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.

And The Wheel Turns...

A closer look at the napkin rings

A bucket of water. A sponge. Assortedribs. A Hydro-Bat. A wiggle wire. Put them together and what have you got? Well, my afternoon, I suppose. I spent much of today exploring the wheel... again. I try to avoid the wheel because although I think it is fun to use I feel as though I am not very good at it. I know, practice makes better, but I enjoy handbuilding so why bother? I guess, because I'm stubborn. Today I made a ladle and napkin rings for the sake of SCIENCE! No, not science... for displays!

Throwing from the hump

I used Standard 112 which is a clay I've never used before.  It was nice to throw with and not gritty at all.  When it's fired it will be a speckled brown.  I threw the ladle using a technique called “throwing from the hump” where you have a lot more clay than you need and only use the top portion so that you can throw several items from the same mound of clay. After I cut the ladle off, I threw a cylinder to make the napkin rings. I put the fan on while it was still rotating. I did not want to cut the napkin rings off with the clay so wet for fear of warping them. I left the cylinder dry a bit and turned my attention to making the handle for the ladle.  I made a pulled handle and set that next to the ladle so they could dry together. I'll be attaching them when they are closer to leather hard. 

Waiting to be united.

The wiggle wire can be used in a variety of ways.  Today I used it to cut napkin rings from a cylinder.  This created texture on the sides while leaving the inside and outside of the napkin rings smooth.  I plan on glazing it in a way that will bring attention to the pattern caused by the wiggle wire.

It was a busy day running around and reminding myself how to throw again. To think, I managed to throw something without getting clay behind my ears. Crazy!

Items I used you should check out:

Shimpo VL Whisper, Dirty Girls Wiggle Wire, Hydro-Bat, Standard 112

Goodbye is Such Sweet Sorrow

Getting ready for our picnic lunch.

We scrambled around this morning: tables and stools were moved outside, flowers and soda were being bought, lunch was being called in, and a card was being passed around. What was this all for, you might ask? Well, we are saying goodbye to a very special member of our team. Megan has been with The Ceramic Shop since quite nearly the beginning (racking up a total of 10 years!). Today she leaves for the weekend, but we wont be seeing her on Monday. Megan has been preparing to leave over the last couple of months after she was accepted into a graduate program for Occupational Therapy at Temple University.

Something to always remember us by.

We closed the store for half an hour (sorry if we missed you!) and sat down for a company-wide lunch as a way to say “congratulations and we'll miss you.” During lunch Mark reminisced about days long since past, when Megan first started working for him. He recalled how she was still attending school at UArts and looked very much like an art student. When she first started everyone would call and ask for him, but soon when he answered the phone everyone would request Megan. She seemed to have all the answers (about ceramics). We know that it will be strange without her, but we are glad to know that she'll still find time to stop by and say “hi.”

At lunch Mark presented Megan with the “Porcelain Key Award.” A permanent connection to The Ceramic Shop. It represents an open invitation to stop by and see us any time. We hope to see you soon and often Megan. Good luck in all your future endeavors!  

Megan will always be a part of The Ceramic Shop.

Playing With Clay (and Leaves)

Some process photos

What do you get when you combine silicon rubber leaf mats with a slump mold and some clay? A serving platter...obviously. And that's just what I made last week. I worked with the interns to roll some slabs and get our hands dirty (with clay).  Now I'm going to tell you the steps on how to make this project, too.

1. Create a slab about 1/4” thick. Then we cut the shape of the leaf out of the slab and add pressure to transfer the leaf patterns into the clay. Then use a needle tool or your fingers to trim and smooth the edges. Now you have clay leaves!
2. Next take the a slump mold and slump the leaves into the shape of the mold, overlapping them in places so your platter does not have holes in it.
3. Score and slip the parts that overlap. Then smooth the creases so that it looks clean.
4. Then take some plastic and some paper and fill the concave (top) part of the platter in and flip it over so you have access to the part that would normally be sitting on a table.  This helps to keep the slumped shape while working on the bottom side of the platter. Now you can clean up the bottom and reenforce the joints.
5. All that's left to do is flip it back into the slump mold where you let it dry to leather hard and then plastic wrap it till it is bone dry.

Now I just need to bisque it and glaze it. I'm really excited to see how it will turn out. What glazes do you think I should use?

Tools used:

Slab roller

Needle Tool

Silicon Rubber Leaf Mats

Butler Slump Mold

Close up on some of the leaves

Time With The Interns

Spencer throwing for a demo video.

Today I had a chance to sit down and talk with our interns. Oh, yes! We have interns. Kevin and Spencer have been interning with us during the month of May. Kevin and Spencer have been in the ceramics program at Conestoga High School for four years and mostly focus in throwing functional work. They were recommended to intern at The Ceramic Shop by their teacher to get a better idea of how a business in ceramics might work. Their internship here will help them to better understand the art world and to see if it seems like a plausible career path.
So far, they have found working at The Ceramic Shop to be fun and engaging. I asked the boys what their favorite things where to do here. Spencer has enjoyed working with Tracy on making the HydroBats. He liked learning the process of making products, which is an experience The Ceramic Shop can give to him because we produce so many different items. Kevin has like helping make demonstration videos for our website and YouTube channel. The tool demonstration videos they have been making will be up on our YouTube channel soon!

Spencer and Kevin will be going away to college after they finish their internships with us. Kevin will be attending University of Colorado and Spencer will be going to the University of Ohio. Both Kevin and Spencer will be studying business with a minor in ceramics. They are hoping to maybe start their own businesses or even take their ceramics to the next level. Everyone at The Ceramic Shop wishes them the best. We've really enjoyed having them around.

Kevin centering.

Something New from Skutt

If you were at NCECA this year and managed to stop by the Skutt booth perhaps you saw a demo of their new front loading kilns. No? Well, we were able to see them talk and demo this amazing new kiln. Skutt designed their front loading kiln to have some really cool design features. Thanks to the light weight door and roof AND floor elements the kiln heats and cools more evenly. One of the coolest features has to be that it is designed to fit through a standard doorway. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you've owned another large capacity kiln before and had issues installing or moving your kiln because it didn't fit through the doorway you know how cool this is.

Artist, Tom Turner has been using Skutt's Front Loader to make some amazing work. He's been creating a never before seen combination of Copper Red Oxblood and Lunar Crystal. Lunar Crystal is a crystal glaze that is usually fired in an oxidation atmosphere whereas the Copper Red Oxblood is usually required in a reduction firing. The result is truly amazing. The red of the Copper Red Oxblood is brilliantly red and is complimented well with the light green to white of the Lunar Crystal glaze. To see some of his work visit his site: http://tomturnerporcelain.com/page084.htm
If you would like more information on this kiln give us a call (215-427-9665) or visit the product's description page on our website: http://www.theceramicshop.com/store/product/10738/Skutt-Front-Loader-KM16F-240v/

We are looking forward to seeing more work produced in this amazing kiln.