I’m very excited that the 2nd video from my Albuquerque trip will post at 1pm central time today! It’s only 21 minutes long, but packed full of behind the scenes tour and Coyote, Amaco and Mayco info. I hope you get a chance to watch it. Early views, likes and comments really help it reach more viewers! I will follow this up next week with a video about Coyote Clay.

This isn’t my idea. I’ve been seeing it on YouTube and enjoying what I’ve seen. So my question to you all is what pieces have you kept - one because you loved it and one because you kept it even though it was an epic fail? Pictures would be awesome. Honestly, I don’t have my favorite. My daughter has it and I don’t have a picture 😢 and I have too many fails to name ☹️

Sorry that this is a bit long, but it's a detailed process that I find important. I'm sharing this in the hope that it helps others as much as it helped me. We've touched on this subject in a few posts lately, so I thought it might be useful to share this. There is more than one way to accomplish this test, as with all things. I'm not saying this way is better or other ways are wrong. CAVEAT: I am no expert, and I didn't come up with this method, but am passing it along. My source is Tim See. Many of you know him. He has a Facebook group called Tim See's Beginner Throwing Group, linked here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1835752663124936 where you will find references to this and many other subjects. It's a safe place to get accurate, tested information from a trusted source. Feel free to join his group, regardless of your skill level. It's a wealth of knowledge. Feel free to skip to the link at the very bottom for Tim See's instructions on making test bars. Now on to vitrification. I find it important to know that my functional wares won't leak or absorb food residue. The only way I know to do this is to test the vitrification of the pieces. While I'm at it, I also test the shrinkage rates. It's amazing that there is sometimes a fair amount of variation from what the manufacturer posts. These variations can be from differences in firing schedules, raw materials, and more. Here are some ground rules that I use religiously: 1. I always use cones on every shelf. It's the only way to verify the amount of heat work accurately. 2. I test every batch of clay, verified by the lot numbers on the boxes/bags 3. I keep a log of all my firings so I can refer back if there are any problems To make the test bars, cut or form a bar from your clay. Mark it with a 10 CM line (it's easier to calculate shrinkage), and the wet weight. I mark both ounces and grams. Use an accurate scale like a beam scale. It matters! Measure and weigh again at leather hard and bone dry, marking the bar each time.

Latest kiln load.

Should we keep buying the next new machine? By far 3d printing has boosted the hobby artist to the artist level in crafts and especially in ceramics. The evolution of ceramics and surface design has come a long way over the last 1000 plus years and more so recently with the use of 3D printing. The urge to buy the machine is real and hard decision to make. For some of us who can not or do not have this option I think its good to remember that using the original surface design techniques can be just as good to make that perfect piece. So if you cant get that new machine remember paper cut outs, slip trailing, stencils, stamping, cricut use and every other non machine technique is always there for you to use. And if all else fails make New friends with Machine owners!!! 😆 🤣 LOL.