Studio View

Not really a lot to see here, but I thought students might want to see where and learn a little bit about how I work. The studio (sometimes called The Dungeon) is located in our basement. When I first built it I thought it would be temporary, but as time passed I've become very used to it and quite comfortable. I work here from morning until about 2:00, and then go on to other projects like cleaning and maintaining the studio and equipment, mixing and testing glazes and even packaging pots that were sold on Etsy.  

In the future I will avoid getting too much into the "how-to" of pottery and try to concentrate on some of the aesthetic issues. I believe that educating your eye is perhaps even more important than educating your hands. 

Wheel and throwing area. Note the containers of slip. I use about a dozen slips and count on them for surface variation.

Here's a close-up of a set of pitchers for the soda kiln.

This is one half of the second set of bisque shelves, with some shallow bowls, jars, and oval dishes.

Electric kilns. The smaller one is a test kiln, which is also used for special orders

Glaze mixing area. The sink is just to the left. The containers hold small amounts of glaze materials. Larger amounts, from 50 lb. bags, are stored in plastic containers on wheels.

Damp Box. The clear plastic box holds about a day's work. Rather than wrapping individual pieces in plastic, I've built this 4' x 3" x 5' box and clothed it in clear plastic. I keep my wet clay scraps in the box and I know about how long each piece will take to dry enough to trim or alter. Note the book shelf to the left and the file cabinets behind the glaze buckets. The radio receiver on the top right of the damp box is a very, very important piece of equipment.

Most of the studio is taken up with storage shelves. Here's one of two sets of shelves. I fill the shelves with pots for the electric, reduction and soda kilns.

And here's a group of tureens for the electric kiln. Note the differences in lid knobs. I'm currently wrestling with the size and shape of knobs.

The other half of the second set of shelves. Here's some teapots, pitchers, bowls and shallow bowls

This is the photo bench. A graduated black-to-white background is hung from the horizontal spars and the two lights are used to photograph the pots. This area doubles as a drawing table.

Work table. I could probably use twice the table size, but it's a small room and I have to make do. The table measures 4' x 4' and it's used for wedging, handbuilding, glazing, and also serves as a packaging area.