"Hi George,
It's been a long time since I last logged on the Cone 6 site. I saw you are "retiring" after hosting everything for 13 years. I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done to promote pottery over the years.…"
Electric Mid&Hi Fired Ceramics
Potters & Sculptors - Making Rock from Mud
-
George Lewter
- 75, Male
- Lansing, MI
- United States
- Blog Posts (16)
- Discussions (470)
- Events
- Groups (8)
- Photos (265)
- Photo Albums (14)
- Videos (60)
George Lewter's Groups
George Lewter's Discussions
Light Rutile Substitute
Started this discussion. Last reply by Judith Stoudmann Mar 7, 2017. 11 Replies 1 Like
George Lewter Clay Art and Craft
George Lewter's Photos
Profile Information
- What is your experience with ceramics in general. (Long answer encouraged)
- Now that I've retired from my day job, I'm hoping my work in clay will provide a little secondary income, or at a minimum, pay for itself. I studied ceramics at San Francisco State University in the early 70s, and then tried to scratch out a living as a potter for several years, and finally went on to other pursuits where I could actually earn a living. For the next 30 years I never touched any plastic clay.
In 2004 I took a 10 week class at the Greater Lansing Potters Guild in Michigan, and discovered that I still really enjoy working with clay. I have taken several more classes and slowly put together a basement studio with an electric kiln, a small slab roller, and a used electric wheel.
My early experience was in the cone 10 reduction, gas-fired arena.
I founded the cone6pots network in the Spring of 2008 to provide a rich, highly interactive, online meeting place for mid-fire potters. The first couple of years saw very slow growth of membership, but now we're adding members at about fifty a month.
- What is your current involvement with electric fired ceramics? (long answer encouraged)
- The switch to cone 6 oxidation has led me in a whole new direction of glaze development, and it took me the best part of a year to start getting some results that I felt were acceptable. I have tested several hundred glaze recipes off the Internet, and from the books of Michael Baily, and John Hesselberth.
Using an aftermarket programmable kiln controller has allowed me much more control of my firing cycles and improved my results immensely. My introduction to single firing in 2009 has been a great boost my creative energy by compressing the creative process and making glazing more integral with the forming process instead being divorced from the raw clay processes. Attending a Steven Hill workshop in the fall of 2009 helped refocus my work on glazes that interact in complex ways and hover on the edge between chaos and control.
- All our content is viewable by the public. Why do you want to be a member, when you can already see everything as a non-member?
- Great interactions with other members. An online community of friends that will spill over into the real world.
- Where do you work on your ceramics projects?
- home studio
- How did you find this network?
- other
Latest Activity
George Lewter posted a status
"Looks like the hand over to Andrea Wolf has been completed. Congrats to the new owner of the network."
George Lewter left a comment for George Lewter
"I worked at a great community ceramics and glass studio for 2 winters before making Tucson my winter home. MIY Ceramics and Glass in Hollywood, Florida (just south of Ft. Lauderdale) is being dislocated by a new landlord. Denise Mendez has a go fund…"
George Lewter posted a video
Glaze Forge Console Tutorial
A tutorial showing how to use Glaze Forge's powerful advanced console to substitute a material and improve slurry suspension. What is Glaze Forge?Glaze Forge...
Gabriel Takacs joined George Lewter's group
Cone 6 Glaze Testing & Reporting
Collaborate on building an online list of well documented glaze recipes, with application and firing methods. Strong photo documentation. Only glazes that are mature at cone 6 will be included.Testing the glazes, and identifying their problems and fixing them. Also, if there are obvious issues just by looking at a glaze recipe (like high barium, insufficient clay to suspend or harden, too much feldspar (which causes crazing), too much clay (causing crawling, peeling), hard-to-get materials, non-specific materials, etc) then it needs to be fixed as part of the testing I would say. Tony Hansen included links below to procedures for a few glaze tests that could be done. Another good one would be to appraise the rate at which it settles, how hard is the dry layer, the water content of the slurry, the viscosity, these could be measured with commonly available tools.Links:…See More
Maggie Jones left a comment for George Lewter
"Dangit...I really let this bookmark fall to the floor. May be some email alerts would have helped but that may have been something on my end. I will miss this great resource, but I can understand. It is a load that I surely could never have…"
Ken Black joined George Lewter's group
Cone 6 Glaze Testing & Reporting
Collaborate on building an online list of well documented glaze recipes, with application and firing methods. Strong photo documentation. Only glazes that are mature at cone 6 will be included.Testing the glazes, and identifying their problems and fixing them. Also, if there are obvious issues just by looking at a glaze recipe (like high barium, insufficient clay to suspend or harden, too much feldspar (which causes crazing), too much clay (causing crawling, peeling), hard-to-get materials, non-specific materials, etc) then it needs to be fixed as part of the testing I would say. Tony Hansen included links below to procedures for a few glaze tests that could be done. Another good one would be to appraise the rate at which it settles, how hard is the dry layer, the water content of the slurry, the viscosity, these could be measured with commonly available tools.Links:…See More
George Lewter replied to cp dunbar's discussion Gelling with Gerstley - Not a fun dance routine
"Tony Hansen has a video on intentionally gelling a glaze, like it's a positive thing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck_69eGJons"
George Lewter commented on Vaughan L Smith's photo
Bird Bath
"Are those Mastering Cone 6 Glazes - Spearmint and Light Stormy Blue? Interaction is very nice."
George Lewter left a comment for Kathleen Scott
"Welcome, Kathleen! Just visited your facebook page. Please post a few pix of your favorite pieces on our network to help us get acquainted with you. "
Marina Reijsmeijer (Kleierij) replied to George Lewter's discussion Should We Stay or Should We Go Now in the group Insight-Live User Group
"John Britt published a rather interesting video on glaze software pt 4 in a series of free online glaze classes."
George Lewter replied to Olga Biff's discussion Wash Application
"Our member Carl Cructhfield probably uses stains and oxide washes more regularly than most of us. Check his work.
You can download a free booklet from ceramic arts network daily on stains and washes. Go…"
George Lewter replied to RS's discussion Glaze Crawling Problem
"Your oxide formula doesn't tell us about your raw materials. Glazes with high clay content shrink and crack and are somewhat de-adhered while drying. Then at temperature if the melting glaze has a high surface tension, it tries to ball together…"
Denice E. Demuth commented on George Lewter's photo
The Big Fish Cooked Up Nicely
"Don't you just hate it when you made something with some clay you had available and it comes out so great except for the problems from using the wrong clay. I made a 3'x5' wall fountain for my son and used a clay like Little…"
George Lewter's Blog
Alaska Claycation 2017 Wrapped Up
Posted on August 23, 2017 at 6:00pm 1 Comment 2 Likes
I had intended to post frequently during the retreat, but we stayed so busy with our activities that I kept putting it off. Then suddenly, it was over. The Gallery Lodge in Kasilof, Alaska was a magnificent location for our event, and the accommodations were first class.
Dot was in the throes of building a studio on the grounds, and had much…
ContinueClaycation is a Happening Thing
Posted on August 14, 2017 at 9:36am 0 Comments 0 Likes
Arrived in Anchorage yesterday and the drive down to Kasilof was spectacular. Dot's Gallery Lodge is far better than I was expecting. We'll use the garage as our studio, but she has a new studio under construction that will be a strong community gathering point for many years. I'm so glad I met her in Fort Lauderdale two years ago. Watch this space for more as we have our Alaska clay experience. The retreat starts tomorrow.…
ContinueImpressions of the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center and Its Sponsored Studio Tour Feb. 2017
Posted on March 20, 2017 at 12:55am 2 Comments 0 Likes
In February I heard about a major ceramic studio tour in Phoenix AZ, and decided to make an overnight trip to visit the studios and to take in the ASU Ceramic Research Center Museum, with what is widely recognized as the best collection of ceramic art, from the 1950s through the present, in the United States. I was amazed by the variety and quality…
ContinueAdjustable Slump molds
Posted on May 31, 2016 at 3:47pm 2 Comments 2 Likes
I got a chance to try one last winter at MIY Ceramics and Glass in Hollywood, Florida, and knew I wanted one of my own.
This is set up to make a platter or shallow bowl with a mouth 12" long by 8" wide. The depth is 1 3/8". The mold sections slide in pairs allowing you to set any size from 4" x 4" up to 14" x 14".…
ContinuePersonal Melodrama
Posted on June 13, 2015 at 7:05am 5 Comments 0 Likes
I have always tried to keep non-ceramic commentary off of the cone6pots network, but since many of you are friends, I am breaking my rule for this one bit of news.
Elaine Lewter, my wife of thirty-one years, passed away peacefully early this morning. She was the mother of our two fine sons, Jesse…
ContinueVideos
Use These Links to Support Us
Low cost flat lapping disc can be used on you potters wheel if you, drill bat pin holes in it, and provide a trickle of water to cool it. At amazon.com, 120 grit for aggressive material removal. Click the image to purchase
Members have had great things to say about John Britt's new book, Mid-Range Glazes. Click the image to buy from Amazon.com
Purchase Glazes Cone 6 by Michael Bailey, The Potters Book of Glaze Recipes by Emmanuel Cooper, or Making Marks by Robin Hopper, all available at amazon.com. Mastering Cone 6 Glazes by John Hesselberth & Ron Roy is now out of print.
Harbor Freight is a great place to find unbeatable prices for better HVLP spray guns with stainless steel parts and serviceable economy models, as well as detail guns, all tested by our members for spraying glazes, as well as compressors to power the guns. As yet no one has tested and commented on the remarkably inexpensive air brushes at harbor freight.
The critter siphon gun is a spray alternative that is well liked by some of our members, and is available at amazon.
Amazon is also a competitive source for photo light tents for shooting professional quality pictures of your work. They also have the EZ Cube brand favored by several of our members. You might also want to purchase the book Photographing Arts, Crafts and Collectibles . . .
If you are up to creating videos of your work or techniques you might want to invest in a flip video camera
Following are a few scales useful for potters. Ohaus Triple Pro Mechanical Triple Beam Balance, 2610g x 0.1g, with Tare $169.00
And finally a low cost clone of the OHaus. The Adam Equipment TBB2610T Triple Beam Mechanical Balance With Tare Beam $99.62
ebay is a great alternative for many tools and the equipment used in the ceramics studio - kilns, wheels, extruders, slab rollers are often listed there both new and used.
Tips for Members
If you just want to spout off, it is best accomplished as a blog posting. If you want to get more guidance and ideas from other members, ask a question as a new discussion topic. In the upper right corner of the lists for both types of posting, you will find an "+Add " button. Clicking it will open an editor where you create your posting. 4/16/2014
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Good day,
I am RonaId Morris, I saw your profile and I decided to contact you immediately. Can you get back to me on my email (ronmorri01@gmail.com) for full details.
Regards.
Hi George,
It's been a long time since I last logged on the Cone 6 site. I saw you are "retiring" after hosting everything for 13 years. I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done to promote pottery over the years. I've always known the site was available to me as a resource and I just appreciate your kindness and willingness to help so many people. Both you and Tony Hanson have been very cool. Best regards and I'm glad to see that you fond some folks that want to continue keeping the site going.
I worked at a great community ceramics and glass studio for 2 winters before making Tucson my winter home. MIY Ceramics and Glass in Hollywood, Florida (just south of Ft. Lauderdale) is being dislocated by a new landlord. Denise Mendez has a go fund me campaign to help defray some of the moving / new building expenses. I have donated and invite you to do the same if you care to. https://www.miyceramics.com/wearemoving
Dangit...I really let this bookmark fall to the floor. May be some email alerts would have helped but that may have been something on my end. I will miss this great resource, but I can understand. It is a load that I surely could never have handled. Thank you!! stay in touch some how and let us know how!!
Hello George!
I was having some difficulty reactivating my former membership profile, so I created a new one. I also thought it would be better to use a masked email in case the site was ever hacked...all too common these days, unfortunately. In the coming week, I'll go through my photos and re-post some images of my work. All of it is at least several years old, but I look forward to being able to add new work at some point.
I've truly missed being away from clay, and I tried to minimize the feelings of loss by staying away--letting subscriptions and memberships slide. But it's time to reconnect. I won't be able to work extensively with clay for several more years, but I might be able to dabble at some point this year. And I may well need to change the way I work to fit any lingering limitations. But that's what we creative people are really good at--working with what we have! Necessity is truly the mother of invention, and it can lead to some really interesting and awesome creations. :)
I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Liz
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