A Visit from Amaco

Us hanging out with the Amaco.

Last week we had a visit from some guys from Amaco. They spent the whole day making our store a mess by moving everything around, but don't worry: they promised to cleaned up before they left. And they held true to their promises!

We also got a bit of a demo and started making some test tiles so that people who come into our store can see and feel some of the glazes, especially the new glazes.

If you're new to Amaco Glazes, there is something you should know. All Amaco Glazes are formulated to be brushed on. If you spray or dip your pieces with these glazes they may not come out the way they were intended to.  Amaco taught us how to properly “load” a brush for glaze application. Take a natural brush, a fan brush is probably best, and dip in the glaze. Then tap off the excess glaze rather than wipe it off like you would on the side of the container. Wiping it takes off too much glaze and will result in streaking your pieces. Next is to just apply it on to the piece, using short strokes. You should apply at least 2 coats and let the glaze FULLY dry in between each coat.

You can mix a lot of Amaco Glazes to get unique effects. Mix the Potter's Choice line with Celebration, Arroya, or the Texturizer.

Some examples of the effects you can achieve with Amaco Glazes

If you have any questions on applying Amaco Glazes please let us know and please share with us your results! Post photos on our Facebook or Tweet at us!  

We were responsible for this mess.

Adventures of a Glaze Tech

Our very own glaze technician, Gina has been off on another adventure! She's currently in Pompeii working for and archaeological research project called Porta Stavia and is run by the University of Cincinnati. Many of the artifacts they're digging up are ceramic remnants of amphora, cookware, and higher-end table ware. They dug up so much they spent at least one afternoon dedicated to scrubbing the pottery; that is a lot of pottery. They even uncovered a kiln making it the third kiln ever found in Pompeii! Isn't that exciting?

They still have a bit more excavating to do, then writing the final report and we'll have Gina back. I'm totally jealous; it sounds like she's had a good time. Here's to a great time in Pompeii and a safe trip home!

It's Gina in the kiln they found!

Allen Chen

As I mentioned previously (in another post) our owner, Mark Lueders had the opportunity to attend a celebration down at Brackers in June. While he was there, he saw an exhibit at the Lawrence Art Center. This new young artist by the name of Allen Chen has been doing some stunning work. Chen was born in Taiwan and has since moved to California, attended college, and earn a name for himself including his current residency at Lawrence Art Center. If you are in the area and have the opportunity to see some of his work I highly suggest it. You can read more about Allen Chen here.

We've Been Keeping Busy

Hey everyone! I am way behind on updating this blog, so my apologies. Summer has been crazy around here. Everyone has been really busy. Victoria went to an Amaco training seminar. At this seminar she learned about new products and reviewed some older ones. Amaco puts on such a seminar so that their distributors, such as us, can better serve your needs.

Mark attended Bracker's Good Earth Clay's 30^th Anniversary celebration dubbed 'Bracktacular.” He spent the celebration demonstrating and enjoying the festivities with his family.

Everyone at the shop has been busy with the crisis kids. Every summer we help host part of a summer camp where we teach children that are part of the Children's Crisis Treatment Center to build with clay. You can find out more about that program here. We've had them in the shop for two crazy sessions and we have one more to go!


Gina has left us for a month to go on an archaeological dig in Pompeii.  I've had some contact with her and she's having an amazing time!  She found a bit of a surprise for us so I'll be posting more on that soon.

I'm hoping to write individual blogs about all of the things going on here at The Ceramic Shop. Also there have been a lack of demonstrations, but I'm hoping to start again next week by demoing how to recycle clay. If you have anything you would like to see demoed or have question please comment or leave them on our Facebook page.