Lily Krakowski on fri 25 oct 02
Ok. Mixing your own clay is fun. It is macho. Girls, lay in the Nair.
To mix your own clay:
You need: the clay to come to you which costs as much per pound as for a
clay body to come to you. You DO save in that bodies are about 25% water.
You need the space to mix it and space to store the dry stuff. You can
store boxes of body anyplace just about. Bags of clay and similar are dusty
and need to be kept where the dust is no risk/danger etc. You need space to
store the finished body, which will NOT be in tidy bags.
You need strong people to unload the bags. These days I need to open the
50 lbs boxes and take out the individual bags one at a time, because I
cannot lift 50lbs boxes. You may be able to do it on your own--do I see
your chiropractor chuckling and rubbing his hands together?--or need to hire
some young fellow.
You need the time and energy to do the work. Which is dirty and messy
and wearymaking. Clay bodies you buy are already pugged. Those you mix are
not....
You need to be able to adjust the body when a mine run produces
essentially different clay, or an ingredient of your body goes off the
market.
And of course your realize don't you that the people who said OH MY
GOODNESS you will sell SO many more pots for SO much more money if you tell
them you mix your own clay body--THOSE PEOPLE LIED! No one buying pots,
unless a potter herself, gives a hoot.
What puzzles me is this. Why don't more people hop in the pickup and make a
road trip? A night at a motel costs (just made reservation) around $70.
Gas around here is $1.47 a gallon, so a 300 mile trip at 20 m per gallon is
$25 or so. Pack a lunch, get some food at the deli counter....and some $100
is what the road trip will cost.
If you are lucky, you will have some pal or relative near the clay supplier
to put you up.
If you are lucky you will find a couple of other potters who go to the same
supplier and would share a truck rental and driving with you.
As to getting a better body... I don't think so. I never go the same year in
year out consistency and reliability that I get now when I mixed my own.
Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
Ingeborg Foco on fri 25 oct 02
Lily said:
> > What puzzles me is this. Why don't more people hop in the pickup and
make a
> road trip? A night at a motel costs (just made reservation) around $70.
> Gas around here is $1.47 a gallon, so a 300 mile trip at 20 m per gallon
is
> $25 or so. Pack a lunch, get some food at the deli counter....and some
$100
> is what the road trip will cost.
>
> If you are lucky, you will have some pal or relative near the clay
supplier
> to put you up.
>
> If you are lucky you will find a couple of other potters who go to the
same
> supplier and would share a truck rental and driving with you.
>
> As to getting a better body... I don't think so. I never go the same year
in
> year out consistency and reliability that I get now when I mixed my own.
>
Dear Lily,
the reason more people don't do this is because it doesn't make sense
economically. If you get 20 mpg you most likely have a small pick-up.
Mine is a 1/2 ton and I get about 20 mph. So, unless you want to damage the
suspension, you only buy 1/2 ton of clay. You drive 300 miles, spend the
night and save what - nothing. You have lost two days of working in the
studio and you stilll have to unpack the truck and you only have one half a
ton of clay. Which means you have to make this ordeal of a trip sooner than
you want to.
Belive me, I know, I went thru this except I only did it to get samples to
try before I had my clay shipped. You also need to consider the wear and
tear on your pick-up. Mine oiver heated and I was stranded on the freeway
with trucks flying by at 85+ mph - clearly not a lot of fun.
It cost $70 to ship a ton and a half of clay and another $25 to have it
dropped onto the ground. The guy only drops it --he doesn't carry it into
the studio....unless you want to pay him $60 per hour. I had to haul it
into the studio and stack it but I figured I was still way ahead even though
it adds costs to my total costs.
If you rent a truck with a couple of other people, I doubt things would work
out any better. You still have to consider what weight carrying capacity
the truck has.
If I had the space, I would make my own clay. I'd still ship the dry stuff
but then I could make it to suit me and when I needed it. The only time it
makes sense to pick up your own packaged clay is if your dealer is within a
reasonable driving distance. 300 miles is way too far. It took me 5 hours
to drive to my dealer. Two days were wasted and hours stranded on the
freeway in 90+ degree temperatures and 100% humidity. Even had my
thermostat not frozen up,(funny expression in 90+ degree temp) it still
wasn't worth the time and expense.
Sincerely
Ingeborg
the Potter's wporkshop & Gallery
St. James City,
Florida
Ron Collins on fri 25 oct 02
I did not mean to imply that nice clay, in boxes, is inferior, or that
potters who use their own old fashioned mix are superior, or that anyone,
who can, should do anything different than what they like to do, in their
way of doing it. I guess, in my passion for trying to help people who
cannot find resources, I can get carried away. All I meant to get across is
that, in locations where there are not sources of raw materials, in bags,
ready to go, you shouldn't give up. The girl in Borneo thanked Clayart
because she had reached the end of her rope. When there are no choices, you
don't give up, you just have to find what you need. Please attend the
International talks at NCECA this year, and in my 20 minutes, I will show
you what goes on here. I would use nice, boxed clay if I could, like I used
to, and so would many others if they had the opportunity. I am not poor,
but having once spent 4,000 dollars to get 1,000 dollars worth of materials
here, and they sent the wrong stuff, you live and learn. Yes, it is hard
work.
How much does it mean to hold a piece that cost you so much of your life
and time? Sometimes, it is hard to justifiy We do what we do, when we just
don't have a choice...life without clay, and without innovation is not my
life. This is an international list, and I wish that some others would tell
their story. I don't know that much, I just know that some people in
isolated locations, not in north America, can have real difficulties.
Sarcastic responses don't help people with no resources to call upon. Yes,
on this list, you risk ridicule to try and help someone. Melinda Collins
Lily Krakowski on sat 26 oct 02
i am truly sorry if you read my reply as sarcastic. It was not meant to be.
When we lived in Brazil where at the time (1957 - 1960) there were not
studio potters I had to mix my own clay body. BUT I was a graduate of SAC I
knew something of what I was doing.
Au contraire I am a great admirer of those who "bite off more than they can
chew and chew it" ( a probably slighly inaccurate quote from William James)
So accept apologies if you thought I, for one, was saracastic.
Ron Collins writes:
> I did not mean to imply that nice clay, in boxes, is inferior, or that
> potters who use their own old fashioned mix are superior, or that anyone,
> who can, should do anything different than what they like to do, in their
> way of doing it. I guess, in my passion for trying to help people who
> cannot find resources, I can get carried away. All I meant to get across is
> that, in locations where there are not sources of raw materials, in bags,
> ready to go, you shouldn't give up. The girl in Borneo thanked Clayart
> because she had reached the end of her rope. When there are no choices, you
> don't give up, you just have to find what you need. Please attend the
> International talks at NCECA this year, and in my 20 minutes, I will show
> you what goes on here. I would use nice, boxed clay if I could, like I used
> to, and so would many others if they had the opportunity. I am not poor,
> but having once spent 4,000 dollars to get 1,000 dollars worth of materials
> here, and they sent the wrong stuff, you live and learn. Yes, it is hard
> work.
>
> How much does it mean to hold a piece that cost you so much of your life
> and time? Sometimes, it is hard to justifiy We do what we do, when we just
> don't have a choice...life without clay, and without innovation is not my
> life. This is an international list, and I wish that some others would tell
> their story. I don't know that much, I just know that some people in
> isolated locations, not in north America, can have real difficulties.
> Sarcastic responses don't help people with no resources to call upon. Yes,
> on this list, you risk ridicule to try and help someone. Melinda Collins
>
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Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
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