Tracy Shea
  • Female
  • Garrettsville, OH
  • United States
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Tracy Shea's Friends

  • Amanda Sullivan
  • Nadine Mercader
  • jeanne vaccaro
  • Christopher Cisper
  • Andra Hughes
  • sandy miller
  • Catherine Rehbein
  • Wanda Manning
  • cheng su wen
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  • Randy McCall
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  • JoAnn F. Axford
  • Randi Martin Kish

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Welcome, Tracy Shea!

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Profile Information

What is your experience with ceramics in general. (Long answer encouraged)
I started making pottery in 10th grade...that would be 1981. Spent a year or so in college, didn't finish, hobby potted until 2004. Started teaching and producing in my basement, moved up to the 2 car garage, then built a brand new studio in 2016, all from turning mud into money.
What is your current involvement with electric fired ceramics? (long answer encouraged)
I'm a studio potter working exclusively with ^6 ox, production potting for a national catalog.
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?
learn, share, make better pots, hopefully connect with some good people.
Where do you work on your ceramics projects?
home studio
Do you have your own, or participate in other ceramics Websites:
http://www.sheaclay etsy.com
How did you find this network?
other

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Tracy Shea's Blog

Campfire Pots

Posted on June 13, 2012 at 5:30am 4 Comments

I've been teaching kids summer camp for the last 5 years. Last year we made barrel fired pots, this year we're working "from the ground up."

Harvesting clay, screening and drying, making pots, and firing in a bon fire. No kiln.

In an attempt to stave off exploded pots and crying children, I've been working to increase my odds of success.

I have found Ohio clay right from the ground to be sandy and somewhat short, but workable nonetheless. It's easy to pinch, and actually…

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Check this out- same glaze, different cooling cycle- Red from MC6 Waterfall Brown

Posted on October 17, 2010 at 7:00am 12 Comments

I have been trying to get iron red out of my kiln ever since I replaced it. Kept trying to slow cool from 1800 F down to 1500 F- This is proving to me that the "sweet spot" is lower in temp than I've been going. In an attempt to save a load of tableware through its slow cool cycle after my sitter tripped and stopped the kiln, I ramped it back up from 1227 up to 1800 and then slow cooled, 150 per hour to 1500. Somewhere in…

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Tar Paper Bats

Posted on April 13, 2010 at 5:10am 7 Comments

I've been making alot of plates lately. I have a small studio and a small budget, so when I saw a posting on clayart several years ago about using tar paper for bats, I was all over it. They kept crinkling on me when they dried out, though, and were kind of a pain to reuse. That is, until I started keeping them soaking in a big pan. I just use a little slip to stick 'em to my plastic bats, and slide the finished plate onto a board. Later, the bat… Continue

Comment Wall (4 comments)

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At 6:50pm on December 30, 2010, Wanda Manning said…
Hi Tracey   I noticed your piece on slow cooling.  I have a older skutt and have not much success on my glaze firing to date.  They tell I need to slow my cooling down.  I can programme my kiln and understand the concepts, but I need a good firing schedule for cone 6 I know my problem is the kiln because I use the same clay and glaze at the co-op and it turns out fine. Fired in my studio it is pitted.  It is digital .  I have had it all rewired and the amps checked coming in , so I know it has to be the schedule.
At 5:55am on December 9, 2009, Robert Young said…
I know the feeling! My last semester in the University studio, I was busy mixing glazes, reclaiming clay, etc. didn't get even a dozen pieces thrown. The problem I had was trying to duplicate the glaze recipes on the 5 gallon containers in the studio. The professor had left on a one year sabbatical, and left us with no clay, and very little in the way of mixed glazes. Unfortunately, he had also "tweeked" all the glazes to meet his color preferences... and the "tweeks" weren't recorded anywhere except in his head. So things like.... Oribe Green turned into a very deep blue with hints of green once in a while.... not a real fun semester!
At 5:08pm on November 30, 2009, Randi Martin Kish said…
hahahaa...thanks Tracy..I guess I must be crazy..I am constantly either throwing or carving...but what else is there? Thanks for your words.....if carving reveals your voice in clay...be careful..its addictive..
At 5:58pm on November 17, 2009, George Lewter said…
Welcome to our network, Tracy. The customization of your personal page is very nice and the slideshow is quite impressive. The ning slideshow is not as snazzy, but it does have a couple of interesting features. You can upload photos of up to 10 MB. When you click a slideshow image you get a larger static image, click again and a hi-res image opens in its own window and you can zoom in on it for incredible close up detail.
 
 
 

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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.

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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

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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.

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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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