With kilns going high tech with computerized operation, many of the older kilns are becoming dinosaurs. Owners of these older kilns are having problems finding replacement parts for the kiln sitters. In fact, manufacturers of the sitter assemblies have discontinued many of the parts.

I heard today that Skutt has purchased the rights to manufacture and sell many of these parts, it will take a few weeks before availability.

Thank heavens someone is watching over us at Skutt. Find more information about Skutt products by clicking here.

I was at a ceramic show today and I came away very excited. The world of ceramics is never boring and today was proof of that. I found many new products which, over time, I will probably highlight here, but what really got me today were the Watercolor Pencils and Aqua Pens.

Manufactured for Royal Langnickel these two items are so easy to use. Let me first mention the Aqua Brushes. Such a simple concept - where have they been, or maybe where have “I” been, because I’ve never seen them before. The brushes I picked up today come in a set of three sizes. Instead of a wooden shaft, they have a soft plastic barrel which holds a reservoir of water. A slight squeeze and the water enters the ferrule and then the brush bristles. I can see many uses for these brushes; but at hand today is using them with the Water Color Pencils. These brushes are a crossover from other art mediums and a welcome cross to the ceramic side.

Watercolor Pencils - these are actual pencils and the ‘leads’ are watercolors. The set I picked up has a rainbow of 24 colors. They can be applied to your ceramics (or other canvases) several different ways. One way is to color your bisque with the pencil, outlining areas, darkening some not others etc. Then use the Aqua Brush to moisten and ‘move’ the paint around the bisque shading and blending the colors. Add one or more colors at a time. A second way is to take the Aqua brush and run it around the tip of the pencil, picking up color and then painting it on the bisque, again blending and pulling colors to give the shading and highlights desired. The last method is to wet the bisque and then apply the colors and then move them around with the brush. These pencils work well on plain or detailed bisque and I see having a lot of fun with them. I am thinking these will work best over a base coat, but it is going to be fun playing with them.

The Aqua brushes can also be used with chalks in a similar fashion as with the water color pencils. I would even dare to say, the traditional pots of water color paint will work with them also. I think I am more excited about these Aqua brushes than I am with the pencils.

One last note. It is a must that all finished items be sprayed with an acrylic fixative or a brush on sealer giving whatever range of matte or gloss effect you may desire.

Our favorite source for these brushes and paints is Nowell Ceramic Mold Products www.ceramicshop.com

We would love to hear from you, post your comments.

As I was writing articles for this website, I had flashbacks to my beginnings in the world of ceramics. It seems like just a wink and a nod ago, but it was actually quite a few decades since I was a child and doing ceramics as a craft with my mother. I remember her handing me a little dog, a brush and a bottle of paint and telling me to ‘slap it on’. I didn’t know and I didn’t care about the process, it was just something to do with my mother. We did these projects together for a few years off and on, nothing major for me anyway. I would rather be outside playing “Red Rover” with the other kids in the neighborhood. It was some years later before I really became ‘hooked’ on ceramics.

It wasn’t until I had my own children and settled down somewhat that I happened to go with a friend when she picked up some of her ceramic projects from a neighborhood studio. I saw a piece of greenware I liked and I purchased it in hopes I could talk her into making it for me. When I asked her to do it she said, “No way. I’ll help you, but I never make anything for anyone.” Well, not wanting to waste my investment, I finally went with her to ‘classes’ and found out what ceramics was really all about. I was very lucky in that the instructor was really great-knowledgeable and patient. She gave me the foundation that I have built on and patterned in my own teaching as I explored the world of ceramics.

After getting a taste of how much fun it was and that “I” could be creative, I couldn’t get enough of it. Classes one night a week grew to two then three and finally I was bringing things home. I soon found out that if I was going to make 10 or more multiples of anything (gifts), it would be cheaper to buy a mold and cast my own. Oh my, the ceramic monster got a good hold on me. I found a supplier close by and became the proud owner of my first mold. I had NO idea what to do with it. The ladies at the supply house laughed at me when I asked “How to….?” and then they very kindly took me to the back of their shop and showed me how to cast my mold. A couple hours later, I walked out with a couple gallons of slip, tools, my mold and my first cast piece. I could do this!!

As with all people who suffer from OCD (Obsessive CERAMIC Disorder) my one mold grew and multiplied. This one ‘little’ mold was the parent of many. Each one larger than the last. Each one leaving me hungry for more. It was and still is like Christmas to open the first casting of a new mold.

As many beginners do, my kitchen was my studio. I cast my molds on the kitchen table, draining them into buckets, clay crumbs falling on the floor and into the stew pot. Yes, I lived, breathed and ate ceramics. This went on until the day of my baptism. You really are not a true ceramist if this hasn’t happened to you at least once. I had a pretty good sized mold sitting ready to pour on top of my table. It took all my strength to lift the bucket of slip to fill it. I kept filling and kept filling and my arms were shaking from the strain, but the slip did not seem to be raising to the top. All of a sudden I sensed this GUSH and the mold split and all of the slip spilled out………over the table, down the sides, over me and onto my carpeted kitchen floor!!! A couple gallons of slick, slippery goo everywhere. What a mess!! Have you ever tried to clean up a couple gallons of slip off a carpeted floor? I can only say, I wish I knew then what I know now…it would have been some what easier.

From that day forward, my casting area was no longer in my kitchen.

Would love to hear from you about your experiences and comments.

(Pyrometric) cones have been used for around a hundred years as a way to control and monitor the firing of ceramic and pottery pieces. Pyrometric cones are used to measure heatwork during the firing process. They help determine if ware has reached maturity, if the kiln is operating properly, and if problems occur in a kiln during the firing process.

A cone is a slender pyramid or more recently bar of carefully controlled clay compositions that are developed to react repeatedly and consistently to varying degrees of heat. Their consistency has a range of about 50 degrees from one use to another. Cones are numbered so as to show how much heat they absorb before bending or ‘melting’. They bend when they begin to form glass from their composition melting. Cones can only be used once.

When originally developed by Orton, cones were numbered 1 through 20 with 20 being the hottest. When they developed cooler cones, they reversed the numbering by adding a zero in front of the number 01, 02, 03 etc. with cone 022 being the coolest. Cones currently range from coolest 022 to hottest 42. It is critical that when firing a kiln you be sure to check that instructions say cone 05 rather than 5, for example, in order to achieve success with the firing of your item. Firing an item at cone 5 that is supposed to be fired at cone 05 can only result in disaster.

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Porcelain is the finest among all clays. It is the purest and finest textured clay found on earth. It is made from Kaolin clay that was found in China around 700 AD. Most of the fine pottery and ceramic products were exported from the orient and they were mostly made from this elegant clay. Chinese found a way to fire this clay to the hottest temperatures (up to about 2500 degrees Fahrenheit) which is necessary to mature it to a very hard and non-porous state. Fired porcelain is completely vitrified, glass-like and impermeable. It is translucent to varying degrees based upon thickness and exact formulation. Sadly the term porcelain has not been standardized and one see’s many references to products as porcelain which are not made from true porcelain clays.

It is believed that porcelain was named by the French who compared its translucent beauty to part of a seashell that they nicknamed “little pig” porcellana (cowrie shell) or porcelaine. For many years, China porcelain was highly sought after for its beauty and delicacy. Traders shipped it all over Europe and it became high demand around 1200-1400 AD. Until sometime in the 17th century, the only place to get porcelain or china was from China. Only in relatively recent history have the mysteries of working with porcelain and other locations for natural resources become available to the world outside of China. Collectors today, still place great value on the pottery developed in China dating back to the various Dynasties like the Ming Dynasty.

Porcelain is somewhat translucent in that you can see light and shadows through the fired ware. It has many grades of quality and translucency the finest among them is ‘bone China’. Bone China derives its name from the fact that when developed it had crushed bone added to the formula. The more bone, the more translucent the final product. The inclusion of other minerals and chemicals determines the final outcome and grade of porcelain.

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Brush strokes is the art of creating pictures and patterns with simple strokes of the paint brush. Every type of brush, will create its own unique footprint on your canvas, be it paper, fabric, or ceramic. Consider your piece of ceramic bisque as a piece of oil canvas. It does not matter what the base is, what you do with it becomes the work of art.

Learning how to load your brushes will aid you in creating the perfect brush strokes. You should never try to load color into a dry brush. Your brush is like a fountain pen and it needs the paint to be of the right consistency in order to flow freely. Beginning with a wet brush adds to this ability. For water based colors you will use water to dampen the bristles. When using mineral spirit or oil based paints, you will dampen the brush with mineral spirits or other solvents. When using china paints, you will use appropriate oils.

Once you know the basics of how to make what kind of strokes with what kind of brushes, you open up a whole world of artistic creation. Experiment with your brushes. Hold them at different angles, apply different amounts of pressure on them. Try using more or less color and water/solvent to see the different effects you get. Practice practice practice. You cannot get too much practice as you explore your brushes and what you can create with them.

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A ceramist’s brush is their best friend. With proper care they will serve you well. This guide will give you some hints as to how to care for them and increase their service life.

A brush is anything from several straws banded together or any number of fibers, hairs, or synthetic strands that have been clumped together and bound tightly, usually attached to some kind of stick. It does not matter the quality, if you give your brushes good care, they will obviously last longer than if you don’t.

Brushes come in three parts, the bristles, the ferrule and the shaft or stick. When made, the bristles are glued together at one end and bound to the shaft by a ferrule, which is usually a piece of metal - copper, tin, etc. Some ferrules can be made of plastic or rubber. It is important that you know the construction as it will help you to avoid cleaning and handling mistakes which will damage them.

When you begin to use a brush, it is important to wet the bristles - all the way to the ferrule - with water. Keeping in mind, there are exceptions to this rule, it is the basic means to keep your brushes from wearing out. Some exceptions are when using mineral spirit stains, china painting, over glazes - golds and lusters, and dry brushing techniques. Know your products and techniques before using your brushes.

Soft bristled brushes are most often used for fired products, ie. Glazes, under glazes, over glazes. These products usually cause least friction and thereby less wear and tear on a brush. These products are usually applied with a light pressure.

Stiff bristled brushes are usually used for the non-fired paint products. These products inflict greater pressure and friction and cause the bristles to break or wear down at a fairly rapid rate. Using a lighter pressure does extend their life. Dry brushing techniques are the hardest on the bristles and have to be replaced most frequently.

It is preferred that when you use a brush for non-fired paints, you not cross-over and use the same brush for fired paints. Exceptions to this can be made for small detailing brushes, however if you can have separation there, it would be ideal. The primary reason you want this separation is that stains can contaminate your glazes. No matter how well you clean them, there are usually particles that will remain in the brush.

When cleaning your brushes, you will want to use whatever product is designed to clean up the paint you use. Glazes and under glazes are water soluble. That means they clean up with water and soap. Most acrylic stains are also water soluble.

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The process of pouring ceramic molds is called casting or slip casting. Before you begin, it is a good idea that you know how the mold works. Ceramic molds are made of plaster as opposed to other molds being rubber, sponge, metal or plastic. The reason is that plaster absorbs water.

Slip is liquid clay, it has a lot of water in it (see “What is Ceramic or Clay Slip”) and in order for it to hold a shape, the water needs to be removed. Enter the plaster mold.

There are many kinds of plaster molds, ranging from one piece to two piece to multiple pieces that fit together and form a cavity to hold the slip. Most common, and addressed in this article, is the two piece mold. These molds are designed to fit together tightly to form a cavity with a single opening that is used to receive and expel the liquid clay. See “What is a Ceramic Mold”.

When you fill your mold with liquid clay, the plaster begins to absorb the water and the clay platelets begin to stick to the sides of the mold. This creates the shell that will ultimately form your finished item. The longer you leave the slip in the mold, the more water that will be drawn out and the thicker the shell will be. When the shell is as thick as you want it, you then drain off the excess slip and you are left with a hollow item.

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Brushes come in all sort of sizes, shapes and materials. Basically, a brush consists of long fibers attached to a firm shaft by a ferrule. The ferrule on most brushes is made of metal and holds the bristles to the shaft. All brushes are hand made. The parts may come off a production line, but the assembly is still done by hand. As with any tool, the better the brush you use, the better the job it will do. A ‘two-bit’ brush will give you a two-bit job. The proper brush is important in any job or craft but more so in the field of ceramics than any other, so the choosing of your brushes is an important thing to consider.

Finding high quality brushes for low prices is the challenge that faces any artist. Ceramics is hard on brushes, but if cared for properly, most will last a long time. Some techniques, like dry brushing, is notoriously hard on brushes and will wear them out pretty fast especially if the technique is not properly administered; so in addition to having a good brush, it is important to select the right brush for the technique as well as to learn ‘how’ to use it.

One point to consider when purchasing brushes is what material the brush is made from. There are synthetic fiber as well as natural. Sable hair has long been the Cadillac of premium brushes. They have great spring and flex and they retain large amounts of fluid. Because of their quality, they maintain their points and shapes much better than other materials. Sable brushes give great control for blending colors, smooth application and ease of use. They are fragile however and do not hold up to many of the painting techniques, especially non-fired types. They are wonderful for china painting.

Other hair brushes are great to use. As with Sable, they are not as durable for some of the painting techniques. Camel hair brushes are not made from camel hair - go figure, they are primarily made from squirrel and similar. Squirrel hair brushes are extremely soft, even softer than sable. Natural hair brushes are wonderful to use, but they are more costly than the synthetics and other natural fibers. Add their cost and the short life, and you will quickly see the advantages of going synthetic. Ox hair brushes are slightly more durable. Natural hair for paint brushes include: Sable, squirrel, raccoon, ox, goat, hog, pony, Pahme and others.

There are many kinds of synthetics used to make brushes, among them are Taklon, Nylon, Toray, Teijin, Tynex, Sabeline and others. Taklon is among the most common and it closely resembles the sable for its softness and ability to hold liquid, though it does have its limits as far as application and effects.

Styles of brushes are vast and include rounds, liners, flats, filberts, fans, angulars, mops, daggers, deer foot, shaders square, pointed, cats tongue, Hake, quill, longs and shorts, etc. Each has its own purpose by design.

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