What I love about a home studio:
1. I can listen to the music I want on Pandora.com instead the repetitive shit they play on FM radio. (Please excuse the language... I just want to make my feelings for the radio obvious. It blows.)
2. I can fix myself a cuppa tea as frequently as I like. Is 6 servings of green tea in one day excessive?
3. I can have my lunch break whenever I'm ready. (The guild is closed 12 - 1 PM.)
4. I don't have to pay $4 for a bus ride and overhear socially retarded people talking about guns, drugs, sex, or other things that I won't want to overhear.
5. On cold, windy days like today I don't have to leave the house to be productive.
6. When I flop as many pots as I did today I don't feel quite as bad because no one is watching me...
I realized the reason my pots were so terribly off-center in the first half of my day is that I was being lazy in wedging the clay. I was taught to first wire-wedge, then spiral wedge, and I don't have a handy wire firmly attached to a cement wedging table. So I skipped the wire and quickly spiraled my clay on the slick table top I had available. I realized that wouldn't get me far, so I gave in and used my ordinary wire tool. I discovered a nice little shortcut though... after each cut with the wire I set it straight on the table and slammed the clay back onto it to make the slicing easier:
Two things I need to look into for the studio: a wedging table and a throwing stool. Do you have any suggestions?
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4 comments:
How exciting! I can relate to all of your good points about home studios. A suggestion on a cheap wedging surface:
Before I moved my wedging table to my new studio, I used Hardee Board and it works great. I just put a sheet/plank of it down on the floor when it was time to wedge, got down on my knees and went to work. When the wedging session was done, I scraped off the board and stood it against the wall to await the next time. Very space efficient and cost effective. Available at home improvement stores. I think I got mine at Home Depot or Lowes.
I hear you on working at home and if you have a child it's even more fun. I got a VL-Whisper, you're gonna love it.
I absolutely love my throwing stool. I have no more lower back strain when throwing. http://potteryblog.com/category/review/tools/#post-49
Patricia, thanks for the tip! That sounds a little uncomfortable to get down on my knees to wedge, but I think it might have to work in my small laundry-room studio for now :)
Jim, I am very excited for my whisper! When I first started throwing I used a loud wheel and I got used to knowing how fast it was going by the sound. After I stopped throwing for a while I started using the VL-Whisper at a community college and I loved it! I could still throw while the professor was talking to the beginning students :)
Emily, thanks for the tip! We had throwing stools like that at UNC, but they weren't as nice. I wonder if I can find one at NCECA for a good price...
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