Studio Update: Week 1

Week 1 in the new studio! This week I started with organizing my studio space. It's so nice to finally have a place to display my triaxial color tests so that I can refer to them easily. I have a window!! Which for some reason that is very exciting to me. This studio mixes all their own clay so I'm starting off my time here by testing out some small batches of clay to determine what would be a good fit for my needs. I'm looking for something with a rich, dark color that will look good with my engobes and something that will hand build well. I have three different clays I'm starting off with that I will do shrinkage tests, water of absorption tests and build a small slump mold form with each to determine if any are a good fit. I also mixed up a 6,000 gram batch of my engobe base to distribute and add colorants to. I have been dreading refilling my engobes for a while now because it is so time consuming but it will be best to start my time here with full cups. To end the week I am going to mix up several different clear glazes to color test once I chose a clay body.

Image 1: two clay bodies set up for a shrinkage test

Image 2: one plastic tote with some of my current engobes to refill

Image 3: mapping out which mason stains will be added to the engobes