Ceramics Monthly Articles (Simple)

  • Recipes: Functional Surfaces
    Justin Rothshank and Rich Brown share recipes for slip, glaze, and added flux that they use to finish the surfaces of their utilitarian pots.
  • 2 Sanding the surfaces of a fired mug to soften edges and enhance tactile appeal.
    Tips and Tools: Post-Firing Cleanup
    There are a number of approaches to removing flux and bits of wadding from soda-fired works after the firing. Neil Celani discusses the ones that work best for him.
  • Techno File: No Grind Crystals
    Want to fire pots with mesmerizing crystalline glazes, but are put off by running glazes, catch basins, endless grinding, and firing up to cone 10? What if you could achieve great crystals at cone 6, without all the hassle?
  • Thoughts on Collaboration
    Working potter Justin Rothshank’s passion for collaboration fuels projects with fellow ceramic artists and potters, and even led to several playfully decorated pieces painted by his children.
  • Didem Firat: Embracing the Simple and Imperfect
    After a career as a technical translator, Didem Firat embarked on a new career as a potter. She embraced the opportunity to leave behind the precision required in translation and to explore the organic, loose, malleable qualities of clay.
  • Working Potter: Yesha Panchal
    Assisting other artists and art centers and working part time in clay-related jobs to earn a living helped Yesha Panchal define her goals, refine her work, and then take the leap into life as a full-time artist.
  • Working Potter: Rich Brown
    Transferring the creativity and curiosity that he used to engage middle school students to his career as a full-time potter has helped Rich Brown to seek out new learning opportunities, engage and grow his audience, and weather unexpected obstacles.
  • Working Potter: Lakyn Bowman
    Along with selling thrifted vintage home décor, Lakyn Bowman creates pots that are inspired by the colors, surfaces, and forms of vintage wares.
  • Studio Visit: Mitch Pilkington, South Molton, North Devon, UK
    A compact, organized studio behind Mitch Pilkington’s house in what was formerly a loft and stables provides space for creation of her expressive coil-built vessels.
  • Clay Culture: Rain City Clay
    When Loren Lukens mentioned he was planning to sell his studio and gallery, Deb Schwartzkopf knew it would be a great location for the educational facility she and her team at Rat City Studios had been discussing.
  • Exposure: June/July/August 2022
    Images from current and upcoming exhibitions.
  • Quick Tip: Grabbing Pots
    Traditional glazing tongs are perfect for simultaneously dipping the inside and outside of a pot or for grasping the top of a pot to dip upright.
  • 2 Didem Firat’s mugs. Photo: Hüma Önal.
    From the Editor: June/July/August 2022
    In Ceramics Monthly’s annual focus on working potters, several artists share the decision making, acquired skills, and planning—both long and short term—that enable them to earn a majority of their income from their studio practices.
  • Spotlight: Shifts Over Time
    Stephanie Galli describes the development of her work and career since being featured as an Emerging Artist in 2017.
  • Call for Entries: May 2022
    Information on submitting work for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals.
  • Recipes: Red Clay Ready
    These glaze and terra-sigillata recipes from Ruth Easterbrook, Megs LeVesseur, and Taylor Mezo accentuate red clay bodies at low-fire and mid-range temperatures.
  • Tips and Tools: Transferring Images
    The unique surface of Gelli printing plates allows for silk-screened underglaze images to be transfered onto bisque-fired ware. Shawna Pincus shares her process.
  • Techno File: Bentonite vs. Kaolin
    When used in small amounts of 0.25–2%, bentonite will have a similar ability to suspend dry ingredients in a glaze as occurs with the use of 10% kaolin. So, which should you use?
  • 2022 Emerging Artist: Verity Howard
    Abstraction is central to my practice. The pieces I make result from abstracting marks, textures, surfaces, and forms that, together, create a new interpretation of things I see and experience.
  • 2022 Emerging Artist: Michelle Im
    Whether it is pigeons paired with bananas or poodles with beach balls, I try to approach all of this in a humorous, even childlike way. In the end, the goal is to create objects that bring joy and lightheartedness to everyday life.