Category Archives: Uncategorized

I recently posted that the wheel I purchased from Clay-King wobbled. I emailed Clay-King on Oct. 23 about my observation, attaching video proof of the wheel wobble. Three days later, I received a response from Shane at Clay-King: “We are sorry to hear about this! We have contacted Shimpo about your wheel, and we wouldContinue reading “Wobbly wheel, part deux”

Whilst I am a potter, I have a number of interests beyond the art of ceramics. In that realm – the realm of clay, that is – I enjoy sculpting, for example, though I’m not ashamed to say, I am a horrible sculptor. I love the human form, but I’ve never really studied it –Continue reading “Maker’s masters”

As I suspected, there’s definitely a problem with my brand-new Shimpo Aspire. It’s off center, but I can’t determine where. You can actually hear or feel the wobble as the wheelhead spins. It emits a gentle “whompa, whompa, whompa,” almost like a washing machine whose contents were unbalanced in the basin … except there’s almostContinue reading “Wobbly wheel”

Two words: Portable. Wheel. Walking into the house after work tonight, I was greeted by a box that contained my new Shimpo Aspire. She can go from zero to 230 rpms and weighs all of 25 lbs., the same as a bag of clay, which means I can chuck it in the trunk of myContinue reading “Portability never hurt anyone*”

Hate to post and dash, but I’ve got to turn in before midnight – not because I’ll turn into a pumpkin but because my brain will be like mushy pumpkin tomorrow if I don’t get some sleep. I managed to throw a couple of pots yesterday morning. I let them set up for a fewContinue reading “Potter’s weekend”

Dane and I are home from a relaxing and much-needed vacation up north, commonly referred to as “the U.P. (Upper Peninsula).” As the novel coronavirus has raged in our great state, we’ve sheltered in place and have mostly kept to ourselves. I say “mostly,” because I’d reported to my physical work place every day ofContinue reading “Getting away; going home”

Since COVID-19 arrived like a storm in Michigan, my day job has pretty much consumed my every waking moment, Monday through Friday. With the exception of very few Saturdays and Sundays, however, I have vehemently guarded my weekends as time for me, from sunup till sundown, to focus on activities that I love or needContinue reading “F*ck COVID-19 and the Horse it Rode in On”

Like much of the rest of the world, Michiganders have been under a governor-mandated stay-at-home quarantine. In Ingham County, the first two pre-emptive-positive cases of COVID-19 arrived March 10. Individuals were permitted to leave their residences for life-saving and life-protecting purposes, and critical infrastructure workers were permitted to work. As a public-transit professional whose reportingContinue reading “Quarantine”

I’ve said before that I am constantly juggling my day job as a marketing/PR professional and my night job as a clay artist, not to mention the everyday demands of my family and home. I’m not complaining; I love my life – the blessings and the challenges (there’s a lot of both but many moreContinue reading “Meet me in the middle”

In my last post, I wrote about these cool Styrofoam hump molds I was making. I made some progress, but I’m still trying to perfect this process. For the first three pieces – two oblong pickle plates and one 11-inch square plate – there were some areas where the Styrofoam poked through the dried plasterContinue reading “Made”