Brian's Page

Going to be doing a Saturday morning kids ceramics class pretty soon ... so I'm designing / testing engobes to go on greenware without shrinkage issues.  it's 04 vitreous engobies to go on red clay.  Firing is done, waiting on kiln to cool.  Will post recipes with finished shots this weekend.



Being as this is going to be kids, this needs to be a slip/glaze that glosses over and can go on wet clay for a once firing (wether that is raku or kiln fired).  colored engobes and glazes can…

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So, just a fore warning ... this might not come to fruition.  BUT ... I am aiming at building a high fire ceramics wood kiln for my local art hub.  We have the brick, and at the moment it's all about zoning requirements and additional materials ... and man power ... but it's a possibility. 



Nothing too fancy, Caternary kiln, small enough (2 kiln shelves deep) to not take days to fire ... easy to load, easy to maintain ... Should have some fun with this



Anywho ... my…

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About four months ago the wife and myself closed on a house (our first to be specific) and completely lucked out in having a garage that is detached (and 2 car sized) ... previous owner used it as his workshop ... so with the bountiful storage and large open space ... I now have a real studio space.   

Now to get it organized ... with renovations almost done on the house ... I guess I have my next job ready for me.

I get asked every so often what I actually do for work, and this is a good example of what I do. I work at a shop that does vehicle graphics and signage of pretty much whatever needs to be done. (can't digitally print for exterior ... but that is a logistics problem ... not enough customers to justify $30k in equipment) but i digress.



One of our biggest sources of revenue is from truckers ... US law dictates that any big rig that hauls commercially needs to have signs on the truck… Continue

Making work is always hard, everything costs something in the long run. That, and a lot of "artist grade" materials are really only formulated to being unkind to your wallet. After a while, if you are smart you can start looking at more ... common materials ... more as you would the elements and the life expectancy of that material and you will find that most products are going to last the same amount if not longer than artist grade materials WITHOUT killing quality.



a long time ago… Continue