Friday Five: July 20, 2007

1. First and most importantly, today is the birthday of Cindy Bracker Sturm! Happy Birthday sis, I love you. If you talk with Cindy today, please tell her Happy Birthday.
2. Website Update - I'm almost finished uploading the pictures of the new Spectrum 900 series Low Stone glazes. These low-fire (cone 06 - 04) glazes are unique and visually exciting and are perfect for experimenting by overlapping different colors. Check them out here.
3. I've finally added the information about The Steve Tool. Read all about it and see some pictures of wonderful examples of the textures you can create using The Steve Tool.
4. We have just hired three new staff members, all with ceramics experience. Jeanette will work in the shipping/receiving area, taking over for Lou. Brett and Nick will work in the warehouse and make deliveries. Jeanette and Brett have their BFA degrees and Nick will finish his this fall. We are really excited to be working with such a talented set of people.
And finally, 5. Steve Coburn is our featured customer today. Steve earned his BFA from Kansas State University and now makes wheel-thrown functional pottery in Salina, Kansas. His work can be seen at art fairs and in many gallerys throughout the Midwest, including The Phoenix Gallery right here in Lawrence. His website also offers a shopping cart. I'd encourage other artists to check out his website not only to view his great pottery, but also to explore how he's created a very successful online outlet to sell his pots. It's especially effective for customers from art fairs to place reorders to expand their set of dinnerware or buy a vase that is complimentary to their serving dishes. Not only is is work functional and beautiful, but it's also very useable. In fact, my everyday dishes are a set from Steve (given to me by Mom for Christmas and Birthday presents).

Friday Five: July 13, 2007

1. I know it seems like summer just started a few minutes ago, but here at Bracker's, we are gearing up for the back-to-school season. Our busiest time of the year comes between mid-July and the beginning of October. All of our teachers want their orders at the same time. We have been stocking up on moist clay, glazes, and tools for the big rush so we can hopefully fill your order when you need something, but the more notice you can give us, the more likely it is that we'll be able to fill your order completely. For example, if you think you'll need 500 pounds of Earthenware White in mid-August, give us a call and let us know to allocate that much for you. If you decide you only need 400 pounds by the time mid-August rolls around, or you decide you won't need it until September, it's no big deal. But we'll have it in stock for you just in case. We go through approximately 500,000 to one million pounds of moist clay in that July to October time frame, and clay goes out as soon as it comes in. It's actually quite amazing to see.
2. The Steve Branfman workshop will be October 13th & 14th this year. It won't be the traditional raku workshop, though. Steve will help us all explore ways to make your raku firings more consistent while exploring how different factors (reduction material, glaze thickness, etc.) can affect your results.
3. Other workshop news: Lana Wilson was originally tentatively scheduled for Spring 2008, but our schedules didn't quite mesh, so we've scheduled her for Spring 2009. Right now, we're talking with Angelica Pozo, sculptural clay and tile artist and author of the popular Lark book, "Making and Installing Handmade Tile" for the Spring 2008 workshop. Robin Hopper is still scheduled in Fall 2008.
4. Spectrum 900 series "Low Stone" glazes are in stock now, although I don't have the new ones on our website just quite yet. Until I have them online, check them out on the Spectrum Glaze website and give us a call to order them.
And finally, 5. I think I'm going to turn the 5th spot of my Friday 5 into a regular customer feature, whether it's a youtube video, a website, or just info on something cool one of our customers is doing right now. My inaugural 5 is Danny Meisinger, The Dophin Song Gallery & Spinning Earth Pottery. Danny has been a customer of ours since the beginning of his career in pottery. He is now a very accomplished potter, teacher, workshop presenter, and so much more. He was on the board of Accessible Arts, which has the following mission, "to champion the arts for children with disabilities and advocate access to the arts." Read more about Danny and see some of his amazing pottery in the Shopping section of his website. His glaze work is as impressive as his forms.

The Steve Tool

The Steve Tool creates unique textures in thrown and handbuilt pottery. This versatile tool includes five starburst-shaped wheels which you can combine in different patterns to change the effect as you wheel it across the clay. After applying the texture, continue stretching and forming the clay to further enhance the effect. Easy to use and cost effective at under $20! Click the blog title to follow the link to more pictures and information, as well as a small gallery of finished examples.

Friday Five: July 5, 2007

1. We are still looking for a few good people to work here. Lou is leaving Bracker's to finish his engineering degree full time, Scott is going to be teaching this fall, Kristin is already in Ecuador, and Mike just told us he's taking a graphic design job, which is appropriate because his degree was all about graphic design. We will miss them, but we're looking forward to teaching a whole new crop of employees our bad puns about clay (it's dirt cheap, don't ya' know!).
2. It's been a disjointed week for us around here since we were closed the first part of the week. It seem strange that it's already Friday - I almost forgot to post today!
3. Are you familiar with Clayart? It's a subscription-based email group that's all about clay. I used to be involved years ago and read it very diligently, but I got way too busy to keep up with it on a regular basis. However, the archives can provide a wealth of information and opinions on a variety of topics. Looking for that perfect floating blue glaze recipe? Wanting to find out how other potters price their pots? Researching a famous potter for a term paper? You can really find almost anything posted in the archives, and all the information comes from potters all over the world (primarily the USA & Canada). Check out the Clayart website for information on how to subscribe or to search the archives.
4. My YouTube video of the week comes from Bill & Maggie Finley of Finley Pots in Mico, Texas. I can't remember when I first came across their pots, but I loved them so much I actually got a few of their luminaries for Mom & Cindy a few years back. Mom got a Texas-themed one (she's originally from Texas) and Cindy got a music-themed luminary (she graduated from KU with a music degree). The pots look really cool in the video and online, but they're even better in person!



And finally, 5. I didn't have a chance to do two things this week: post the recipes for some of the yummy treats we had during our anniversary week and post information about The Steve Tool. I will try to get that done tomorrow, unless we're swamped with walk-in customers. I do want to update everyone that we finally have our shipment of 30 Thomas Stuart Prodigy wheels in. If you ordered one, someone should have already contacted you by now.
Come on in and get 'em soon!

The World of Clay on Wednesday: Potters or Pyromaniacs?

Well, it IS Wednesday, even though we are closed for the 4th. I guess I should try to blog something, but all I can think about is the fun fireworks I've been blowing up. Then I started thinking about Raku, and how much I enjoy that also and I wonder...Am I just fire crazy? I think that's a common question in the minds of potters, especially those that do any kind of atmospheric firing. So I thought it would be fun for everyone to share a favorite fire moment in honor of the fourth. Please post a comment with YOUR favorite story, either about firING or fireWORKS! Happy Independence Day!
Cindy