First, please welcome Hazel and James when you see them at the studio, they’re both new members from my wheel class. We’ve been having fun in that class!
A couple of housekeeping things… please be sure to check the shelves by the kilns for work that has been fired. Those shelves are filling up. If you have empty bowls you’ve been making and you want us to glaze them, please let us know. If you have finished pieces, please get those boxes and labeled and leave them on a studio table for Liz Blalock to get to Patricia or Donna. The event is soon and I’d like to be sure to get everything fired that needs to be given to Patricia for your donations! Also, if you have not yet signed up for any chores, you need to go ahead and do that, please. It makes things run much smoother when we’re on top of those! Lots of people are working on the wheels right now. When you are finished, please use the sponge mop or a large sponge to clean the floors. A quick swipe will get the main mess up but please follow that up with your towel or another swipe or two with the sponge and/or mop to get that dust up a little better.
Everyone is exploring a lot with glazes. This is a great thing. I’ve seen some excellent combos come out of the kiln! However, new glazes tend to mean more drips leaving us with kiln shelves that need attention. Liz Blalock and I are asking that you make cookies (thin clay slabs) to go under all pieces now. This is a good habit, you can mark your name on them if you want to reuse yourself them or you can make them for the studio’s use. If you have ever fired something large which cracked or warped, firing pieces with the same cookie underneath in both the greenware then bisque firings will not only help contain any drips but will also help with warping/cracking issues since the cookie shrinks at the same rate as your piece. This means your piece is floating on the cookie during firing, and not dragging across the shelf, creating tension. Just something helpful to keep in mind. When you have some leftover slabs, please go ahead and roll those out very thinly. It’s most appreciated if they’re circle or square ish shapes to go under pieces but any thin slabs work. Once cookies have glaze drips on them, please go ahead and throw them away, I’m seeing a lot of cookies with glaze stuck to them in the pile. After a certain number of firings they also get past their useful life so we are always in need of fresh cookies so if you can make extras, please do! If you have greenware pieces you want fired on cookies, place them under your greenware on the shelf. Unless there are names on cookies, we will assume they are for the studio’s use use, however, please leave us a note on the shelf by the cookies that that’s what they are so we can know for certain and not just put them on the fired work shelf. Thanks!!
Be thinking ahead for a community dinner in March. I will throw out some dates soon but let us know if there are definitely days/dates you will not be available.
Thanks everyone!!
Sarah
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