During the very early days in Antoinettes' career. Malelane was paradise. Our children were young preschoolers; in fact, Tinyke was a 9 month old baby when we moved there. Koos was working at the sugar mill, a booming new industry for a region that previously relied on vegetables for their daily bread.

One of Antoinettes' earlier bowls. I am sure you will know what I mean when I say that decisions can sometimes cause big storms in one’s life. Koos and I put our house in Illinois on the market in late August and had it sold 2 weeks later. In these economic times that is almost unheard of, so when it happened, the storm was on and it came like a tsunami down on us. We had to move out of the house in less than 2 weeks, because the initial closing date actually happened on time and was not delayed like it so often times happen.

Open bowl by the late Robin Hopper. The Agateware technique in pottery (also known as Neriage) is popular among potters. The process appears to be simple: mix two different clay colors together and you have a marbled effect that mimic the agate stone.

​Porcelain is one of the strongest clay mediums if it is well designed, well glazed and fired. It has just like any other clay body its challenges. Maybe cracking and dunting of the clay, is among the most important problems that potters have to overcome.

There are many ways to create a base for a balloon bowl. In this short post Antoinette gives potters ideas of how to create foot rims for balloon bowls.

I used salt in my pit fire. I arranged the salt and copper around the pots that were nested in sawdust and I put on fire. Once it burned down, the fumes created beautiful reds and oranges on my pots.

​​When the clay edge touches first, you thin the edge and not the whole slab. Do not use force. Move your body like swinging a golf club when you throw the slab. ​In doing so, turn somewhat sideways and let your body swing along. If you slam it down too hard, the clay will stick to the table.

​Ai Weiwei, a contemporary artist and activist was born and grew up in China while his dad was in exile. Why did Ai Weiwei break a million-dollar Han Dynasty vase? Why did Maximo Caminero broke a Weiwei vase?

I was awarded a fellowship grant from the Mississippi Arts Commision. See how the grant money opened my eyes for new opportunities. Never did I realize how big influences of birds could be in my art.

Slab built porcelain cereal bowl. This is a video clip giving you information about my online dinnerware workshops. The focus is on porcelain and its design, but this class is suitable for any type of clay; if you want to use a smooth clay body, stoneware or earthenware, you can do it.

With parents, grandparents and neighbors who go to a supermarket for all their needs, children do not get examples of sewing clothing, baking bread and many other activities that were just normal and spontaneous ways of learning earlier on. Evening meals and even gardening became instant projects, depriving children from a way to get insight of how the world operates. Learn how to help students to obtain insight in normal class projects.

Ceramics is a broad term used for earth materials, like clay and glass, that are shaped and fired in kilns to create pottery and glass objects as art and craft projects. The ceramic industry is highly developed to create products for the paper, metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, and energy production.

I decided that my Christmas ornament of this year will be my beloved little figurine and while it never had a name, I decided this little doll always represented comfort, love, embrace and anything that has to do with the kindness in this world. This year I remember those who are suffering and my family and I are keeping them in our prayers on a daily basis. May “Remembrance” become a symbol of comfort and joy to you and your loved ones too.

There are only a handful of potters that first have an interest in glazes and then learn to make clay objects to support it. I have seen people with a science background obtaining an interest in glazes, but they will seldom make the objects themselves. They would rather find an existing potter and help them by developing their glazes for them. If you are one of those potters that have your own personal glaze maker, I would like to hear from you.

In this blog post I offer a series of images in which I demonstrate the process that I follow to create professional pinch pots. The basics of this instruction can be used to create any type of object, from bowls and teapots to animals and other small sculptural objects

Making ocarinas is a perfect project to teach people to make. Not only is it a perfect project of arts integration in schools, but it is one of those projects that teach the importance of precision. I have created a very basic one as the beginning of what may become another hobby.

All artists are confronted one or other time with shipping of their work. Often they end up disappointed and discouraged. The success of any shipping of artwork, start with the artist self. Too often they will spend expensive materials and dedicated time to the art process, but ship the work off to its destination as an afterthought

Art is a form of communication Porcelain perfume bottles from the displays at Parfumerie Fragonard in Grasse, France As artists, anything we experience, observe or do has an influence on the outcome of our art. It goes into our sub-conscience and eventually find it’s way out in the art we do. If we can convey a message that is understood by and that resonates with the public, we become successful artists.

When I was a child I always watched as my dad was watering the vegetable garden. He would use cans from canned food and plant them in strategic places to put the garden hose tip in. Then he would create little straight water channels in the earth, taking all obstacles like twigs and stones out of the way so that the water can flow easily right to where he wanted for it to go. All the water would flow in harmony with no spattering or stray flow.

​Potters often want to know what the differences are between cone 6 and cone 10 porcelain, and how it is affected in the type of kiln they have, or have to buy. To answer these questions, it is necessary to look at the character of porcelain.

Now that we established the concept of what porcelain is and how it differs from high firing to low firing porcelains, it is easier to decide what is a suitable kiln to have. If you are a truest, believing in only high firing of porcelain, you may also just believe in wood firing, the original firing process in which porcelain was developed in the days that it was still a secret known only to the Chinese.

During her "Understand Porcelain" online training, Antoinette points out the differences between stoneware, earthenware and porcelain. She explains why understanding porcelain is so crucial when it gets to the firing process

Teapots come from many years ago when the need developed to create a vessel in which tea leaves could be steeped to obtain an aromatic and soothing liquid to drink. Over the years the container developed from jugs or ewers to objects that have a spout and later a spout and a lid.

Most people that want to become potters start out with some basic classes. Depending on how eager they are to produce clay objects, they may start working on a potter’s wheel or hand build functional and sculptural ceramic works.

We all have to set up a kitchen at some point in our lives and when that happens, we have to make some clever decisions or else we will find ourselves very quickly in the position to buy again, either because we do not like what we have, or because it is unpractical, dated or it simply starting to break.

There are different approaches to throwing a tall bottle on a potters wheel. It is mostly strength, technique and lots of practice. When you learned how to throw a bottle, you will also know how to throw a big jug and how to make a large urn. The key is that you first have to know how to make a tall cylinder.

​I am sure you will know what I mean when I say that decisions can sometimes cause big storms in one’s life. Koos and I put our house in Illinois on the market in late August and had it sold 2 weeks later. In these economic times that is almost unheard of, so when it happened, the storm was on and it came like a tsunami down on us.

The question about porcelain handles cracking loose at the joints is often raised among potters. ​While it is easy to make stoneware handles successfully once pulling handles is mastered, ​it is often the #1 reason why potters want to stay away from creating porcelain. ​

Potters often ask my advice as to which porcelain clay body they should buy, especially when they want to do an online class with us. There are also a lot of confusion surrounding ^ 6 or ^10 kilns and their firing abilities.

In a recent post in Ceramic Solutions (a Facebook group managed by South African potter John Shirley), the question was asked if it is necessary to bisque fire porcelain on a slow schedule like earthenware and stoneware clay. In my opinion porcelain should be slow fired at any time.

​I always teach potters in my online and ​hands-on workshops that porcelain is the Diva of clay that wants to be treated like the queen among queens. Art students are normally amazed at what can be done with porcelain if it is approached with understanding and confidence.

​In 1955 Robin Hopper stepped into the ceramic world and established himself not only as potter, but as a teacher, author of many books, consultant, mentor to many potters as well as a garden designer. He was the first to be rewarded one of Canada's most prestigious awards, the Bronfman award.

​Lynn and I met with most of the potters right outside of Certaldo train station where La Meridiana personnel were awaiting us with shuttles. After a first meeting with artists over supper at a lovely restaurant with Pietro Maddalena, founder and owner of La Meridiana we went straight to bed, anticipating the next 2 weeks of activities.