Porcelain mice

Beautiful ARC Mice with Porcelain Designs
via Gizmodo

Tradition

Although many believe otherwise because of my Surname, Katz. I am unfortunately not one of God's chosen people. But that doesn't mean I don't love me some Judaica. So in honor of awesome ceramics and the second night of Chanukka. I present to you this menorah, with Porcelain match heads.
via- the Fabrik Project

Parker Posey Potter

I had to poach this from my friend Garth's Extreme Craft blog. There had been rumors floating around for years that actress Parker Posey was a Potter. A few years ago my wife, Miss Rose was assisting a class at Haystack where she was enrolled but had to cancel at the last minute. I'm sure she has to go film a fabulous movie in some fabulous location.
We Should start a list of celebrity potters.
1) Parker Posey
2) Barry Bostwick- Brad from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
3) ???
I guess you must have an alliterative name to be a celebrity Potter. So we're watching you, Armand Assante.

Wicked DIY

A Do-It-Yourself ceramic light shade by Metalarte
via Moco Loco

Deer God. This is too awesome

I don't know who makes this, but it is extremely awesome.

Emily Schroder

Emily is one of my old friends from Grad School. She makes my favorite pinch pots ever.

Fluffy Little Clouds

I love this mug. Fantastic use of Porcelain translucency.

We wish you a glarry Christmas...

the montreal based furniture retailer domison recently revealed a specially commissioned design installation
by the design studio paprika. the ‘ice tree’ by paprika was commissioned as a christmas decoration for the
store’s window installation. the tree is made from canadian mineral glass water bottles assembled together.
the piece contains over 300 bottles and took 4 people two days to produce. lights shine on the piece giving
it an ice-like sparkle. the installation will be on show until january.

Hey, Glass is a ceramic too.

Re-Hab

From Domestic Construction. A great use of Bone China and Translucent Porcelain Tea Cups. True tea-lights

General Awesomeness

That it all.

Solar Firing

I'm not sure how feasible this really is. I know that concentrated solar power is quite strong. But it is also quite concentrated, hence limited. One of the big problems with ceramics is efficiency. What we do as ceramicists wastes a lot of energy, and it is an issue to address. Ceramicists are very environmentally aware people, and we need to look into how to do things better.
I've embedded a video at the bottom of the post, from James May one of the host of the BBC show Top Gear exploring the possibilities of solar. I suspect the parabolic mirror is the method the person in the article is discussing.

Solar-powered glazing study produces partly cloudy results

Written by Erica Goldberg

Thursday, 18 December 2008

Photo supplied Jordan uses this device, made from mirors, to glaze ceramics. ENGLISH expat Christopher Jordan perplexed ceramic experts at the National Centre for Khmer Ceramics Revival in Siem Reap last Friday when he attempted to demonstrate what he says is an ancient technique for glazing pottery using mirrors and sunlight. But even he admits his demonstration was far from perfect and failed to fully prove his theory ... for now. Jordan built a solar panel device in an attempt to explain how the ancient Khmer coated large statues in glass and glazing. He cited the example of the three-meter-high statue of Shiva from 870 AD in the National Museum in Phnom Penh. "There's really no way to create ceramics like the Shiva statue without this technology. No one has come up with a better solution," he said. Jordan found his solution on the walls of a sanctuary in Egypt and now says the ancient Khmer similarly directed sunlight at several mirrors and used these mirrors as pens to "write" on the pottery "People were sceptical about whether you could melt ceramics with mirrors," said Jordan. After Friday's demonstration, people are still sceptical. On Friday, Jordan told the Post that his device reached 1,000 degrees Celsius in under a minute but needed to be 30 percent hotter to perform effectively. Instead, the mirrored sunlight created only a few splotches of glass on the pots. Despite the fairly sunny afternoon, Jordan claimed that "the sun wasn't hot enough". The centre's director, Serge Rega, said Jordan's approach was interesting but needed more research to develop the technology. "He only made a few glazes with solar power," said Rega. "But this could be the beginning of something."

Trikeenan

My favorite tiles out there, from Trikeenan Tileworks or Keene New Hampshire and Hornell, New York.

Andy Shaw

Of course I must use this blog to pimp my friends and favorites as well. So we will start off with my favorite potter. Mr. Andy Shaw.

Urban Gnomes

Vitamin out of England provide this great line of Urban Gnomes

Slipcast-Ceramics Blogging

Welcome to Slipcast-The Ceramics blog.
This blog will look at the world of ceramics from an artist's, teacher's, and clay maker's perspective.
I love ceramics, Not just pottery, all ceramics. I love slipcast figurines, I love post-modern ceramics, I love tile, everything gets me excited. My formal education is in ceramic art. I also am an expert in the technical side of ceramics. I have worked for 10 years as a consultant in the Ceramic Engineering field, and will post quite a bit on that too. I will also try to feature my favorite artists, Friends, things I find online, technical discussions, and everything else.
About Me
My name is Matthew Katz.
I am a ceramist, living in Alfred, NY.
I teach Materials at Alfred University-The New York State College of Ceramics.
I have a BFA from Alfred
I have an MFA from The University of Colorado-Boulder
I also work as a consultant in the Ceramic Engineering field.
I am currently starting a Gourmet Clay business, which will be shipping in September 2008. Find us at www.mattanddavesclays.com
(The link is dead at the moment, but the site will be up soon)
So I hope everyone will return