Marian Williams, Author at Marian Williams Pottery

Grinding Your Pots Feet: A Great Solution!

When at NCECA in Kansas City, 2016, I bought several products from CI Products . Amazing!!!

One of the products is the Diamond Grinding Disk

I’ve attached it to a bat with the adhesive backing that it comes with – super sticky and adheres easily.

The grinding disc needs water to work properly. So… my husband (he is awesome!!) created a water pumping device that pumps water from a bucket onto the wheel, then the water is recycled back into the bucket from the wheel.

Here’s a short video on how it works!

We gave it a massive trial this week as Lyndall Bensley had a bunch of pieces that needed to be ground before delivery to the customer. It worked so well! In less than an hour, she had cleaned up the bottoms of over 45 pieces!

diamond grinding disc, grinding pottery on a potters wheel — All done and packed up! Saves so much time!

I understand that the diamond grinding discs can be acquired here in Australia from Gemcuts,

Go get grinding!

Australian Ceramics Open Studios 2016, North Coast Mud Trail 2016

Australian Ceramics Open Studios (ACOS) + North Coast Mud Trail 2016

Events Exhibitions Studio and Equipment Studio Tours Totems Videos

Wow! What an amazing weekend!

Here is a video of the set up and property that I actually did for my daughter, Liz, so please ignore the comments to her.

It was exhausting – all the cleaning, the prep, the pricing, the worry…but the outcome was fantastic.

I didn’t count, but I probably had at least 150-200 visitors. Sales were great! I have an online shop, so marked all of my pottery to 1/2 price for the two days of the sale. So I’m not sure if that encouraged buying, but I sold heaps and am happy with the outcome. Gotta sell pots so I can make more!

Well done to Australian Ceramics for the organization of the event and the North Coast Mud Trail for their great job of publicizing the potters in this area. Impeccable work!!!

Totems. Did I Mention That I’m Making Totems?

Creation Totems

Totems….geez! what a lot of work! I think that I’ve bitched about them quite alot lately – to my friends, family, social media, etc. My previous posts on totems describe the totems pictured below.

If I had designed them all up front that could have saved me time, money and a huge amount of effort. But, why spoil all the fun?! Make it a challenge. Make it harder than it should be. Just start out making pieces and see what happens. That’s what I did.

Thankfully, about half way through the process, I had a vision and a plan developed.

I figured out that the high fire glazes that I love were NOT going to be bright enough and I followed the sage advice of Brad Hunt at Picasso’s Ceramics and used the Duncan Concepts range of underglazes which combines underglaze and glaze. This was a huge help in that it eliminates painting each piece with a clear glaze – 3 coats… on each little piece!

I also found that the Cesco line of Goldene Gold gave me just the glitzy look that I wanted.

Putting them together is always a challenge. But with a great installation crew (Ronnie, Darren, Lyndall, Morgan, Todd and Krista), it only took two days!

Numbering each piece before moving to the installation site is critical…you think you’ll remember what order they go in…but you won’t!

totems, Mt warning, australia, pottery — Totems on a tree stump with Mt. Warning in the background.

Some tips if you want to make totems:

Draw out your design
Make little connector pieces for each other piece (to fit) and make more than you think you need.
Stick with a colour scheme and plan it ahead of time.

All of this is great advice and easy to say AFTER I’ve finished, but a word to the wise…just sayin’.

Anyway, they looked great, everyone loved them and I’ve sold a bunch!

Siliceous Award 2016: Ceramic Arts Queensland

Exhibitions

Ceramic Arts Queensland’s opening for Siliceous Award 2016 and the Members Exhibition was a huge success.

The event was hosted by Dianne Peach, Ted Secombe, and Emma MacGregor.

Ted Secombe, Guest Judge, and CAQ President, Lynette Larson, opened the event and announced the winners and finalist.

It was great to see the artists and their work.

Faces and artists seen at the Opening of Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence –

Some of the Siliceous Award Entries

Figurative Sculpture, Marian Williams, Embattled Earth Angel — Marian Williams

Here are some of the entries into the Ceramic Arts Queensland Members Exhibition:

Such a great exhibition and proud to be part of it! Well done all!

Go by Brisbane International Art Institute and have a look – better in person.

Pottery dreams to all!

Marian

Embattled Earth Angel

Creation Figurative Sculpture Sculpture

Embattled Earth Angel

Here is my latest figurative sculpture! She’s been a long time in the making and has met many obstacles along the way, but she made it and I love her.

The wonderful part about figurative sculpture is that I feel that I can make a “statement” and that the sculpture can “speak” – such a wonderful thing.

As I create a sculpture, I have an idea in my head of what I want her to be, but through the creation process, the clay and the sculpture will tell you who/what they want to say. This was especially true of this sculpture.

Embattled Earth Angel is composed of clay and metal. She has been twice fired, ultimately raku fired.

Embattled Earth Angel is making an environmental statement on the condition of our planet. She has been sent to protect Earth, but she finds herself besieged by enemies, both natural and human. In the war to save Earth, she is attacked relentlessly and reflects the damage – leaving her scarred and eroded. Although she faces many difficulties, she guards and protects with a majestic and regal manner, determinedly intent on averting further damage from mistreatment and neglect.

I’ve never aspired to be a production potter, each of my pieces are one-offs and works of art. However, sculpture has taken me to a different place in my ceramic work.

My sculpture fell apart several times during construction. I gave her a massive mastectomy and then reconstruction on three occasions. She blew up in the kiln and became even more interesting.

Here is a video that shows the process of her creation.

Love you all,

Marian

Copper Red and Chun Glaze, Cone 10 Gas Reduction

Copper Reds – I’m Getting Copper Reds Again! What I Was Doing Wrong.

Copper Reds Glazes

It’s so frustrating! I had the copper red thing figured out! and then….nada! All I could get was a pinkish, peach bloom, flambe colour…which I didn’t love.

So I went back to the drawing board and tried to fix anything that I could think of. Here is what I did:

Fired the bisque in the electric kiln to Cone 06, versus using the gas kiln which fired much quicker and was perhaps not exactly cone 06.
Moved the burners up into the kiln opening a bit more – leaving a gap of only about 3/4 of an inch. For some reason, they must have slipped or moved down to about 2-3 inches from the opening.
I added new fiber to the kiln door and made sure there were no leaks.
I reduced at the primary air and at the flue.

And, presto! Copper Reds are back!

raku, fibre kiln, marian williams pottery

U 2 Can Raku!

Firing Raku Workshops

Last weekend I led a Raku Firing Workshop for Ceramic Arts Queensland in Brisbane. I entitled the workshop – U 2 Can Raku!

I did this because I think that anyone can raku and it is a very accessible, inexpensive and fun way to fire non-functional pieces.

I took my 2 kilns as I know how to fire them well – (1 fibre and 1 wood-fired – and now my car stinks like smoke LIKE CRAZY two weeks out!) CAQ also had two lovely kilns – so altogether we had 4 raku kilns to fire.

One participant brought his pieces unbisqued, so I set him to firing the wood raku kiln – very slowly. Amazingly, he only lost 1 or 5 tea bowls and they fired to bisque in about 2 hours. Then he continued to fire them and glaze them and generally we all had a good play experimenting with his lovely handbuilt tea bowls.

We had great glazes to play with and great weather, so all in all I think that it was a great day! Amazing team work by all and the results were truly fantastic! Wish I had photos of each piece!

I was very busy and had little time for photos, so thanks to Emma for these lovely photos!

Lovely Ceramic Arts Queensland Raku Kilns

Good luck to you all in your raku efforts! Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Remember – U 2 Can Raku!

Marian

My Homemade Fibre Raku Kiln

Firing Kilns Raku Studio and Equipment

I have a homemade wood firing Raku kiln that I made in Stefan Jakob’s Workshop– previous blog post here. It’s great, but it’s pretty work-intensive, so Ronnie and I built a fiber Raku kiln that is gas fired. It is such a great kiln- hog wire, ceramic buttons that I made, and one inch fiber- all put together with high temperature wire. It’s base it an old kiln lid and it’s on a wooden base with wheels for easy moving. It’s fired with a weed burner and propane. I use a pyrometer to make sure I’m getting to temperature, but I also watch the color to determine when to pull the pots.

Using reduction bins filled with sawdust and newspaper and sized to snugly fit each pot, helps to ensure success!

Samatha Scout really doesn’t enjoy Raku days- I’m way too busy to play!

It’s exhausting work, but I love it! Getting ready for a raku workshop at Ceramic Arts Queensland and for my own sculpture and work. U 2 Can Raku!

Australian Ceramics Open Studios! Come Visit Me!

Events Exhibitions Studio and Equipment

Well, I’ve made the decision to participate in the Australian Ceramics Open Studios! It’s coming up August 20 & 21, so I’ve got to get cracking and get the studio looking shmick! I’ve got an amazing studio and this will be a great time to come by and visit me. Mark your calendar and plan on dropping by. More later!

How To Make Brushes From Roadkill Fur

Studio and Equipment Tools and Equipment Tutorials Videos

Handmade brushes can be quite expensive. I saw them at a booth at NCECA and they ranged in price from $22.00-$80.00. So I reckon that I can make some myself for much less!

Handmade Bamboo Brushes! — Handmade Bamboo Brushes For Sale At NCECA

While in Texas I took advantage of the vast quantity of roadkill along the roads, and gathered some nice fur to make brushes for use on my pottery.

I keep a MURDER KIT in my car (very CSI) for just such occassions.

I’m not alone. Here is a really (funny)/(horrible) video called CSI: Roadkill. It’s a thing. Don’t be mad at me!

In the MURDER KIT, I have disposable gloves, heavy duty scissors, tape, and ziploc bags.

Roadkill murder kit, handmade brushes, roadkill brushes — Murder Kit Items

Fortunately, I had my MURDER TEAM with me: Ronnie, my husband, was the driver (pulling off the road quickly when I screamed at him) and Liz (my daughter) who accompanied me to the MURDER sites and did the Photography to document the event.

Picking up roadkill, roadkill, wild boar roadkill, wild boar, making handmade brushes, handmade brushes — As you can see, Ronnie pulled off the road a ways down from the roadkill that I spotted. Liz, my daughter, took these great photos!

I was really lucky and got wild boar hair, fox (the whole tail!), and racoon. Here are some pics of that harrowing process! Dodging cars, facing creepy dead animals, and the ridicule of one’s family and friends are all part of the risks you take when you take on this challenge.

Shot from the car - me, walking to the wild boar that had been hit by a car - the car was at the side of the road on the other side, badly damaged and undrivable. It was a very big boar!
I was a bit nervous coming up to him! What if he wasn't totally dead! But I cut off his tail.
I also cut off some of his ear hairs.
Here I am proudly showing the boar's tail...ahem, yes, I know...I'm crazy!
The fox had been hit by a car in the exact middle of the highway and on a bridge.
Here's an action shot of me after chopping off the fox's tail and heading off the road as cars were coming.
I got the entire fox tail!

I first learned how to make my own brushes from a video by Lisa LaPella – she is the ultimate pottery teacher by the way! Here is a link to that video and a link to my previous blog post on that effort.

I brought bamboo (dried) from Australia as we have heaps of it on our property. Dried bamboo worked great, but as Lisa LaPella says in her how-to video, if the bamboo is green, then as it dries, it will shrink and the fit will become even tighter.

The equipment required to make these brushes is bamboo (or wood which has a drilled hole), scissors, dental floss, glue (I used super glue) and fur or hair.

Here is a step-by-step visual tutorial on making the brushes:

When making a brush and using bamboo, make sure that at least a 1 inch joint is available to put the bristles into.
Make a loop with the dental floss.
Place the loop over a section of the fur that you want to use for the brush.
Pull the dental floss down close to the skin or bone.
Pull the dental floss loop tight over the fur and tie a knot.
Wind the dental floss around the base of the brush.
Trim excess fur from the base of the brush.
You will now have a brush bristle ready to be inserted into the bamboo.
Find a bamboo that fits your bristles tightly.
Apply glue to the base of the bristles.
Push the brush into the bamboo and let dry.
Your brush is now complete!

Here is my most recent video on how to make these brushes.

Here is an example of a bowl that I recently made using a handmade brush.

It is quite easy, fun and the results are awesome! So get out there, be brave, clip some roadkill fur and make some brushes. OR….you can get some hair from your kids ponytail…just sayin’!

Marian