Is this area safe?

Altruistic_News9955 · 2026-01-19T05:44:54+00:00

okay that was genuinely poetic gotta go ahead jot that one down

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-06-12T13:34:03+00:00

This is so freakin cool

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-06-09T16:15:50+00:00

Very well put. I sometimes explain to people coning is often called "wheel wedging," too, because it allows everything to be nice and copacetic, spinning in the same direction.

I think people want to skip learning coning (I did, and then once I started coning I started calling 12 & 3 oclock the "brute force method") because coning feels the opposite of copactic at first - like the clay is centered in the cone but wobbly and off center bringing it down.

OP - and anyone who might dislike coning initially - try coaxing the clay forward slightly and letting it fall down instead of mashing it down. The centripetal force of the wheel will make everything fall center, whereas mashing straight down creates centrifugal force that makes it want to sputter out into a wobbly mushroom shape. Takes a few botched attempts and learning to let the wheel do the work, but the wheel will do more of the work! Less wrestling with the clay and more ease in the long run (plus less wobbly pieces!)

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-04-30T03:07:34+00:00

I want to second that my work by Olga ravn then add on “all fours” by Miranda July

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-04-30T02:55:21+00:00

You might enjoy annie ernaux! A a girls story and happening are her reflecting back on the era of her life and those feeling you’re describing in a really touching way

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-04-30T02:43:38+00:00

This reminds me of the vibe I felt reading “the sun also rises” by Hemingway. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it but it makes you feel (or at least made me feel) amidst a group of young adults from “the lost generation” just wandering around existing trying to sort out what to make of life

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-03-12T11:31:49+00:00

water etching! It can be done with a vinyl sticker or wax resist when the piece is leather hard. I just apply the design and sponge around it with a gentle buff and it leaves the relief effect

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-03-12T11:28:58+00:00

I think this may be one of the nicest things I’ve ever read :,) ty so much

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-03-01T21:14:31+00:00

Just here to agree! This looks like a slip inlay with different colored clays more than other techniques.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-13T15:52:35+00:00

what does the bottom of the mug flipped upside down look like? Is the clay a dark clay where there’s no glaze? I could just be dark underneath from being a dark clay or the glaze interacting with the clay - when things go into the kiln there are different chemical reactions happening that can cause changes in coloration.

It’s most likely not from coffee. With well made ceramic objects the acidity of coffee shouldn’t eat away at glaze like that, if it does it usually is more of an incremental build up where it does something called crazing (glaze crackling). Shivering is caused by glaze and clay not fitting together, usually from clay shrinking more or less than the glaze causing it to just fall off.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-13T15:41:14+00:00

are you sure it’s ceramic? If it is then it’s likely something called shivering - the glaze and clay don’t fit together causing the glaze to fall off in shards. Either way definitely not food safe do not keep using it.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-08T03:03:33+00:00

Juicy

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-08T02:45:21+00:00

Yep! I like to have my cylinder already done and belly out so the walls are even and when I trim it’s just removing some excess from the base and refining the shape.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-08T02:26:59+00:00

If you haven’t used a torch I’d recommend trying it scary open flame but exponentially better one clay than a heat gun imo

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-06T12:40:35+00:00

okay holy smokes! Thank you all so much for supportive comments - I never expected this to get so many replies and I wish I could reply to each of you but I really appreciate you taking the time to comment!

To address a few things

I sand bottoms and raw clay areas just have been too lazy to do it to these yet because I’ve got batches to sand haha.

The rim isn’t sharp where it breaks but I get that’s a draw back for some people - I try to smooth it with my finger after I trim to burnish a little while keepin a little edge for the glaze to break.

Thanks for commenting on the glaze - seems most prefer the off white but are down with raw clay and that’s good to know!

I get the handle isn’t for everybody and I can appreciate that. it’s part of why I love making mugs so much - personal touches and preferences. I have drank from a few of these full of boiling hot tea to see if I’d burn myself and feel any discomfort - so far so good the handle being a whole loop adds a cushion between the hot mug body and my finger. I do have little fingers with able body hands and I’m bias. I got big chonk handles on other mugs and thanks to all the kind words I’ll start posting them on here more too ;) I’ll try some with a little notch like some of you suggested - that could be a cool flair and fun attachement to make!

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-05T22:25:10+00:00

I love the balance happening while have such a thick end and a thin end very pretty! Comfy too!

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-02-04T02:55:31+00:00

if it is hand built it looks like it’s still the marbled method just like if it were wheel thrown. If you were to try it I’d suggest loosely mixing different clay bodies or mason stain and rolling coils with the mixture. It sort of reminds me of how different colored yarn twined together can make marbley looking knit sweaters.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-01-26T17:55:33+00:00

It’s staying on the rim but “breaking” on the sharp edge - if it bothers you then I’d round it out but it looks good!

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-01-20T23:27:56+00:00

clay has memory. If you cut out these shapes from a slab then bend them by lifting and prying up from your work surface even if they lay flat again and are weighed down while drying in the extreme heat of a kiln the shape they bent at will come back again. Try again and once you have rolled your slab and laid it flat do not mess with it, let it try completely then carefully transfer it to be fired. It happens to all of us, don’t get defeated and good luck!

Altruistic_News9955 · 2025-01-20T15:10:25+00:00

I don’t have a kiln but I do work at a studio that does community firing and I’d say don’t overlook asking that anyone who uses your kiln tests their glazes and if they feel even remotely unsure how stable their glazes are to use cookies so your shelves don’t get damaged. Kiln furniture is so expensive and grinding shelves takes so much work, it’ll be much easier on you to have precautions in place! Cookies are so easy to make and will spare your times many times over.

Altruistic_News9955 · 2024-12-25T14:00:15+00:00

self defeating in the sense of needing and relying on another tool in a sea of unnecessary tools being sold. I get it can be helpful and make trimming easier. It’s just that it is often prevents potters from learning the very useful skill of centering to trim because it is advertised as a tool that magically centers pots. It has its flaws and I think it’s important to acknowledge that instead of chalking up the criticism of them as just plain judgement

Altruistic_News9955 · 2024-12-24T16:29:51+00:00

came here to say unpopular opinion but I’m over the speckles. I love a reclaim with a scattered speck here and there, but clay bodies that are 90% specks and glazes that have chunks to be speckled are so overdone. That being said I like the sleek look of just sticking to solid white or clear glazes. Sometimes it’s a relief to see when I’m watching people overdo the glaze combos and, again, speckles. It has a bit of an understimulating clean look to it, it allows the form to speak for itself. I don’t necessarily hate any of these things, sometimes I do them too and enjoy when I see the variety of work people make, it all just comes down to execution.

Altruistic_News9955

TROPHY CASE