I Return!

Hi Katzes and Kittens!


I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was fantastic. First I need to apologize on Friday for taking a powder on the blog. I was involved in a covert project and I was unable to communicate to keep my mission secret.
You see Dr. Katz likes to sing. It has becomes his passion and every year about this time his Chorus has their big concert. It is a fantastic event, they write a script and do costumes, it is a big to do. This year. Dr. Katz was the star.

He played Sheriff Buck Aroo (That is him second from the left). He was the big star of the show, he cleaned up the town and ended up with the girl. Exceptionally triumphant. Mrs Katz and I had been conspiring to make him think that I was not going to be in attendance (She is a cruel Overlord that Mrs. Katz). While in actuality, I snuck down their way (7 hours, each way mind you) on Friday to surprise the good Doctor, and he was completely fooled. So I got to see the family, including Miss. Sarah, my Aunt and Uncle, and some old family friends. (Herr Doctor and Mrs. Joanne). And we had a wonderful time.


Now back to the real world.


A couple of things in the realm of Matt and Dave's Clays. The reviews have been pouring in, I have so many good reviews that I have a backlog, so big I don't know what to do with them.


Right now I want to feature a cliffhanger of a review.


Jim Gottuso over a the fantastic Sophia's Dad's Pots Blog, started a review of Porcelain for the People. He left us in suspense about exposing Porcelain for the People to his cruel and unusual torture known as "Hydro-Abrasion" Dun ,dun dun...


In this process Jim uses water to "Etch" the surfaces of his green pots. It is really cool, but strenuous to the pottery. I'll let Jim take it from here.

A while back Matt sent me some of Matt and Dave’s Porcelain For The People and I did a post about how I thought it threw. Although a bit different from the clay I’m used to which I would expect with any new clay, my overall feeling was that it was an excellent throwing porcelain. That being said, it was only a relatively small part of how I abuse clay so I withheld judgment until it went through the gauntlet. I decide to beat the hell out of it (at least metaphorically). First, it was thrown thin and then the foot trimmed just as I always do. Then I put on a layer of resist and usually I’m pretty gingerly at this point because I’m not trying to etch it too deeply because I know I’m gonna etch it again and the pot isn’t thick enough, but in this case I really etched it quite deep. I was trying to find out how the resist held up and how the clay responded to “hydro-abrasion”.

Two big thumbs up here as it worked very well on both counts. Then after drying completely, I applied more resist and did it again and still it held up extremely well, in fact some areas that were left were extremely thin, maybe 1/16″ – 3/32″ in places. I felt this would be interesting when I gripped the bisque pot with some glazing tongs. After the bisque, the pot was a bright white, even a touch brighter than what I currently use. For glazing I dipped it once, then applied wax all over the piece, wiped away the exposed areas and redipped again after drying. It was fired to ^6 and down-fired to 1500 degrees F. I have to say that Matt and Dave’s clay’s performance was excellent during the entire process. Here’s several pics of the same pot…

So Cool.  Thanks Jim


I don't know what Porcelain for the People can't do!


I other news. Those of you who are fans of Matt and Dave's Clays on Facebook (And why aren't you???), know that we have been working on T-Shirt designs. Well, the designs are off to the printers, so we should have them soon and up for sale on the Web Site. They are being made here in Alfred, NY and will be available in all sizes and all colors, as that color is white (I love color theory jokes).

I will let you know when they are available, so that you can help bring the Revolution!