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More of the Mayco Glazes, Please
As promised, here is part 2 of Testing Glazes and Clay Bodies in the Electric Kiln. I shared three Mayco glazes tested on three clay bodies, although I didn’t run a full glaze x clay body test. What I found is that I adore Kentucky Mudworks Speckled Brown Bear clay under anything — the Pullen Arts glazes, the Mayco glazes and even the Amaco Potter’s Choice Indigo Float. There was another Mayco glaze that I ran a patch test on,…
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Testing Glazes and Clay Bodies in the Electric Kiln
It’s been years since I ran a glaze firing from home, and this weekend we fired a load in preparation for a popup shop I'm participating in at Nadeau Furniture next weekend. I’ve primarily been working out of Pullen Arts Center, but I had a large stack of bisqueware that I could not fire at Pullen because the clay was purchased elsewhere. The three clay bodies I was firing were Kentucky Speckled Brown Bear (KSBB), Standard Clay 266, and the…
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Native Plant Rescue and the Return of Fire Pink
A year ago, I was on a native plant rescue along a greenway trail. We were tasked with digging up desirable plants from an area where the trail was being rerouted farther away from the unstable stream banks. The site was thick with Christmas ferns, mosses, trout lilies, and sedges. The rescued plants could be replanted in our own gardens or donated to public and private native gardens accepting contributions, but the goal was to save plants that would otherwise…
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New Skills Unlocked on the Pottery Wheel!
a journey back into pottery by learning to create a lidded vessel from a closed form
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Simple Habitat Cheats for Happy Coturnix Quail
One of the greatest enjoyments of keeping Coturnix Quail is watching their quirky behaviors when they are happy and healthy. The following habitat features create a healthier, cleaner environment that may reduce stress and aggression within the covey. BeddingThe key to good bedding is finding something with small enough particles that the quail can organically turn over as they scratch around. Large flake pine shavings are too large and will lead to poop that spreads over the flakes and then…
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Easy Sourdough – Start in the Bread Machine and Finish in the Oven
You will not find a recipe for artisanal bread in this post. Fancy scoring, overnight proofing, flouring a board -- none of it are here. Every other day I make a simple sourdough sandwich bread by starting the dough in my bread machine and finishing it in the oven. It goes through two rises in the machine, and a third rise in a loaf pan before baking in the oven.
