Think of our channel as a figuring-it-out channel. Come explore with us! We hope you learn how to do some things here, but that’s not the main goal. We want to bring you along on a journey of art, and tell the story of each piece. We don’t know it all, but we share what we know. Knowing how not to do something can potentially be just as valuable as knowing how-to. We look forward to engaging with you.
Tim and Emily Burkhalter have a garage pottery studio in Temple, TX, and a website callustemily.com where they sell what they make. Our friends call us Temily...you can too!!! On callustemily.com you can see all the beautiful things from the videos, buy from our current stock, special order, or contact us directly. If you find yourself in the area, you can make an appointment to come look as well! We strive to live life to the fullest, and we welcome you along for the ride.
To shop products, sign up for news, or contact us, explore: callustemily.com or just comment!
There is also another video I did with some more techniques that you might find beneficial here: Must try pottery throwing techniques ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-94l13sZxgj4.html
I LOVE PORCELAIN! All my friends at pottery class think I am bonkers liking it! 😜 only think I don’t like is how much it shrinks! Stoneware is ok but I find I have to fight with it to tell it what to do! 😂
Just goes to show how important it is to have options!!! I have worked more with this clay and find it comes from the store too wet. That has helped. Thanks for commenting!
If you add a pinch of Mayco AC-310 silkscreen medium to your underglaze it thickens up and becomes much more easy to use for underglaze transfers made with silk screens. Stops it bleeding and you can go over the silkscreen more than once with it to get full coverage. Underglaze by itself is too thin. Hugs, Julie X
Heyyyyy!! I see I haven’t been getting your notifications!! What the heck. I have a lot to do tonight so preparing all my pieces for the gift shop I have my pottery in from May to October!! It’s sooo much work!! My gosh. A little memo board! How FUN IS THAT!!!! You are so damn funny!! Omg I am laughing so hard. I can’t imagine if we all compiled a collection of us being crazy in our studios when we have been alone too long!! Hahaha. I really love the finished piece. It’s such a great idea!!
Oh My Goodness! You have your pottery in a gift shop!?! That’s so awesome! I’ve been wondering where you’ve been. I think the whole notifications thing is kind of a joke these days. I am hoping to get a Patreon page up soon because I can’t set it up so that those that want all the notifications will get them that way even without paying. Especially since I haven’t been able to be very consistent lately. (RU-vid really punishes for that.) congrats on the gift shop thing. That is so cool.
@@CallUsTemily It really is odd that the videos don’t come up. Also I put in the search kiln opening and pottery etc and it takes forever to find new videos. Anyway I’ve had my pottery at the gift shop for 2 years now. The only down side is that it’s only Mother’s Day through the middle of October. I NEED to find another place or 2 that sells all year long. But I’m sure I will in time. Thank you so much for being such an awesome clay friend!!!
@micheledickey4066 thank you! I have my work online but it doesn’t sell that way. I would like to have a gift shop around here but the ones around me are saturated with cheap stuff or full and not taking pottery, or so expensive to get into that it’s just easier to do shows every now and then. I’m in a place right now where I think I might drop back and do stuff just for me for a while. I think that would also benefit the channel as well. We’ll see🤷🏻♀️ 😊
Technically you can’t. 🫤🤷🏻♀️ However, technically a hold is allowing more heat work to happen. It is essentially allowing the glaze to melt more than it otherwise would. So some things you can do to allow more heat work including putting a cone higher than your desired cone in the sitter, then watching your target cone fall and manually adjusting the percentage power dial to a lower power for 5 minutes after your target cone falls, or the speed dial at the bottom from high to medium for 5 minutes after your target cone falls. You could also put your target cone in the kiln sitter and, being there when it falls, lift the shut off lever, press the button and turn it back on for another 5 minutes. But in these cases you would always need to make sure you have a guard cone you can see in the peephole as well. However, I have never done anything like this before. I fire to hot cone six, so I do get a little bit of extra heat work on my pots, but keep in mind I am only relaying what I have heard. I will also say, if you know you have a Glaze that “requires a five minute hold” you can still use that glaze but don’t expect it to look the same as it would if it had that hold. It is more advantageous to work with glaze recipes that are designed to be used in a manual kiln. 🤷🏻♀️ This can get frustrating sometimes, but don’t give up it’s still worth it! 😊
I am new and so confused. I am making a porcelain doll. I was told to bisque fire it. if I do cone 06 can i still sand off seams and detail it after the bisque firing?
You can sand off seams with a green scrubby at the bone dry stage. Like the kind that come attached to sponges to wash dishes and bathtubs. It’s way easier to do that at greenware. I’m not sure why anyone would encourage you to send scenes after the Greenware stage. Maybe someone misunderstood what you were asking. However, as for would the clay, be soft enough to sand down at cone 06, it depends on your clay. If you have a mid or high fire clay (which porcelain will be) then it will be soft enough to still sand at the stage. It will be way harder to do, but it is possible. I would think you would have to do it with a Dremel or something like that in order to get the amount amount of pressure you would need and still preserve the details in the surrounding area.
LOVE your perseverance...if it worked for them, then I'm going to figure it out - that's like my whole life in a nutshell😂 especially the why does it have to be hard part. I took a ceramics class in high school in 2004 forever ago! I miss it. I subscribed. I enjoy your content. Maybe one day I can get back into pottery. ❤
Thanks so much!!! I try to make it entertaining for the general population I am glad to know you found it worth the watch. Welcome to the channel! And keep commenting! 😊
This video was incredibly informative thank you for putting in the time to make it. I’ve been having problems with my thermal expansion between clay and glaze and I think now it’s down to the bisque firing temperature. Time to try out my theory 🤞
That is a LOT of work Em. Thank you for doing all that so not only do we not have to do it ourselves but we dont have to try and tackle the dang math either 🙂
It was a challenge for sure. It is still going on as well! I am taking most of them down to 2.5% and 1.25% looking for some Easter pastels. Thanks for watching!
Yes you are totally correct! As was noted in the pop up texts- and I also said I wasn’t sure if I was using the terms properly. But thanks for bringing it to my attention, I was able to cut that whole section out of the video as it was unnecessary anyway. 🥴🤷🏻♀️. (It may take a few hours for RU-vid to update the edit though) This was 3 years ago and I was pretty much just Vlogging back then. Hopefully you will feel as I do that I have come a long way since. Although I have never thought of this channel as a how-to channel it more of a figuring-it-out channel. 🤪🤪🤪🤪. Have a great day!
I bought some stains from continental clay & need to test them, but I plan to buy the stains they didn’t have at their store on uspigment. This vid helped me make that decision lol where did you get those clear plastic bags with the string?
So glad to hear that!!! I assume you are taking about the bags in the background and those are shower caps! So you’re seeing the elastic. you can’t cinch them down but they’re great for so many things. I unloaded all the test tiles this morning and the video explaining the test process I used on all the samples I should have edited by next week ☺️ thanks for watching! Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.
Sorry pal. I’m not a pro and have had some learning issues. But I always edit the subtitles. So if you get one like this that drives you nuts. You can hit the cc button for closed captions and turn off the sound. I can’t win them all. 🥴🤷🏻♀️ ps. I would hire someone to fix it, as most do, but this channel has never brought me so much as a penny 🫤
I’m still not through testing all the colored clay colors and I can’t tell you the excitement I feel about the possibility of everything getting a clear coat and being done! 🥴🤪🤪🤪
@@CallUsTemily LOL.... I know mason stains like the back of my hand--- So easy to throw Amaco's zinc free clear over vibrant colored clay and declare it done. I will add that I also use gold luster to move the needle from 'yea, great ' to 'wow spectacular'. Yea, baby!
It moves automatically. That’s the way it amps up slowly. That prevents some of the risk of explosion from water vapor. It also may not reach all the way to 10. That’s fine too. Wherever it stops that’s full power. And that may even be different load to load. 😊
Maybe muddy was the wrong word … I used a zinc free clear. So….🤷🏻♀️ but the one with the clear isn’t muddy so much as it’s showing the difference in the thick and thin parts of the underglaze. This is common in my studio and a big reason why I am trying out colored clay. I feel like the issue had more to do with the lack of 3 coats of underglaze. I tried to get as much under glaze as possible but once the pater was saturated I really just moved it around rather than laying down more. 🥴🤷🏻♀️
Perfect video! I fired my first kiln for the first time this week. I think I started and stopped the kiln 2-3 times, as I forgot to place the witness cones in and later wanted to take photos of each shelf. Wish I had watched your video first! But I loved your explanation about when to use 04 and when 06. I brush glazes on, so am happy that I accidentally fired to cone 04. WHEW! I now have a checklist that I will place by the kiln shelf! Thanks!!
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy your new kiln and studio as much as I do. Just fyi Commercial glazes are formulated to go on either 06 or 04 with ample open time. If you make your own those are like trying to paint chalk on to 06 and are better at 04. Since this video I have also experimented with 08 and single fire 🔥 😲🤪 it’s a super fun journey welcome to the club ☺️
Thank you so much! I like making them but lately I’ve struggled with regularity. But I am hoping I can get into a rhythm again this year. keep watching and keep commenting, it makes my day ☺️☺️☺️
Oh My Goodness, it was a marathon. but I am so excited to see what comes of it that it’s worth it. The idea of no more painting kept me going! Everyone has that one thing that makes them crazy… mine is painting🥴🤪
How did I miss this? It’s been a month. I had to come here and look for new videos. My stupid phone doesn’t notify me! Do you have a gelli plate? I have tried to do this on a gelli plate and it just beads up. I’d love to see how you do. Wow girl!!! This is awesome!! How would you suggest doing this on a handbuilt piece? Just apply the paper over the piece when you’re don’t making it and leave it on overnight? These are sooo beautiful. I have a bunch of store bought mayco screenprints. How did you adhere the screen print to your table to be able to lift it up and continue making the prints on the paper?
Glad you found it! I just use a piece of masking tape and tape the screen to the table. Hand building should go much the same way. You may not be able to do it dry like I did at the end of this video because it wouldn’t have any extra moisture in the clay but I have found that leaving it overnight is best no matter what. I do have a gelli plate and I will be doing that eventually. But right now I’m trying to figure out colored clay. It has been challenging to say the least. However, I will say that when using the gelli plate, you should try dusting it with cornstarch until it’s no longer sticky. It should work if you do that 🤷🏻♀️. Glad to have you back!!!!😊
@@CallUsTemily Aaaw I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. For some reason I haven’t been getting notifications on my feed. I watch as many clay videos as I can find but I really have to hunt for them. It drives me crazy. I did try and use cornstarch. I think the main issue was the glaze was too wet.
Well it will be a while before I get to work on it. But that would make sense. Fighting the algorithms is a never ending battle. Sometimes I think it doesn’t show me what I want for the purpose of making me go find it! 😒🤪
Okay, I have the exact kiln and I'm wondering, should my cone 06 bisque be taking only 4.5 hours to fire before the cone dropping? It's also over-firing. I getting q gauge to readjust the kiln sitter, but I've been told by almost everyone that 4.5 hours is too fast. Does the firemate control when the kiln turns off or just the amount of power its getting? I tried setting the speed to low to slow down the bisque time, but the thumbwheel ramped up to a 5 within less than an hour and that made me nervous, so I put it back to normal and the thumbwheel slowed down. Does fast thumbwheel equal fast firing?
You don’t need to be concerned with how fast it’s going. Mine does an 06 fire in about 4 to 5.5 hours and a cone 6 in 7 to 8 3/4 hours roughly. What you need to be concerned with is whether or not there’s too much water to evaporate within the amount of time it takes the greenware to pass 212°F or the temperature at which water turns to steam. People who do slow firings are paranoid, or they are putting wet greenware into their kiln. If you put wet clay into a kiln it will explode as I explained in this video. If you have a piece that is wet and you can’t wait on it to dry see my video on oven drying clay. You can burn off all the water in your oven evenly and with control. Slowing down a firing, does not help or hurt your ceramic in anyway. It simply wastes electricity. That being said, water can sometimes hide. So we babysit, as I explained in the video. The thumb wheels only job is to slow down the speed through which the water burns off, 0 to 500°F. If you have an explosion in a bisque kiln, this is where it’s going to be. But the only reason that would happen is if you had wet green wear or a particularly humid environment. I even go a step further and start my kiln with the thumb wheel on three. You will also notice that the thumb wheel doesn’t always reach all the way to 10. That’s OK. Wherever it stops it just means it’s at full power at that point. Were you to need to slow down the water burn off, evidenced by steam, coming out of the top peep hole, simply turn the thumb wheel all the way around past 10 and back to one. But I have never had the need to do that, and I have never had anything explode in this kiln. As far as The Kiln, turning off, it has nothing to do with temperature or amount of power, or your thumbwheel. it has to do with a chemical reaction evidenced by the cone in your kiln sitter. When that chemical reaction takes place, at whatever temperature, the cone bends and shuts off the kiln. in this way, manual kilns are actually more accurate than programmable kilns. We can’t do fancy firings, and holds, and slow cool downs, but we can be confident that the chemical reaction necessary for our clay and glazes has been completed, -at least the area of the sitter- every time. Keep a spread sheet and good notes and you do great. And btw there is a part one about loading and preparing for firing as well. Clear as mud? 😜🤪
LOL i have had people ask me where they can buy that track! I guess you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but ya can’t please all of the people all of the time 🤷🏻♀️ thanks for watching! There is a more recent video on this where I have worked out some of the kinks. It has a different track. 😉
Not me 🤷🏻♀️ but I did think you were referring to the human figure. I never took Art, it was elective throughout my entire schooling. I was a singer so my electives were in music. I’ve only one very useless drawing class in college. It didn’t even teach scale. All my skills I learned in my parent’s bakery. Mom trained me as a cake decorator. As it happens many of those skills transfer quite nicely into Pottery. 😊
This is ceramic clay, so after drying it has to go into a kiln. But if you put it in the kiln before it’s fully dried then it will explode. Not so bad as to leave the confines of the kiln, but bad enough to ruin other work near it. The hard part is the waiting. Without doing something like this to speed up the process, some pieces can take up to a month to fully dry out. We potters are generally resigned to that but every now and then a drying hack is worth it! So it doesn’t just take the oven but many of the designing techniques, tools, and skills, you might see on this channel do cross over to all types of clay 😊
Not sure I understand exactly what your asking. If you are using ceramic clay, it will naturally dry out over time there’s no need to take it anywhere. That is the best way to dry ceramic clay- over time. With most clays, putting a freshly made piece in the oven might cause it to warp. However, if you need to transport a piece to be fired, then, minimize breaking and warping, it must be dry before transporting. If you are up against a deadline, that’s when you want to take a partially dried piece and finish the drying in the oven. Clear as mud? 🥴🤪
Yay! Welcome to the channel! I my goal is weekly and that usually turns to bi-weekly but still… no promises 🤷🏻♀️🥴 as of today doing RU-vid has not earned me a cent. so as of now, it’s strictly a donation of energy 🤪 thanks for watching!
GIRLLLL! I can not tell you how much I ADORE AND LOOOVE THAT LAUGH OF YOURS!! I could watch you alllll day!! I literally made 4 plates yesterday with slabs by just cutting out circles and pulling the edges up pretty unevenly. I love the look of the plates with fingerprints in them and uneven edges BUT… I realized that the thin edges are going to get chipped really easily when being stacked. This is awsome. Thanks! As you know I don’t throw YET, so im just wondering how long the plate sat before put it on the bat and pushed it down to flatten it? When handbuilding as you know we have ti dry things for weeks so this is one thing I know nothing about woth thrown pieces.
@@CallUsTemilyIm so confused. I saw you do the second piece and tou were mashing down the clay onto the bag and then you started adding a foot. I didnt see where you made It into a plate!! I thought you were just demonstrating how to put the foot on but then you licked it up AND IT WAS A PLATE! Hahaha Ok it was a chuck!! Hahaha. Had no idea! Lol
