Trimming 563

I have never trimmed a clay as smooth as 563. The clay shaves off with no disruption to the piece, and I don’t get those nasty little grooves that some grogged stonewares do. I am liking more about it than I am hating about it. I will likely keep working with 563, maybe as a replacement to 105 as my normal throwing clay. I had no problems getting the wobbly bowl to trim to a beautiful foot.

Doomed to a Bad Art History Text

This morning I dove into the bookstore websites for my varying institutions, looking up what my required texts will be this fall (in an attempt to acquire most of them cheaply). I ran across my Art History course, looked up the text on Amazon and was greeted by a $120 book. Its not even a good $120 book, the reviews for it state how much it sucks. Since the text is fairly new I looked up the previous edition, only to find that its reviews are roughly the same standing, it isn’t a very well liked book. The text, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, is in its 13th revision. It is speculated by many reviewers that the only reason the book is used by so many college courses is that it has been in print longer than any other art history text. This sucks! I’m considering spending $11 on a "very good" copy of the 12th edition and not bothering with the 13th.

Fall 2008 Class Schedule

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Here is my Fall 2008 class schedule, per the request of a friend. I must apologize for using an image for this, but it would appear that GITI’s output only works in a GITI stylesheet supported UI environment.

Office 2007 Ultimate for $60

http://www.theultimatesteal.com

For anyone who will be enrolled in any accredited college or university program this fall, Microsoft is making Office 2007 Ultimate available for $60, or $70 if you would like to have a physical media.

I participated in this program last year. It is really worth it to get all of the Office applications for 10% of their normal cost.

Microsoft will reopen the program on August 20, 2008 (same day as a lot of universities begin class).

First Throw in 563

My first throw in Standard’s 563 was interesting. It centered fast, and threw smooth. The texture of the clay was great, but the particular batch this bag is from seems to be a little overly moist. The clay has no structure… it isn’t good for throwing wide bowls at this point (but as with all clays, it will stiffen with some time). I threw one wide bowl in it, which had difficulties with staying even, it attempted to slump. In future wide throws I will spend some time giving the clay a serious wedging first. After the failing of the wide throw I tried for something I had problems with on 105G recently, bottles. 563 works beautifully for bottles. It is a very plastic clay that goes where I point it. It’s properties are very similar to that of 105 in that it is a very smoothly workable clay, but 105 has never given me the type of finish that 563 has. Just a simple rubbing of the metal rib before running the wire under gave me a really beautiful, almost burnished appearance.

I am going to continue working  with 563. I feel that once I learn its properties I will be well on my way to throwing whatever I want in it.

Considering a Clay Change

My normal throwing clay for home is Standard Clay’s 105 or 105G (with grog). Also I work with a red clay in the same series, 104. Recently my mother (who does a lot of glazing for me) asked if she could use mid-range stoneware glazes. This brought about a question in myself… can she? I know my 105 earthenware would never survive to those temperatures, but on the other hand, if I were to change clays, then it would be possible to fire higher without risk. In some ways, 105 is not a very versatile clay, but its easy to work with. I had previously used Standard’s 551, VP Porcelain as my mid-range white clay. I had a love-hate relationship with it. It would throw thin, light and stretch easily, but it wasn’t durable at all… many pieces in it broke before they were even fired. I was running low on clay the other day so I have obtained 100 pounds of a clay I have never worked with before… Standard’s 563, a white mid-range stoneware that is completely vitreous at cone 6. I’m looking forward to trying it next week. The description I have read for it sounds a lot like 105, so I might be very happy with it, but no way to tell until its on the wheel.

Another Exhausting Day In Clay

ok, so I didn’t start working with clay today until about 1:30… but it was 9:30 when I stopped for the day… so I’m not far from a full day of working with clay. I started the day with the intention of practicing bowls with rolled rims, and I threw several of them. A friend had asked me to make a q-tip container, and it came out more like a cotton ball container, so I might have to try that again tomorrow. In addition, I tried making a bottle… twice, and ended up making a vase both times. I have to go back to my artistic drawing board and remember how I used to throw bottles… maybe I should document how I do things and keep a record for my own reference. After throwing those pieces I made dinner, then went out for a bit and in general mucked around (WLW’s suggested phrasing) for a while until some of the pieces were ready to trim. The 3 smallest bowls and the lid for the qtip container were ready to trim.. the other bowls wait to be trimming…most likely in the morning. The vases are good as is (and very light as is). 

 

Here is an instructional video that I used to get started with roll rimming my bowls by European ceramic artist, Simon Leach.

The Art of James Biggers

THE ART OF JAMES BIGGERS

An art exhibit featuring the digital designs of Gastonia native James Biggers, a nationally renowed artist and adjunct instructor at Gaston College, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at Carrington’s Showroom, 1206 S. York St., Gastonia. Several of Biggers’ works will be available for viewing and for purchase. For more information, call 704-833-1425.

Any chemists in the room?

I have been looking at definitions for certain processes and states that affect ceramic ware, and I came up with the following definitions… I find them a bit confusing. Is there anyone who can save me a few hours of deciphering what these mean (ignoring supercooling, which doesn’t affect ceramics)?

Vitreous refers to a material in an amorphous, glassy state (in contrast to a crystalline state). In such a state, the constituent atoms do not exhibit the long-range order that is characteristic of crystals. However, they still exhibit short-range order — the separation of atoms and/or the lengths of covalent bonds are very close to their typical equilibrium distances. The creation of a vitreous material by supercooling or by addition of additives prior to cooling is called vitrification.

 

Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a glass-like amorphous solid that is free from any crystalline structure, either by the quick removal or addition of heat, or by mixing with an additive. Solidification of a vitreous solid occurs at the glass transition temperature (which is lower than melting temperature, Tm, due to supercooling).