Pugginski@AOL.COM on sun 21 nov 04
Dear Gayle,
I too am one of the short people, under 5ft now at 72, and my hand
measurement splayed is 6 1/2 inches. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, so I have had
to make some adjustments over the years to continue as a full-time potter.
(When your social security is figured on your income as a potter, it doesn't
amount to a great deal!) I find that it is my left wrist and hand which holds
the pieces when I am waxing them, or cleaning up the glaze that gets sore - not
my right hand which I use to dip with. I am learning not to do anything for
too long a time. I throw for a while and then make slab pots, and then take a
nap! I used to be able to throw or trim all day, but I simply can not do that
anymore.
The size and shape of a bowl determines how I glaze it. For smaller bowls
like soup bowls I wax the foot rim and bottom of the bowl and attach a short
piece of duct tape to it with a center loop about 1 1/2 inches long. Press the
duct tape firmly onto the waxed suface. Glazing the bowl simply means gripping
it by the duct tape loop and dipping it in the bucket with a slight swirl as
it comes out. Till you get the hang of this you might want to have a needle
tool in your other hand in case the duct tape seems to be coming loose, but this
rarely happens to me. No finger marks or tong marks at all! Better to have
the glaze thin and dip twice than thick and leave long runs. Turn the pot up
and carefully slide it off onto a table. I have a series of removable dowels
inserted into a ledge over my glazing sink (each about 14 inches long) to
hold pots glazed this way until they are dry enough to remove to another table.
Teabowl shapes or souffles - pots with fairly straight sides, I glaze
differently.
Wax the foot ring. Dip the pot into the glaze bucket, foot down, by holding
the pot with both hands against the inside rim. Dip carefully just up to the
rim. (Guess this won't work on an uneven rim.) Set aside to dry. When dry,
wax with wax resist the top 1/3 of the glazed area of the pot. Let dry. Clean
off excess. Holding the pot on the rim of the bucket for support, fill with
glaze to top, pour out using both hands, and redip the rim while the pot is
still upside down and wet inside. You get the best cover on the side you glaze
first, and I want that to be on the outside. With this method (which takes a
bit longer I admit) you get a glaze coat with no tong or finger marks. It
works even better if you are overlapping glazes, because you don't have to bother
to wax the first coat.
Most of the large bowls 12 to 13 inches wide I make are slab bowls with
pedestal feet. My glaze buckets are 14 1/2 inches wide and deep so I can also dip
these. I wax the foot but not inside the foot. I have a small tool made from
about five inches of copper electrical wire bent into a U shape that fits my
thumb. The plastic/rubber? coating is removed from the top 1 1/4 inch of each
prong and the exposed copper wire is bent over into a shape that will grip
the top rim of the pot with the ends sticking out a bit so they don't mar the
pot glaze. Put the little wire tool on the rim of the pot, stick your thumb
through it and hold the foot rim with your other fingers.
Obviously, the size of your hand limits how tall the bowl can be, and you do
have to have a good foot rim. You will wind up with two little marks on the
rim of the pot, and perhaps a small mark where your thumb nail hits the pot.
Easily repaired.
I use this tool on thrown batter bowls also.
I do all my glazing and firing in back to back firings the couple weeks
before a show. I'd like to leave three days per firing, but wind up often firing
every two days in a 35 cu. fit (stacking space) flat top car kiln. I tell you
this only because you might think I am not a serious potter with all this
fussy detail. I just want my pots to look the way I want them to look! Preparing
125 - 150 pots for glazing takes almost 1/3 of the time spent glazing. That
means washing, checking for rough spots, waxing, duct taping, sorting by glazes
and size so I can do them in efficient batches. My work is mostly decorated
with textures and impressed designs which only require a good glaze.
Earl was right. If you are working in such a way that you are getting pain
in a wrist or elbow, etc. just from over use, you need to ease up and figure
out another way to do the job. I have had a lot of success using small magnets
(from Nikken) in a stretch band on my wrists, elbows, taped to my upper back,
and a large flat flexible magnet for my lower back. They don't solve the
problem, but they take away some of the pain, improve the circulation which helps
with inflamation and relaxation, and aid in healing.
Take care of your body. You have years to go.
Ellen Currans
Dundee, Oregon
claybair on mon 22 nov 04
Ellen,
You are a clay goddess!
I want a statue of you.
You have slain me with your
production at 72.... I kneel in awe!
Thank you so much for taking the time to
write and send me/us your in-depth details.
Being a visual learner I am going to have to study
your directions but will try them.
Now I'd love to see some of your work... do you have
any posted on line?..... Never mind I found some of your
wonderful work on the OPA web site.....and the Local 14.
We will have to get together when NCECA is in Oregon!
Thanks again,
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ellen Currans
Dear Gayle,
I too am one of the short people, under 5ft now at 72, and my hand
measurement splayed is 6 1/2 inches. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, so I
have had
to make some adjustments over the years to continue as a full-time potter.
(When your social security is figured on your income as a potter, it doesn't
amount to a great deal!) I find that it is my left wrist and hand which
holds
the pieces when I am waxing them, or cleaning up the glaze that gets sore -
not
my right hand which I use to dip with. I am learning not to do anything for
too long a time. I throw for a while and then make slab pots, and then take
a
nap! I used to be able to throw or trim all day, but I simply can not do
that
anymore.
The size and shape of a bowl determines how I glaze it. For smaller bowls
like soup bowls I wax the foot rim and bottom of the bowl and attach a short
piece of duct tape to it with a center loop about 1 1/2 inches long. Press
the
duct tape firmly onto the waxed suface. Glazing the bowl simply means
gripping
it by the duct tape loop and dipping it in the bucket with a slight swirl as
it comes out. Till you get the hang of this you might want to have a needle
tool in your other hand in case the duct tape seems to be coming loose, but
this
rarely happens to me. No finger marks or tong marks at all! Better to have
the glaze thin and dip twice than thick and leave long runs. Turn the pot
up
and carefully slide it off onto a table. I have a series of removable
dowels
inserted into a ledge over my glazing sink (each about 14 inches long) to
hold pots glazed this way until they are dry enough to remove to another
table.
Teabowl shapes or souffles - pots with fairly straight sides, I glaze
differently.
Wax the foot ring. Dip the pot into the glaze bucket, foot down, by holding
the pot with both hands against the inside rim. Dip carefully just up to
the
rim. (Guess this won't work on an uneven rim.) Set aside to dry. When
dry,
wax with wax resist the top 1/3 of the glazed area of the pot. Let dry.
Clean
off excess. Holding the pot on the rim of the bucket for support, fill with
glaze to top, pour out using both hands, and redip the rim while the pot is
still upside down and wet inside. You get the best cover on the side you
glaze
first, and I want that to be on the outside. With this method (which takes
a
bit longer I admit) you get a glaze coat with no tong or finger marks. It
works even better if you are overlapping glazes, because you don't have to
bother
to wax the first coat.
Most of the large bowls 12 to 13 inches wide I make are slab bowls with
pedestal feet. My glaze buckets are 14 1/2 inches wide and deep so I can
also dip
these. I wax the foot but not inside the foot. I have a small tool made
from
about five inches of copper electrical wire bent into a U shape that fits
my
thumb. The plastic/rubber? coating is removed from the top 1 1/4 inch of
each
prong and the exposed copper wire is bent over into a shape that will grip
the top rim of the pot with the ends sticking out a bit so they don't mar
the
pot glaze. Put the little wire tool on the rim of the pot, stick your thumb
through it and hold the foot rim with your other fingers.
Obviously, the size of your hand limits how tall the bowl can be, and you do
have to have a good foot rim. You will wind up with two little marks on the
rim of the pot, and perhaps a small mark where your thumb nail hits the pot.
Easily repaired.
I use this tool on thrown batter bowls also.
I do all my glazing and firing in back to back firings the couple weeks
before a show. I'd like to leave three days per firing, but wind up often
firing
every two days in a 35 cu. fit (stacking space) flat top car kiln. I tell
you
this only because you might think I am not a serious potter with all this
fussy detail. I just want my pots to look the way I want them to look!
Preparing
125 - 150 pots for glazing takes almost 1/3 of the time spent glazing. That
means washing, checking for rough spots, waxing, duct taping, sorting by
glazes
and size so I can do them in efficient batches. My work is mostly decorated
with textures and impressed designs which only require a good glaze.
Earl was right. If you are working in such a way that you are getting pain
in a wrist or elbow, etc. just from over use, you need to ease up and figure
out another way to do the job. I have had a lot of success using small
magnets
(from Nikken) in a stretch band on my wrists, elbows, taped to my upper
back,
and a large flat flexible magnet for my lower back. They don't solve the
problem, but they take away some of the pain, improve the circulation which
helps
with inflamation and relaxation, and aid in healing.
Take care of your body. You have years to go.
Ellen Currans
Dundee, Oregon
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