Features Creating Forms with Hump Molds—The Personalized Style of Steve Howells Low-Fire Sculptural...................... Forms 9 by Harriet Gamble Creating one-of-a-kind handbuilt platters using lightweight plaster molds. Making a Lightweight Hump Mold ............................................14 by Harriet Gamble Steve Howell describes his method for creating Styrofoam and plaster molds. Throwing Long-Neck Bottles......................................................16 by Annie Robbins Make tall bottles using standard techniques, a few tricks and a little practice. Combining Found Objects with Clay..........................................21 by Todd Shanafelt Inspired childhood leads to mixing clay and non-clay objects. China Paint: How Low Can You Go?........................................ 27 by Paul Lewing Discover the bridge between painting and pottery with this china painting overview. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling .............................................................30 by Andi Fasimpaur Create repeating impressed patterns. Create repeating impressed patterns. Create Life Beyond Gerstley Borate.......................................................34 by Sumi von Dassow It’s here, it’s gone, it’s here. Expand your glaze options with GB-free alternatives. Throwing Sticks—An Alternative ..............................................38 by Harold Scroggins A simple version of Ivor Lewis’ throwing stick. Kids at Work in Clay: Little Monuments....................................41 by Craig Hinshaw Kids bring a history lesson to life by sculpting the Statue of Liberty. Kids at Work in Clay: Ceramic Dinner...................................... 42 By Diane Lamb- Wanucha Sculpture that looks good enough to eat. Departments ClayLinks—Search for: The Best..........................................................................6 by Barbara Coultry Down to Business—Holiday Craft Show Primer...............................................36 by Chris Campbell The Budget Potter—Dividing Web.....................................................................44 by Sylivia Shirley Off the Shelf—Throwing Books......................................................................... 46 by Sumi von Dassow Cover: Steve Howell forms a platter over a hump mold. See story on page 9. Summer 2001 Pottery Makingillustrated 3 Volume 4, Number 3 Editor:Bill Jones Production Manager:John Wilson Circulation Supervisor:Cleopatra G. Eddie Graphic Design:Debi Hampton Graphic Production:Dave Houghton Advertising Manager:Steve Hecker Advertising Assistant:Debbie Plummer Customer Service:Mary Hopkins Publisher:Mark Mecklenborg Editorial, Advertising & Circulation Offices 735 Ceramic Place PO Box 6136 Westerville, OH 43086-6136 Phone: (614) 794-5890 Fax: (614) 794-5892 E-mail: [email protected] www.potterymaking.org Pottery Making Illustrated (ISSN 1096-830X) is pub­ lished 5 times a year in January, April, June, September and October in 2001, and bimonthly commencing in 2002, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville, OH 43081. Periodical postage paid at Westerville, OH, and addi­ tional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Ceramic Society. Subscription rates:6 issues (1 year) $22, 12 issues (2 years) $41, 18 issues (3 years) $58. Add $18 per year for subscriptions outside North America. In Canada, add 7% GST (R123994618). All payments must be in US$ and drawn on a US bank. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Advertising:Ad rates and ad information are available on the web site or by contacting Steve Hecker at the address above or by phone at (614) 794-5809. Change of address:Send your change of address via e-mail or to the Circulation Department. Allow six weeks advance notice. Contributors:Writing and photographic guidelines are available on request and on the web site. Mail man­ uscripts and visual materials to the editorial offices. Photocopies:For a fee, searchable databases and doc­ ument delivery are available through The American Ceramic Society’s Ceramic Information Center, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136; e-mail [email protected]; or phone (614) 794-5810. Permission to photocopy for personal or internal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic Society, ISSN 1096-830X, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 USA (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 republishing items in whole or in part in any work and in any format. Please direct republication or special copying permis­ sion requests to the Director of Publications, The American Ceramic Society, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136. Back Issues: When available, back issues are $5 each plus $3 postage for the first copy and $1 for each additional copy thereafter. For orders outside North America, add $6 ($2 for additional copies). In Canada, add 7% GST. Postmaster: Send address changesPottery to Making Illustrated, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136. Form 3579 requested. Copyright© 2001 The American Ceramic Society All rights reserved www.ceramics.org 4 Pottery MakingILLUSTRATED Summer 2001 Summer 2OO1 Pottery Makingillustrated 5 We’ve had an Internet connection for a long time now, and we’re good at finding what we’re looking for. If what we seek isn’t in our bookmarks, we fire up Google, type in our search terms, and off we go. We throw a good pot and we spin a good Web. Having written this column for a little over two years, my bookmark list is fat and healthy with ceramics links. At the very tiptop are my favorites. They may be your favorites too, but if not, it’s only because you’ve yet to visit them. by Barbara Coultry The CeramicsWeb Ceramic Arts at About.com art.sdsu.edu/ceramicsweb ceramics.about.com/arts/ceramics The CeramicsWeb was one of the first potters’ sites on the For quantity alone, this site shines. It’s a compilation of on­ Internet—and it shows. It houses an enormous glaze database,site articles plus links to clay people, clay places and clay things a plethora of hand-picked links to informational sites, articles elsewhere on the Web. Whether you’re looking for paperclay, for teachers and students, descriptions of ceramic materials and teapots, raku, suppliers, sculpture, or anything else to do with their chemical analyses, links to software specifically designed clay, you’ll find it here. Because it’s always expanding, you’ll do for potters. The site is devoid of eye candy, its simplicity awell fit­ to subscribe to the site’s newsletter, which will arrive peri­ ting design for a place meant to educate rather than entertain. odically via e-mail, announcing everything that’s new since you last visited. While writing ClayLinks, I’ve had a secret stuffed up my bookmark sleeve. The secret is page after page with nothing but links on them. It’s time I shared the best with you: A Page by Don Goodrich members.aol.com/goodrichdnlclalinks.htm This lengthy page of links is subdivided into categories to ease your search. Don’t overlook the potters list where you’ll likely land in won­ derful places you wouldn’t have found in any other way. Clay Ways—Resources www.clayways.com/r_resources.html ClayWays has put together a huge list of places to go and people to meet. Though you’ll see some of the same sites fisted here as elsewhere, you’ll also find many that are unique. Tiles On The Web www.tiles.org Sooner or later you’ll make a tile, and if you travel the Internet via Tiles ClayStation On The Web, it’ll be sooner.You’ll find links to books, how-tos, studios, www.claystation.com organizations and everything else related to those slender slabs. Andy Clift started out small, but he soon had a much largerClay Worker’s Ring notion in mind:“...to be the best navigation tool that guides www.flash.net/~gemoore/cring.htmone with ease through the world wide web of ceramics.” Andy is wellFor those who haven’t encountered a Web ring, you’re in for a treat of on his way, if not already there. Just clicking on his Technical but­leapfrogging from one ceramic site to another, perhaps getting happily ton alone will send you into a realm of articles, charts, formulas,lost as I did one day. clay bodies, handbuilding, glazing, moldmaking, firing, throwing, See our new feature, The Electronic Potter, materials...well, surely you get the idea. atwww.potterymaking.org 6 Pottery Makingillustrated Summer 2001 8 Pottery Makingillustrated Summer 2OO1 THE PERSONALIZED CREATING FORMS STYLE OF STEVE HOWELL'S LOW-FIRE WITH HUMP MOLDS SCULPTURAL FORMS by Harriet Gamble Florida ceramist Steve Howell creates beautifully colored, low-fire sculptural vessels. He has developed a personal style and unique artistic PHOTOS: APRYL HOWELL techniques that are quite different from the traditional, functional high-fire ceramics he learned dur­ ing the sixties and seventies. Steve first went to college to become an engineer, but after four years in the Air Force, he knew what he really wanted to do with his life. He had discovered pottery and was hooked immediately. After the service, he earned a BFA in ceramics from the University of Texas in Austin, an MFA from Wichita State University and studied at Penland School of Crafts