Mar/Apr 2013 CELEBRATING 15 YEARS The Quinntessential Vase Also in this issue . Make a rhubarb baker in time for spring How to solve your sagging plate rim problem Make a teapot in 30 minutes Cone 5-6 America’s Most Trusted Glazes™ Potter’s Choice PC-1 PC-2 PC-4 PC-12 PC-20 PC-21 PC-23 Saturation Metallic Saturation Gold Palladium Blue Midnight Blue Rutile Arctic Blue Indigo Float PC-25 PC-27 PC-28 PC-29 PC-30 PC-32 PC-33 Textured Turquoise Tourmaline Frosted Turquoise Deep Olive Speckle Temmoku Albany Slip Brown Iron Lustre PC-34 PC-35 PC-36 PC-37 PC-39 PC-40 PC-41 Light Sepia Oil Spot Ironstone Smoked Sienna Umber Float True Celadon Vert Lustre PC-42 PC-43 PC-46 PC-48 PC-49 PC-50 PC-52 Seaweed Toasted Sage Lustrous Jade Art Deco Green Frosted Melon Shino Deep Sienna Speckle Potterschoice.info PC-53 PC-55 PC-57 PC-59 PC-60 Ancient Jasper Chun Plum Smokey Merlot Deep Firebrick Salt Buff PotteryMaking Illustrated | March/April 2013 1 “Some days I’m standing up, some days I’m sitting down when I throw. So being able to adjust the height of the legs in nuanced ways is a real advantage... I also love the large aluminum built- in splash pan. It gives me something very stable to lean my body into as I’m throwing. It gives me extra stability and a little extra strength.” Steven Hill powerful tough innovative ergonomic smooth value Visit skutt.com/video/hill to see video of Steven discussing the ergonomics of throwing. 2 PotteryMaking Illustrated | March/April 2013 Inside Mar/Apr 2013 Volume 16 Number 2 29 17 Features 12 How to Use a Spray Gun by Roger Graham Discover the ABC’s of spraying glazes. 17 Pinched Pitchers by Emily Schroeder Willis Take the pinch and coil technique to a grander scale. 23 A Quinntessential Vase by Brenda Quinn Learn how to handbuild using molded sections. 29 Ring Around the Plate by Russel Fouts Sagging rims? Get the support you need. 35 Finding the Perfect Balance by Greg Daly 35 Get started on creating your own unique glazes. 40 30-Minute Teapot by Yoko Sekino-Bové Add your personal touch to a challenging project. In the Studio 6 Mastering Mica by Kate and Will Jacobson 8 A Fine Line by Bill Jones 23 10 Choosing a Spray Gun by Roger Graham Inspiration 44 In the Kitchen Rhubarb Crisp Baker by Sumi von Dassow 48 Pottery Illustrated 12 African Banding Decoration by Robin Ouellette On the Cover Brenda Quinn’s porcelain vase, handbuilt using slump-molded components and fi red to cone 6. See 6 story on p. 23. Photo: Keith Renner. PotteryMaking Illustrated | March/April 2013 3 fired up | Commentary Volume 16 • Number 2 Publisher Charles Spahr Changing Direction Editorial Editor Bill Jones Associate Editor Holly Goring Associate Editor Jessica Knapp Editorial Assistant Erin Pfeifer Administrative Specialist Linda Stover [email protected] Telephone: (614) 895-4213 If you do not change direction, you will end Fax: (614) 891-8960 up where you are headed. Graphic Design & Production Melissa Bury —Lao Tzu Marketing Steve Hecker Ceramics Arts Daily Managing Editor Jennifer Poellot Harnetty Webmaster Scott Freshour Advertising Advertising Manager Mona Thiel When I was in college, every major I considered presented Advertising Services Jan Moloney [email protected] a clear path to the future, so when I signed up for a pottery Telephone: (614) 794-5834 class as something new to try, little did I know that my di- Fax: (614) 891-8960 Subscriptions rection would change so drastically. Over the years, the one www.potterymaking.org Customer Service: (800) 340-6532 important thing I’ve discovered about clay is that there are so many directions you [email protected] can go with it that you can keep changing all you want and really enjoy the journey. Editorial & Advertising offices 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 Now if you were to look back over the past 15 years of Pottery Making Illustrated, Westerville, OH 43082 USA you would notice that our focus has been on offering ways for you to change direction, www.potterymaking.org and this issue is no different. There’s probably not a potter around who’s done all the techniques we offer here—glazing with spray guns, building large pinched forms, mak- Pottery Making Illustrated (ISSN 1096-830X) is published bimonthly by The American Ceramic Society, 600 N. Cleve- ing vases from drop-molded parts, creating plate rings, making teapots in 30 minutes, land Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082. Periodical post- experimenting with mica, developing glazes, trying out precision slip trailers, and more. age paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not But it’s weird how changing directions can occur both in and out of the studio. For necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Ceramic Society. example, in one of my directionless forays into a used book store, I came across The Subscription rates: 6 issues (1 yr) $24.95, 12 issues (2 Clay Sleeps: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Three African Potters by Richard Krause. I yr) $39.95, 18 issues (3 yr) $59.95. In Canada: 6 issues (1 yr) US$30, 12 issues (2 yr) US$55, 18 issues (3 yr) US$80. enjoyed the way this non-potter objectively describes the entire clay process in minute International: 6 issues (1 yr) US$40, 12 issues (2 yr) US$70, 18 issues (3 yr) US$100. All payments must be in US$ and drawn detail and not assume any knowledge of clay on the part of the reader. We tend to forget on a U.S. bank. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. every detail about doing a technique as it becomes second nature, and it’s always inter- Change of address: Visit www.potterymaking.org to change your address, or call our Customer Service toll-free at esting to see that outsider’s perspective again. One of the cool things in the book was (800) 340-6532. Allow six weeks advance notice. Richard Krause’s detailed notes on one potter’s banding work. With his gift of scientific Back issues: When available, back issues are $6 each, plus $3 shipping/handling; $8 for expedited shipping (UPS 2-day observation he described every sequence of the decorating process and these sketches air); and $6 for shipping outside North America. Allow 4–6 serve as the basis for Robin Ouelette’s “Pottery Illustrated” feature in this issue. weeks for delivery. Call (800) 340-6532 to order. Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are I think that one of the reasons Pottery Making Illustrated is enjoying so much popu- available on the website. Mail manuscripts and visual materi- larity (our circulation is up nearly 10% over last year!) is that our focus has always been als to the editorial offices. Photocopies: Permission to photocopy for personal or to get you to change direction. So, whether you throw, handbuild, brush, spray, dip, internal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic extrude, coil or pitfire, take your eyes off where you’re going and do something different. Society, ISSN 1096-830X, provided the appropriate fee is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood You may just be surprised. Dr., Danvers, MA 01923; (978) 750-8400; www.copyright. com. Prior to photocopying items for educational classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. This consent does not extend to copying items for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, or to re- publishing items in whole or in part in any work and in any for- mat. Please direct republication or special copying permission requests to the Ceramic Publications Company, The American Bill Jones Ceramic Society, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, Editor OH 43082. Postmaster: Send address changes to Pottery Making Illus- trated, PO Box 15699, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5699. Form 3579 requested. P.S. We should have our tablet version of Pottery Making Illustrated ready to launch ceramic artsdaily.org sometime in April. We’re excited about this all-new product that will contain every- thing the print version has to offer with a few added bells and whistles such as video clips and archival materials. Check our website in April for an update and availability. Copyright © 2013 The American Ceramic Society All rights reserved 4 PotteryMaking Illustrated | March/April 2013 $1559 $1679 $925 $985 $1049 PotteryMaking Illustrated | March/April 2013 5 in the studio | Surface Life Aquatic, sponged and painted with copper colored “mica paint” and block printed on Mastering Mica the surface, ferric- by Kate and Will Jacobson chloride fired. For the past year, we’ve been exploring the subtle luster and com- in one of many low- pelling color palette of mica as a glaze element. We usually teach fire techniques. The naked raku, but wanted to give our students some other low- mica gives an added fire techniques to explore. While preparing for a workshop, we luster and subtle tested the reaction of various terra sigillatas, colored porcelain sheen that emanates slips, and even acrylic paint in the ferric chloride saggar process. from within the clay. Why did we try a copper-colored acrylic paint? We discov- This application also ered the pigment in the copper color is mica coated with tita- works well with any nium and iron.