Kramer, who organizes Chicago's Empty Bowl project to see how I can be more involved this year. Our event isn't until December, but it seems like the perfect time to start making bowls!

I'm curious to hear about other Empty Bowls fundraisers out there. Have you organized or participated in one? What was your experience? I love that Jordan made the bowls but students decorated the pieces. Have you done an interesting twist on Empty Bowls? Are you in Chicago and interested in joining us?
Just leave me a comment below!

A Semi-Complete Tour of Ceramics Blogs (part 4)

When I started out on the venture of writing this blog almost 4 years ago, I could only really find a half dozen or fewer ceramic bloggers out there writing. Things have really exploded and there are new blogs popping up every week now (as well as some casualties). I thought I'd share with you links to the blogs that I read. (UPDATED)

You'll notice that my blogroll is long. 63 blogs to be exact. There is no way that I could remember to check in with these blogs on my own, so I use the blog reader, Google Reader, to subscribe to these blogs. Instead of visiting all the sites, the newest posts are compiled into the reader automatically and keeps track of the unread ones, etc... It's very easy to set up (really...it is!).
If you're interested in subscribing to my list (below), and you're using Google Reader, just follow these simple steps.

1. Login to Google Reader
2. Click on this link and "save file": http://www.google.com/reader/public/subscriptions/user/15666827403315601321/label/public
3. Figure out where the downloaded file is located. (for PC users) Right click on the download and click on "open folder containing." That will tell you where the downloaded file is located
4. Click on "Manage Subscriptions"
5. Click on "Import/Export"
   
6. Click on"Browse" and locate the downloaded file.
7. Click Upload and then start reading! You'll be overwhelmed with posts to read at first, but once you get caught up, it's quite manageable :)
   
   
   You can always use this as a starting point and add and subtract subscriptions from this list to suit your interests.

I do plan on continuing sharing my "tour of ceramics blogs" with little write ups and images, but there has been such an explosion to pottery bloggers that I thought I should take a moment to catch you up with what's happening in the world of ceramics bloggers.

• Alex Matisse: Notes from an Apprenticeship
• Alissa Coe & Carly Waito: coe&waito
• Ambrosia Porcelain
• Amy Sanders: There There Pottery
• Anne Murray: The Mark Maker
• Anne Webb: Webb Pottery Studio
• Bibbi Forsman
• Brandon Phillips: Support Your Local Potter
• Carole Epp: Musing About Mud
• Cheryl Alena Bartram: Dragonfly Clay
• Chi: Peppa Studio
• Christa Assad
• Critical Ceramics
• Cynthia Guajardo: Colorado Art Studio
• Daniel Soderstrom: Soderstrom Pottery Blog
• Diana Fayt: One Black Bird
• Douglas Fitch: A Devonshire Pottery
• Elaine Spallone Pottery
• Eleanor Hendriks: StudioÉLAN
• Emily Murphy: Pottery Blog
• Euan Craig: Euan The Potter
• Fine Mess Pottery
• Firing Log
• Frankie: A Pottery Studio in France
• Gay Judson: Sister Creek Pottery
• Heather Knight Ceramics
• Jeanette Manchester Harris
• Jeanette Zeis: Vessels & Wares
• Jeffrey R. Guin : CleanMud
• Jen Mecca's Pottery Blog
• John Glick: Fresh Plums
• John Zenter: Pots And Other Things
• Josie Jurczenia: Josie Goes to Pot
• Julie Rozman: design-realized
• Karin Eriksson: Karin's Style Blog
• Kathy Lin: Zen and Art of Potter's Wheel Maintenance
• Katie Parker: New Work
• Kenji Uranishi & Mel Robson: Sandwich Mountain
• Kenji Uranishi: Kamenendo
• Kristen Kieffer Ceramics
• Kyle Houser: Homefry Sketchbook
• Linda Johnson: Little Flower Designs
• Linda Starr: Blue Starr Gallery
• Mary Anne Davis: davistudio
• Mel Robson: Feffakookan
• Michael Kline: Sawdust and Dirt
• Mochaware
• Nancy & Andy: [that which is not]
• Naomi Cleary: Melt My Heart
• Pam McFadyen: Lurearts Ceramics
• Rae Dunn...Clay.
• Renee Margocee: The Pondering Potter
• Ron Philbeck: Potter's Journal
• Shane Norrie - Journal
• Shannon Garson: Strange Fragments
• Shawna Pincus: Pinkkiss Pottery
• Steph G.: The Hairy Potter
• Tara Robertson Pottery
• Tasha McKelvey
• Taylor H: Wirerabbit Pots
• Tony Clennell: smokieclennell
• Vicki Liles Gill: Bluegill Pottery
• Whitney Smith: This Artist's Life

I know there are more blogs out there, but it's not always easy to find them! When looking for blogs to subscribe to, I look for the following criteria (it's not an exact science):

• regularly updated... or interesting enough that it's worth the wait!
• the content of the blog is multi-dimensional. (it's not just a blog that is just showing what's new in the writer's online shop)
• The focus of the majority of the blog posts are about clay. (pottery, tiles, sculpture, etc...)

The way that I have found out about most of these blogs is to follow the links from the blogs I read, and wander off from one blog into another. The linking and referencing between blogs has created a sort of community the exists between bloggers and readers from around the world, but within one's own computer.

If you write or read a blog that you think I'd be interested in, please let me know! I am always excited to find a new one. If I have overlooked your blog, it's not intentional, please send me a link.

And just one other thing that you might be able to help me with. I don't know the names of all the bloggers who write these blogs. It often just doesn't exist anywhere on the blog. I am sure this is sometimes intentional, but I think it's sometimes just an over site. If there are any gaps that you can help me with, please pass on the info to me. I really like knowing the names of the person writing, it allows you to make a personal connection to the person writing. A big part of why someone buys a handmade pot is because of the connection to the maker. I sort of feel like it's the same thing with reading a blog. I want to know about the maker/writer. At least their name and where they're from.

Enjoy the trip you're about to take wandering off into the land of ceramics blog. I'm sure you'll be inspired, like I am every day.

Salt/ Soda Discussion Group

At NCECA I attended a discussion group that has carried on past Pittsburgh and is leading to some interesting post-conference disussions. At this year's conference, the discussion group, Salt Firing Verses Soda Firing was led by Joyce Centofanti. One of the other attendees, David Hayashida, came up with the great idea creating an email list so we could continue our discussion and share recipes and techniques after we returned home. David put the list together and there was instantly a lot of information being passed around. Another participant, Pamela Theis, decided to take it one step further and create an Ning group (an social network site) that will allow us to continue to connect with each other, but to invite others out there who weren't a part of the original group to add to the discussion.
So, if you're interested in salt firing or soda firing, or even a hybrid, join the group and join in the conversation! It just began a couple of days ago, so we're really just getting started.

Join the group Salt/Soda Firing

I've been playing around on the site and found that you can upload photos and create this little slide show creator that you see below:

Find more photos like this on Salt/Soda Firing

This is my page on the Salt/Soda Firing site, if you're interested in seeing what you can do. I'm excited about the possibilities with this group. Soda firing is still relatively new so I think that a group like this that will allow us to share, trouble shoot and brainstorm can have a big impact. I hope you join us!

Akar Yunomi Invitational 2008

It's up now- Akar's Yunomi Invitational 2008.

What is a yunomi you ask? Yunomi is an informal Japanese teabowl that is taller than wide, with a trimmed foot.

Akar's site was overwhelmed this morning, but the bottleneck seems to have opened up. I am having a lot fun meandering around the exhibition. Just click here (or on the screenshot above) if you want to see my tea bowls. Enjoy the show!

Pottery and knick-knacks?

In the taxi on the way to the Pittsburgh airport on Saturday morning our driver asked if we were in town with all the ceramics people. We said yes and he asked "what do you make: pottery or knick-knacks?" Isn't that a great question?

I made a promise to myself many years ago that I would make a commitment to continually further my ceramic education. This is done in a couple of ways: attending workshops, reading all clay focused books, magazine (& blogs!) I can get my hands on, and go to NCECA every year. I do pretty well with this commitment and have managed to get to all but one conference in recent memory.

NCECA is usually held in a smaller city: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Portland, Baltimore, Indianapolis, etc... I often wonder what the host cities think about "us." I don't know how many people attended this year, but I know that in the past attendance has hit about 6000. In the immediate area of the conference it can feel like every square foot of space is filled with potters and sculptors (and knick-knack makers!). I wanted to share a couple more images from my trip (again, this is just a tiny snippet of the week!).

This is the exhibition hall where vendors, schools, publishers, etc... have booths set up. It felt a little smaller this year than in the past (the whole conference felt that way). But that in no way means that there wasn't enough to see, hear & buy! I got some fun new tools that I'll share with you in the near future.

Most of the images that I am sharing with you were from the La Mesa tableware show from Santa Fe Clay. It's always one of my favorite shows, and one that I usually go to see 3 or 4 times. There were 150 place settings from different ceramic artists this year. Amazing!
This group of images is more black and white (the last NCECA post was more colorful). It was a different day and I was drawn to different pieces.

Julie Johnson. The gestures of the lines are irresistible.

Molly Hatch I've been eying Molly's work for a while. I love how she outline the shapes with a sketchy line.


Michael Kline I'm a big fan: I eat my steel cut oats out of one of Michael's bowls every morning and I'm a faithful reader of his blog. I love this (new?) work with the white slip and wax resist lines.

Yunomis and Postcards

A few updates:

In a few hours (March 28, 2008. 10am ct) the Yunomi Invitational 2008 exhibition at Akar is opening online. You'll find several of my tea bowls in their online exhibition(!). My artist statement & resume are up on Akar's site now. I can't wait to see the show tomorrow. My tea bowls are in very good company! More to come on the show...

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My friend, Gary Jackson, put together this wonderful super sized postcard for me to take to NCECA last week. If you've come upon my blog via this postcard, welcome! If you'd like to sign up for the potteryblog.com mailing list, just go here. If you sign up, you'll automatically get an email whenever there is a new post. Or of course you can always sign up for the RSS or Atom feeds. I'm looking forward to hearing from the new readers out there. I've got a lot of interesting things in the works, many of which are responses to suggestions from potteryblog.com readers. Thanks for all of the emails and comments!

Live! From NCECA 2008 - Pittsburgh

Greetings from Pittsburgh! It's been quite a week. I've met a lot of great people, put faces to names that I've come to know through this blog, caught up with old friends, bought pots, bought tools, heard great speakers, participated in lively discussions, and looked at and picked up what must be hundreds of pots and the conference is only half over!

I wanted to share a handful of images of pieces that I've seen at shows this week. This is just a little itty bitty taste of what I've seen. Enjoy! (click on the images to see a bigger image.)

Beth Lo. I find this piece incredibly endearing.

Justin Rothshank. This has a dinosaur on it! Fossil fuel... get it?

Naomi Cleary. I just love how the drawings are on the inside of this cup.

Diana Fayt. I love Diana's work and this is the first time I have gotten to see her work in person. It's even more impressive in person.

Ursula Hargens. Her works makes me crave spring even more than I already am!

Simon Levin. I am such a fan of Simon's work. I don't know anyone else that gets surfaces like his out of a wood kiln (or any other kiln for that matter!).

The Quarter Trick

This is a little trick that I picked up from my friend Jordan Taylor for throwing platters. I find it extremely useful so I thought I would pass it on to all of you and maybe you'll find it useful too.

The quarter trick solves three problems that arise from throwing platters:

• Instead of having to both wedge and center one large mass of clay, you can break it down into two pieces which reduces the strain on your body
• It helps you more easily judge the thickness of the floor of the platter and adds consistency if you're doing multiples.
• And it allows you to compress the floor of the platter REALLY well so you don't have to worry about any future problems of cracking.
  

So here is the quarter trick:

Wedge up and center your first lump of clay. This piece is going to be the floor of your platter. I used 8 lbs of clay which gives me a slightly narrow but thick foot (great for putting holes into so you can hang it). You can vary the weight depending on the ultimate size of your platter. But I find that the 8 - 9 lb. range works for a variety of sizes of platters since the size foot isn't necessarily that different.

Center your clay and compress the heck out of the floor. Place a quarter in the center of your centered clay (I use a 1974 quarter).

Wedge up your second piece of clay and place it on top of the quarter. I tend to use between 8 - 12 lbs. of clay for this second piece, depending on the ultimate shape of the platter.

Open up the platter and establish the curve.
TAKE OUT THE QUARTER!!!!
And clean it off so it doesn't become part of your reclaim. (I speak from experience on this one.)

Then finish off your platter as usual and be aware of the thickness of the floor.

This platter isn't actually the platter that is throw above. That platter is sitting in my studio waiting to be trimmed. But this platter was thrown in the same way.

1000 True Fans

Thanks to BoingBoing, I found interesting article that seems applicable to ceramic artists.Kevin Kelly's thesis is that one approach to make an good, steady living is to build up a base of 1000 "True Fans."
from Kevin Kelly's article:

• A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

Each of these True Fans will spend, on average, $100 per year on your work. You end up with $100,000 gross annual income. After all the expenses (taxes, insurance, materials, show fees, etc...), you end up with a solid living.

1000 fans probably seems like an overwhelming number. But if you look at as 1 person per day for 3 years, that's a little easier. Or maybe you have 500 True Fans that spend $200 per year. And it's possible that you aren't selling directly to that group. You can have super loyal fans that are buying your work through galleries and shops.

So how do you do it? I think the best possible way is to make direct connections with the buyer. It makes a lot of sense for potters. You're making work that is meant to connect the maker with the buyer. Your artist statement, wording on your website, the writing on your Etsy shop can have a more personable tone to help establish that connection. The time that you spend meeting with customers at your studio, art fairs, gallery openings, workshops, classes, wholesale and retail shows are invaluable. And of course, a blog is a great way to connect with people :)
After you connect with people that really love your work, you'll have to figure out ways to maintain and build up those relationships. Special sales and discounts. Early alerts to sales, personal emails, etc...

As a full time potter in the year 2008, I definitely get the questions (often from other artists): how do you do it? how do you make a living as a potter? This is an interesting way to look at it, and is an interesting approach to your business if you're looking to build it up or try to
make it more stable.

I hope you take some time to read the article. Kelly goes into quite some depth and looks at different scenarios and ways to gain True Fans. What are your thoughts?