"I finally finish my mural\grill combo to fill a window on my porch, it is made up of large thick tiles, edge moldings and styles. The tiles have a sculptural stylized flower pattern with cast glass medallions that look like old…"
Electric Mid&Hi Fired Ceramics
Potters & Sculptors - Making Rock from Mud
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Kathy Ransom
- Female
- Calgary, AB
- Canada
- Blog Posts
- Discussions (53)
- Events
- Groups (4)
- Photos (18)
- Photo Albums (2)
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Kathy Ransom's Groups
Kathy Ransom's Discussions
Cold Finishes
Started this discussion. Last reply by Kathy Ransom Mar 18, 2013. 4 Replies 0 Likes
I've had a few sculptural pieces sitting around (for a few years), they were fired to cone 6 but I've never found just the right glazes for them. This piece was painted with a base coat containing…Continue
Tags: non-functional, figure, finish, cold
Web presence?
Started this discussion. Last reply by Brian Guffey Aug 14, 2012. 7 Replies 0 Likes
A study group/course I would be very interested in is one about creating a web presence, particularly creating a web site. Anyone else and would this be a possibility George?Continue
PA Frogskin Glaze
Started this discussion. Last reply by Norm Stuart Apr 11, 2014. 22 Replies 5 Likes
I am not certain of the origin of this glaze but I got it from the Prince Albert Arts Center and I believe they got it from the Saskatoon Potter's Guild. Custer Feldspar 22Gerstley Borate 22Neph Syen…Continue
Tags: frogskin
Spraying glazes
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jim Wallace Sep 11, 2016. 56 Replies 2 Likes
Does anyone have some advice for spraying glazes? I use a small airbrush to spray underglazes and of course, have great luck with them going on smoothly. I don't want to use my really good airbrush…Continue
Kathy Ransom's Page
Latest Activity
Denice E. Demuth commented on Kathy Ransom's group Potters with physical challenges
"Thought I would drop in and see how everyone is doing I know everyone has there up and downs. I got a good report that my MS hasn't progressed much in the last 10 years and then blew my knee out a couple of days later. I…"
Profile Information
- What is your experience with ceramics in general. (Long answer encouraged)
- I took my first ceramic course 30 years ago but life intervened and I didn't get back to it until about 8 years ago. I'm primarily self taught, learning from books and hours spent scouring the internet for tutorials, information, and inspiration. Some of the workshops and courses I've attended are NCECA 2012, Julia Galloway, Trudy Golley, Carol Gouthro (coming up this summer), Cathi Terepocki, and Sandra Ledingham.
I work at home in a large, insulated garage we are converting to a studio and it's functional but my goal is to have a space that will accommodate a studio sale next November. Talking with other potters has convince me that an annual sale is a great way to help pay the bills but it takes a few years to get it established so I need to get started.
I fire with a small 3-4 cu ft kiln that is attached to an electronic controller. Would love to get an 8 - 10 cu ft kiln but need to sell more pots to make that happen. I also have a 10 cu ft Olympic Torchbearer kiln that I would love to have functional but it needs some new parts and a shed before I can do that.
My pieces are all hand built as my hands are too weak to throw, although I'd love to try it and think I could learn if I had a wheel to play with. I love the perfect symmetry of a thrown piece but I also enjoy and appreciate the quirkiness of a piece that isn't quite symmetrical.
- What is your current involvement with electric fired ceramics? (long answer encouraged)
- Clay fascinates me more than any other material because of its' simplicity as well as its endless possibilities.
Fabric and fabric construction, lace, leaves, flowers, colorful glass & fibres are all materials that have a great deal of appeal to me and I can draw on all of them to create items in clay.
I also appreciate a sense of humour, inner strength, constancy and strong convictions and strive for these in my personal life. I'd like to think that these qualities are present in my work and will call to people who recognize them or have a need for a reminder in their lives.
- 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?
- I really enjoy collaboration and sharing of information. When I put one of my favourite glazes on this network - frogskin, other potters became interested in it. They tried layering it with other glazes and refiring to bisque temperatures, altering it through other techniques in ways I'd never thought of. I think I've actually been a member of this network from almost the beginning and have enjoyed watching it grow and change to become a wonderful source of information.
- Where do you work on your ceramics projects?
- home studio
- Do you have your own, or participate in other ceramics Websites:
- http://kathrynransom.ca
- How did you find this network?
- search engine
Kathy Ransom's Photos
Comment Wall (9 comments)
- At 7:16pm on May 11, 2016,
Erik Evans said…
Hey, thanks, Kathy. I appreciate the comment!
- At 1:10pm on November 25, 2014,
Lynnette Lukay said…
Hi Kathy! Yes I grew up in Calgary! Here's to cccold Canadian potters! :)
- At 3:02pm on November 10, 2014,
Tobla Howell said…
Hi Kathy,
I like it too!!
- At 7:06am on January 6, 2014,
Kathy I hope your staying warm today, I just got over pneumonia, I'm not even going to try to heat up my shop today. I was wanting to apologize if I said anything that might upset you about changing directions. My husband thought my comments were to blunt and too personal. I told him that your work was so impressive I couldn't imagine anyone trying to tell you what to do. I had some Anazai pottery that I had made in a Anazai research group, I took some to an gallery to sell. The gallery owner didn't know anything about clay she thought I wanted to much for them. I explained to her the process but that didn't make any difference. Several weeks later I stopped by as I waited for her to finish with a customer that was looking at my work I heard her tell them they could get the same thing a lot cheaper in New Mexico. So I picked up my pots and left and found other galleries to sell at. Denice
- At 8:49pm on February 16, 2013,
George Lewter said…
As a member of the cone6pots network, you have email settings to get, or to opt out of notifications for several varieties of activity on the network. As to a regular newsletter - that would be great. Who do you have in mind to put that together? Me?
Right now, after almost a year of being out of the studio mainly for health reasons, I want to put more of my time into creating pottery, and getting that part of my work back in operation. The longer I stay away from the doing pottery, the more difficult it is for me to keep up my interest in this network. The same health issues have sharply decreased my work on the cone6pots network for the last six months. Fortunately, I am now back up to full-steam, and should be able to work more diligently on both interests.
You are, of course, right. Regular communications from the network will stir more interest and participation, which will snowball into a more active and vibrant community. Look forward to an emailed newsletter soon. (Unless, of course, you have opted out of email communications from the network.) As always, I seek assistance with the network in whatever capacities members might be interested.
George Lewter
- At 4:37pm on May 21, 2011,
I think it would be great for you to start a group for clay artists with physical challenges. I, myself have to work around tremors that make it more difficult to trim pots, and most vexingly, to paint any kind of precise or repeated brush stroke. I often brace with both hands and my chin to trim pots, or when throwing precise rims. So Go for It!
If you go to the main Groups page (accessed by clicking on the Groups tab in the network heading) there is an "Add" button in the upper right corner that will let you start a new group. My only words of advice is to work on it yourself with some regularity to bring it back to general awareness, and to have great patience, for it may take months or even years to come alive -- much like the cone6pots network.
- At 11:12am on April 16, 2011,
LORRAINE ADAMSON said…
- Hi Kathy!, Good to hear from you. Nice that you have a ceramic sister! I look forward to seeing your creations. I am slowly getting some pieces made for a soft bisque and then a barrel firing as soon as this nasty weather leaves us. I'll post pictures if they turn out ok. The barrel firing is a blast. I'm sure you will love it. Keep those fingers muddy!
- At 2:16pm on January 30, 2011,
Hi Kathy, Not much going on in my studio these days, I've been busy playing with my daughter & grand daughter who came for a visit Jan 6 to 15th and then it was the farm books and preparing for tax time that kept me busy when I wasn't at my full time job. I really need to retire so I can play in the mud more often!! I need to get back to the clay and get some work done for the spring firing and the artisan tour in June.
Did you ever get the gas kin going? And do you have a place to pit or barrel fire?
- At 5:45pm on December 7, 2010,
- I will remove the old version of you! Out with the old, in with the new
Videos
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.
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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
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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.
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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