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Comment by Cyndy Littleton on November 18, 2014 at 7:54am

I went from a beginner potter in March of 2013 to manager of a studio in September of 2013. If it wasn't for Cone6pots website and youtube, I would have been dead in the water. The closest potter is over 30 miles and does not use electric kilns. 

Does anyone have some basic guidelines for studio use? I've seen some lengthy ones online, but really just looking for something that doesn't have 20-30 dos and do nots.

Comment by Brent Farler on November 17, 2014 at 10:22pm

After with 3 failed firings in a row & finding both thermocouple wiring problem & relay problem I was curious how others approach kiln maintenance? I thought about replacing all relays on a schedule rather than waiting for a failure

Comment by Norm Stuart on March 17, 2014 at 11:57am

I run a studio funded by a non-profit.  As with any company or group your biggest challenge is training your replacements.

The two people who ran this studio five years ago had done a terrific job, except for overlooking this small detail.  When they left, no one at the studio knew how to fire a kiln, make kiln wash, mix a glaze, deal with waste material, or virtually anything else dealing with running a studio.

Especially given the higher turn-over in a non-profit, my approach has been to train everyone who is willing to listen how to handle every aspect of running a studio - and letting them do this. 

I've uploaded our glaze recipes to the Insight-Live database and have a number of studio members who have joined this website to access our glaze recipes and hopefully get into the habit of looking to the larger ceramic community for solutions to problems.

The downside to my approach is, the managers of the funding non-profit and myself, have needed to be willing to accept a lot of mistakes, especially early on, until the group develops what I'd call a "herd memory".

When I was on holiday, a couple of people decided to push sagging kiln elements back into the element grooves.  They "knew" they needed to heat the elements red-hot with a blow-torch to do this as this is what I had taught them.  But they found our blow-torch out of gas, as people use it on the potters wheel as well.

Rather than buy another canister of gas and give the receipt to the non-profit for reimbursement, they decided to push the elements back into place "when the elements were still hot as the kiln cooled down." Only after the next firing failed to reach temperature did they realize that they had broken most of the kiln elements, costing $220 and a tremendous amount of work, in addition to belatedly purchasing a new tank of gas for the torch.

The members who replaced the elements wired the kiln wrong, requiring a visit from a kiln repairman to set right.

Some new batches of glazes inevitably look little like the originals as people learn how to weigh and familiarize themselves with the raw materials. Even though both containers were clearly labelled, members once used an acrylic plastic as kiln wash.  And other people's work has been ruined in the kiln as people gain personal experience loading and operating the kiln.

Unfortunately this is the price of learning in a volunteer setting.

If I were running a refinery these mistakes would be deadly and unacceptable.  The members would be paid well, would be given written tests prior to getting hands on experience, watched by experienced paid supervisors, and fired if they didn't follow directions.  But I'm not running a refinery or an organization with paid workers. So the price is accepting mistakes.

I've tried to set in place practices which minimize the resulting damage. Members can't make large quantities of glazes until they're proficient at making small quantities.  We use a kiln wash of 50% alumina hydrate and 50% kaolin so excess glaze runs can be lifted on the kiln shelves easily - at least when they use this kiln wash instead of plastic.  I have "cheat sheets" for running the kiln in the kiln log.

Over the past four years members have become more active supervising each other and catching each others mistakes as that "herd memory" develops.  In learning how to run a studio I have to remember I made errors myself.

Learning is a messy process, but I'm convinced this is the best approach for the long term viability of our ceramic studio.

Comment by denise a mendez on March 17, 2014 at 10:54am

Hi All,

I own MIY Ceramics Studio in Hollywood Florida.  Our studio has been open for 7 years and counting.  Its origins go farther back, but I have run its current incarnation since 2007.   I used to do all the heavy lifting at the studio with a lot of volunteer help, but now my time is limited because I have a little one so I have entrusted my studio to be run by others.  I have been very lucky in having people find me who want to help and be part of the business, but now it seems some of those people are moving on and away!  So my current biggest question and concern is how to find someone who is passionate about pottery, trustworthy and looking to manage a studio ;).

I have done a lot of good's and bad's in the studio world so please feel free to ask me any questions.

My biggest secret to staying a float is to diversify, but not too far. 

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