My name is...

Nuka, I glaze on the second floor... I glaze upstairs from you...

okay, I'll stop now.

Yesterday I spent the entire, sweaty afternoon mixing three different glazes. One of which was nuka. All day the Suzanne Vega song was stuck in my head with Nuka substituted for Luka.

Jeff can take the blame for this silliness...

When he was working at the production pottery in NH, he and his fellow potters passed the time by singing popular songs and switching the words out with pottery terms.

Wild horses, couldn't drag me through clay... Rolling Stones "Wild Horses"
Creamers, Sugars and Creamers, well can you put your hands on your clay oh no... Supertramp's "Dreamers"

Squish the little babies and make them throw cups..... Ween "Push Th' Little Daisies" (google it if you aren't familiar with Ween)

I am sure there are more, as well as the "Movie" versions of the production pottery, but THAT could be a whole other post and I am not going there.


Back to glaze mixing (much more serious business!)... I used to use nuka all the time when I was making pots at NH Institute of Art. It was one of their more consistent glazes so I used a lot of that and spodumene. When something works when you have little or no control over the glaze or the firing, YOU STICK TO IT. I am looking forward to glazing pots with it again, and see what it will do in our own kiln of which we THINK we have control over. I also mixed a batch of glaze called peach blossom. It's one that JZ had tested during the last few months he worked in the studio. He had mixed a small batch and tested it on porcelain...

Looks like the test got a little beat up during the move, but we didn't manage to lose it, or the recipe!

I couldn't find his tests on stoneware, but I am sure it will look great. I think it will be a good color for some piggy banks. The kiln is firing as I type and there are tests of the nuka  and peach blossom in there.

My name is Nuka...

Respirators and the Pottery Studio...

Strapping on that respirator should be second nature to potters, sort of like buckling your seat belt when we get in the car... but many of us have some bad habits.

Last month a company that makes face masks contacted me, via e-mail, after coming across this photo on my blog. They make a less cumbersome mask and if they sent me one, would I review it? I would never say no to free stuff, especially if it could be useful! The company is called RZ Mask, and when I went to their website I saw motocross riders, hmmm... do they know I am a potter? I explored the site and realized that they are expanding their market to industries outside of motocross and ATV riders.

This is what their mask looks like:

Smaller, lighter AND I can wear my glasses with progressive lenses while using this mask! When using my other mask, I have to switch to my old reading glasses and they still are not comfortable.

The mask is made of neoprene and straps on quickly with a velcro closure. The neoprene fits snugly around your face and doesn't get sweaty feeling like the rubber mask. Jeff tried it on and he thought the fit was good around his beard.

A replaceable filter attaches to the inside. The RZ mask rep sent me specs that said it will filter out particles as small is .1 microns. My Survivair mask filters out .5.

It even comes with a zippered storage case.

Since getting the mask I have used it mostly for spraying glazes and once for mixing a bucket of glaze. I really like how it comes on and off easily. I still felt a little claustrophobic wearing it but it was much better than my old mask.  The best thing was there wasn't a build up of condensation inside the mask (ick). I was a little concerned that it doesn't create as tight a seal as the Survivair, but I have to tell you that there have been more times when using my old mask, I would suddenly have fogged up glasses, which means I didn't have a tight seal anyway. I am constantly making adjustments with the old mask and it's a pain to put on and take off.

I will probably reach for this mask more quickly when deciding to do a little clean up around the studio. I will often times skip the mask because it's just a quick scooping up of some dry clay, and it's too much of a pain to put the bulky one on. I stupidly say I will hold my breath instead!

My old mask cost about $70 a few years back. The RZ mask is $29.95 and replacement filters are $6.95. They even have some cool designs to choose from! If you need to replace your mask or find you aren't wearing it as often as you should because of it's bulk, I recommend giving this one a try.

**If you are looking for more information about respirators in the pottery studio, here is a link to a Ceramics Daily article written by Jeff Zamek.

glazed over...

since so many glazes were running low i spent a day and a half mixing new batches. i don't mind measuring, sieving and stirring... it's the damn mask that i hate. i feel claustrophobic and feel like i can't breathe with it on.

i mixed a large batch of shino along with 5 gallon pails of wheat and robins egg. we were firing the gas kiln the next day and we were able to test them to make sure i got it right

shino top left, robins egg on the right and wheat below.  the robins egg has a very small amount of chrome in it.  we were out of chrome so this test is without it. jeff borrowed some chrome from our neighbor Phil and we added it later (where else but seagrove can your borrow glaze materials from a neighbor?). we liked the tile without the chrome and we might just leave it out next time.

i had two buckets of glaze that john mixed some years back and i had never used them.  i decided to test them as well.  they were spodumene and a dark blue.  clockwise: spod and the blue, temnoku and spod and lastly, robins egg and spod.

the spodumene reminds of taking classes at NHIA.  i used LOTS of spodumene. there was a time when a lot of the glazes were either too thick or too thin. students weren't allowed to thin anything down. most times the buckets had already been stirred by the time i got to glazing at night so i couldn't pour off some of the water into an empty bucket if it was too thin. it seemed the spod was always safe. i can't tell you how many spodumene pots i made! oh the joys of making pots in a school setting. i do miss the exchange of idea and the social aspect but not all the "rules".

glazing... NOT my favorite thing (but you know that already)

the glazing cycle has begun... when we packed the nh studio to move we drained most of the water off the top of our glaze buckets to make them easier to transport.  i spent yesterday adding water and mixing the glazes with the power drill with a mixer attached to it.  there were a few buckets of glaze that had not been used in over three years.  we decided to give some of them a go so they needed to be mixed and sieved.  temnoku was also low... jeff measured out the glaze materials and i mixed and sieved that as well.  altogether it was at least a dozen 5 gallon pails.
it rained off and on all day (which was a good thing, we need it bad) so we set up our glazing station on the covered porch.  it doesn't look pretty but it gives us the space we need and when we are done we can hose everything down and pack it up neatly.
by 7pm last night my arms and back were aching... thankfully this morning everything is working properly!  decided to start the day with my favorite breakfast and then i will head outside to spend the day glazing.

huevos rancheros and coffee.... plate is from Watershed Salad Days 2002 (don't know who made it...i am sure jeff does) and the mug is one of jz's fired in the NHPG wood kiln.
happy monday to y'all!

a lesson in glaze mixing

i had never mixed glazes on my own before...it was something that john always took care of. i often helped, but that meant doing the screening, not the measuring/weighing/calculating part. yesterday i realized i was running out of my Temple white glaze...it was time to take the plunge and mix up a new batch! jeff was there to help my with the math (i admit to being a math dummy) and show me how to use the scale. it was a good glaze recipe to start with because it is very simple...in no time at all i had a 5 gallon pail mixed and screened. i have one porcelain bowl that i will use as a test in this firing

...back to the studio today to get more glazing done. jeff's friend rob from virginia (also a potter) is visiting...so tonight we are taking a break and heading to the dolphin striker in portsmouth for drinks and music....Truffle is playing!!!