<![CDATA[Iker Bonsai Pots: Latest News]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:01:07 +0000 <![CDATA[Just Outside the Studio Window]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/just-outside-the-studio-window/ Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:22:01 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/just-outside-the-studio-window/ Most mornings, when I walk out to the studio, I never know what might be waiting outside the window. Living along the East Fork River in rural southern Ohio, we get a surprising variety of visitors—deer and their fawns, flocks of wild turkeys, raccoons, opossums, cicadas, foxes, hummingbird moths, and even the occasional bald eagle. Some wander right past the studio; others keep their distance along the woods or water.

I’m certainly no wildlife photographer — most of these photographs were taken through a window or from just outside the door. But these unexpected encounters are one of the pleasures of working here. They provide a welcome interruption, a reason to look up from whatever I’m doing, and a reminder that there is always something going on beyond the studio walls.

]]> Most mornings, when I walk out to the studio, I never know what might be waiting outside the window. Living along the East Fork River in rural southern Ohio, we get a surprising variety of visitors—deer and their fawns, flocks of wild turkeys, raccoons, opossums, cicadas, foxes, hummingbird moths, and even the occasional bald eagle. Some wander right past the studio; others keep their distance along the woods or water.

I’m certainly no wildlife photographer — most of these photographs were taken through a window or from just outside the door. But these unexpected encounters are one of the pleasures of working here. They provide a welcome interruption, a reason to look up from whatever I’m doing, and a reminder that there is always something going on beyond the studio walls.

]]> <![CDATA[Blending Tradition and Tech in Bonsai Pottery]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/blending-tradition-and-tech-in-bonsai-pottery/ Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:05:56 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/blending-tradition-and-tech-in-bonsai-pottery/ Exploring a Little Technology in My Handmade Process

Lately I’ve been exploring how a little technology can fit into my old-school, hands-on pottery process. I’ve always embraced the natural flow of hand-formed and thrown pieces. I’ve never pursued high-volume matched sets or developed a line of pottery. I’ve never used molds, jiggers, or complex formed ribs in my making process.

My work is one of a kind, and I tend to let the clay drive the form. I deeply respect the discipline and skill required to replicate the same form over and over, but my own rhythm is more intuitive and yields variety in output that better matches the styles of pots I want to produce. Each has its own design consideration.

When My Process Met a Laser Cutter

Last year, though, my longtime process crossed paths with a little technology: laser cutters. They’d been on my radar for a while, probably a remnant of my technical background and interests.

Could this technology fit into my handmade process without dulling its soul? Eventually, curiosity won. I finally settled on a CO₂ laser that felt right for the studio. I’m not here to review the machines—just to share what happened when I let it into my process.

A Surprisingly Versatile Tool

This tool has proven to be surprisingly versatile. It cuts wood, plastic, silicone, and hard rubber, which means I can design and make my own pottery tools—ribs, trimming tools, stamps, and more—all customized for the application I need.

One example: a longtime customer of mine had an idea for a custom pot with a wide, rounded band around the middle outside. That’s not an easy form to throw cleanly. So I designed and cut a rib using the laser. Normally, I stay away from anything that feels like a template, but this one? It made the form possible without feeling mechanical. It was still very much my hand guiding the process.

Custom Clay Stamps

My favorite discovery so far has been the creation of custom clay stamps. The laser’s built-in scanner can take a hand-drawn signature or picture and turn it into a perfect, cut-ready design.

You can literally sign your name on a scrap piece of paper, scan it, resize it, and cut the negative so it stamps cleanly in the clay. One of the first projects was a stamp of my bonsai logo I made for mugs I give to friends and family around the holidays. I also offer these on my website in a limited and numbered release.

Beyond Stamps

Sure, you could buy dozens of custom stamps for what the cutter costs. But the freedom to make what you want—any time, any size in about 15 minutes—is something else entirely.

And it goes beyond stamps. Say I’m throwing a pot and can’t quite get the rim profile where I want it. I can sketch the line, scan it, and cut a custom rib while the clay is still on the wheel. I also understand that making adhesive-backed thin masks is possible. I haven’t tried that yet, but no doubt I will.

Keeping the Handmade Soul

My concern was that having this capability in the studio might drive a more mechanical feel or make it tempting to shortcut the hand-formed process. The fact is, it does offer that possibility—I just don’t allow myself to go that route.

Looking ahead, I see real potential in creating custom or personalized stamps for gifting or commemorative pieces. Years ago, I was asked to make a set of wine goblets for a small rural church that wanted a few religious images on them. It was mostly a favor, and I ended up overcommitting on the design work. To pull it off, I hand-carved each image from rubber stamp material so I could press them into the clay. It took forever, and I was never completely satisfied with how they turned out—though, fortunately, my friend was thrilled. Having the equipment I do now would’ve made that project a whole lot easier—and a lot more fun.

Just Another Tool in the Kit

This tool is just another in the kit. I still look over at it in the studio and wonder if it belongs there. But when it pulls me out of a tough form or extends my capability a bit, I think it does.

]]> Exploring a Little Technology in My Handmade Process

Lately I’ve been exploring how a little technology can fit into my old-school, hands-on pottery process. I’ve always embraced the natural flow of hand-formed and thrown pieces. I’ve never pursued high-volume matched sets or developed a line of pottery. I’ve never used molds, jiggers, or complex formed ribs in my making process.

My work is one of a kind, and I tend to let the clay drive the form. I deeply respect the discipline and skill required to replicate the same form over and over, but my own rhythm is more intuitive and yields variety in output that better matches the styles of pots I want to produce. Each has its own design consideration.

When My Process Met a Laser Cutter

Last year, though, my longtime process crossed paths with a little technology: laser cutters. They’d been on my radar for a while, probably a remnant of my technical background and interests.

Could this technology fit into my handmade process without dulling its soul? Eventually, curiosity won. I finally settled on a CO₂ laser that felt right for the studio. I’m not here to review the machines—just to share what happened when I let it into my process.

A Surprisingly Versatile Tool

This tool has proven to be surprisingly versatile. It cuts wood, plastic, silicone, and hard rubber, which means I can design and make my own pottery tools—ribs, trimming tools, stamps, and more—all customized for the application I need.

One example: a longtime customer of mine had an idea for a custom pot with a wide, rounded band around the middle outside. That’s not an easy form to throw cleanly. So I designed and cut a rib using the laser. Normally, I stay away from anything that feels like a template, but this one? It made the form possible without feeling mechanical. It was still very much my hand guiding the process.

Custom Clay Stamps

My favorite discovery so far has been the creation of custom clay stamps. The laser’s built-in scanner can take a hand-drawn signature or picture and turn it into a perfect, cut-ready design.

You can literally sign your name on a scrap piece of paper, scan it, resize it, and cut the negative so it stamps cleanly in the clay. One of the first projects was a stamp of my bonsai logo I made for mugs I give to friends and family around the holidays. I also offer these on my website in a limited and numbered release.

Beyond Stamps

Sure, you could buy dozens of custom stamps for what the cutter costs. But the freedom to make what you want—any time, any size in about 15 minutes—is something else entirely.

And it goes beyond stamps. Say I’m throwing a pot and can’t quite get the rim profile where I want it. I can sketch the line, scan it, and cut a custom rib while the clay is still on the wheel. I also understand that making adhesive-backed thin masks is possible. I haven’t tried that yet, but no doubt I will.

Keeping the Handmade Soul

My concern was that having this capability in the studio might drive a more mechanical feel or make it tempting to shortcut the hand-formed process. The fact is, it does offer that possibility—I just don’t allow myself to go that route.

Looking ahead, I see real potential in creating custom or personalized stamps for gifting or commemorative pieces. Years ago, I was asked to make a set of wine goblets for a small rural church that wanted a few religious images on them. It was mostly a favor, and I ended up overcommitting on the design work. To pull it off, I hand-carved each image from rubber stamp material so I could press them into the clay. It took forever, and I was never completely satisfied with how they turned out—though, fortunately, my friend was thrilled. Having the equipment I do now would’ve made that project a whole lot easier—and a lot more fun.

Just Another Tool in the Kit

This tool is just another in the kit. I still look over at it in the studio and wonder if it belongs there. But when it pulls me out of a tough form or extends my capability a bit, I think it does.

]]> <![CDATA[​Bonsai Pot Selection]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/bonsai-pot-selection/ Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:17:35 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/bonsai-pot-selection/ Choosing the Right Bonsai Pot – More Than Rules and Ratios

I am often asked which bonsai pot pairs best with a particular tree. I’m always happy to help, but I also know my answers sometimes feel vague. As a potter and artist, I genuinely want you to own a pot that speaks to you. But as a bonsai potter, I also know that choosing the right vessel involves more than simply liking how it looks. The goal is always to create harmony between tree and pot.

So what’s the formula? You’ll find endless “rules,” ratios, and tidy charts defining pot selection. They’re useful, but they don’t tell the whole story.

First Impressions Matter

When I match a tree to a pot, I start very simply—with that first glance, the immediate impact of the composition. Just like in painting, we work to guide the viewer’s eye. A strong composition makes an instant statement. It feels balanced, harmonious, and emotional.

If your eye jumps immediately to the pot, perhaps it’s overpowering the tree. If the tree feels too dominant, the landscape feels unsettled. Neither should overwhelm the other. They should support a single vision and work together.

Taste, Experience, and a Little Freedom

We all bring different levels of experience and personal taste to bonsai. My honest “potter’s opinion” is this: if you love your composition, that is what matters most. It’s your tree, your expression, your joy.

That said, if you enter shows or competitions, you step into a different world—one where judges evaluate based on established conventions. There are expectations and traditions, and yes, a bit of structure. A bonsai planted in a football helmet or bedpan probably won’t be taken very seriously… although for the record, I have made everything from skulls to bones for clients, and I applaud that creativity. The rebel in me smiles every time.

Rules Have a Place—But They Aren’t Everything

Books on bonsai mention pot selection, but rarely in depth. The internet offers far more guidance, including the common standards: pot proportions, trunk thickness relationships, style-to-shape guidelines, and more. These are good principles. They help lead you toward balance.

But for me, fixating on rules misses the point. If you focus on composition, emotion, and the story your bonsai tells, many of those rules naturally fall into place.

Let the Landscape Guide You

Bonsai reflects nature in miniature. A broom style tree might echo a gentle hillside landscape, surrounded by meadow and soft grasses. That image calls for a pot that feels natural, subtle, and quiet in design and color.

A tree marked with jin or shari suggests lightning, wind, survival, and raw strength. That image demands a pot with presence—something rugged, earthy, perhaps unglazed, that adds to the drama rather than softens it. Alpine survivors clinging to life on cliff edges should live in pots that feel equally primal and weathered.

Work with the landscape you’re trying to evoke. Place the tree in its “native” world. The right pot should help transport the viewer there.

Inspiration Is Everywhere

Most of us keep folders full of bonsai images we admire, along with examples of great pots. I also recommend keeping photos of trees in nature—interesting shapes, windswept silhouettes, ancient giants on mountainsides. These are incredible sources of inspiration. Many of my favorite vacation photos are simply trees I couldn’t walk past without stopping.

Nature teaches composition better than any rule list ever could.

Color, Texture, and the Final Test

Nature gives us the best color combinations. Look to the environment your bonsai represents—rock, sand, forest floor, alpine stone, meadow, coastline. That will guide glaze, surface, and form choices.

And yes… after all this, I still won’t give you a strict checklist. Because part of bonsai’s magic is in the search, the evolution, the quiet moment when tree and pot suddenly belong together. That’s art.

So here’s my final test:

Does it make you smile?

Do you pause every time you walk past it?

Does it bring you joy?

If so—then it’s perfect. Even if it is a football helmet.

A Final Thought

The photo below was taken by my son during his 2,600-mile hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2011. These ancient trees, shaped by unrelenting wind and weather, tell stories centuries old. There are no smooth lines. No gentle curves. Only the raw emotion of survival and strength.

If you were to create this tree in bonsai, the pot choice becomes obvious. It must carry that same emotional weight. That’s what great pairings do—they complete the story.

]]> Choosing the Right Bonsai Pot – More Than Rules and Ratios

I am often asked which bonsai pot pairs best with a particular tree. I’m always happy to help, but I also know my answers sometimes feel vague. As a potter and artist, I genuinely want you to own a pot that speaks to you. But as a bonsai potter, I also know that choosing the right vessel involves more than simply liking how it looks. The goal is always to create harmony between tree and pot.

So what’s the formula? You’ll find endless “rules,” ratios, and tidy charts defining pot selection. They’re useful, but they don’t tell the whole story.

First Impressions Matter

When I match a tree to a pot, I start very simply—with that first glance, the immediate impact of the composition. Just like in painting, we work to guide the viewer’s eye. A strong composition makes an instant statement. It feels balanced, harmonious, and emotional.

If your eye jumps immediately to the pot, perhaps it’s overpowering the tree. If the tree feels too dominant, the landscape feels unsettled. Neither should overwhelm the other. They should support a single vision and work together.

Taste, Experience, and a Little Freedom

We all bring different levels of experience and personal taste to bonsai. My honest “potter’s opinion” is this: if you love your composition, that is what matters most. It’s your tree, your expression, your joy.

That said, if you enter shows or competitions, you step into a different world—one where judges evaluate based on established conventions. There are expectations and traditions, and yes, a bit of structure. A bonsai planted in a football helmet or bedpan probably won’t be taken very seriously… although for the record, I have made everything from skulls to bones for clients, and I applaud that creativity. The rebel in me smiles every time.

Rules Have a Place—But They Aren’t Everything

Books on bonsai mention pot selection, but rarely in depth. The internet offers far more guidance, including the common standards: pot proportions, trunk thickness relationships, style-to-shape guidelines, and more. These are good principles. They help lead you toward balance.

But for me, fixating on rules misses the point. If you focus on composition, emotion, and the story your bonsai tells, many of those rules naturally fall into place.

Let the Landscape Guide You

Bonsai reflects nature in miniature. A broom style tree might echo a gentle hillside landscape, surrounded by meadow and soft grasses. That image calls for a pot that feels natural, subtle, and quiet in design and color.

A tree marked with jin or shari suggests lightning, wind, survival, and raw strength. That image demands a pot with presence—something rugged, earthy, perhaps unglazed, that adds to the drama rather than softens it. Alpine survivors clinging to life on cliff edges should live in pots that feel equally primal and weathered.

Work with the landscape you’re trying to evoke. Place the tree in its “native” world. The right pot should help transport the viewer there.

Inspiration Is Everywhere

Most of us keep folders full of bonsai images we admire, along with examples of great pots. I also recommend keeping photos of trees in nature—interesting shapes, windswept silhouettes, ancient giants on mountainsides. These are incredible sources of inspiration. Many of my favorite vacation photos are simply trees I couldn’t walk past without stopping.

Nature teaches composition better than any rule list ever could.

Color, Texture, and the Final Test

Nature gives us the best color combinations. Look to the environment your bonsai represents—rock, sand, forest floor, alpine stone, meadow, coastline. That will guide glaze, surface, and form choices.

And yes… after all this, I still won’t give you a strict checklist. Because part of bonsai’s magic is in the search, the evolution, the quiet moment when tree and pot suddenly belong together. That’s art.

So here’s my final test:

Does it make you smile?

Do you pause every time you walk past it?

Does it bring you joy?

If so—then it’s perfect. Even if it is a football helmet.

A Final Thought

The photo below was taken by my son during his 2,600-mile hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2011. These ancient trees, shaped by unrelenting wind and weather, tell stories centuries old. There are no smooth lines. No gentle curves. Only the raw emotion of survival and strength.

If you were to create this tree in bonsai, the pot choice becomes obvious. It must carry that same emotional weight. That’s what great pairings do—they complete the story.

]]> <![CDATA[Customer Bonsai in Iker Pots]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/customer-bonsai-in-iker-pots/ Sat, 01 Nov 2025 09:12:29 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/customer-bonsai-in-iker-pots/ I always enjoy getting pictures of customer trees in my pots (or anyone else's for that matter). I post the latest 20 or so here, with permission of the submitter. 

Luther U. from Virginia sent me these three pictures of his Hinoki Cypress and two kusamono plantings. All 3 in my pots.  Very nice!

I received an email from Chris, D. with his euphorbia lactea cristata variagata in one of my pots that won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair plant show this weekend.

Nice, Chris, and I really appreciate the picture.  

 

I received these pictures from a long time customer, Evan Pardue, of his wonderful entry at the Bonsai in Bayou 2024.  Evan is the Nursery Manager at Underhill Bonsai in Folsom, Louisiana. He won best accent with his Kusamono which was in one of my pots. The tree and accent are both very nice.  


 

Chris Darkes has been a long time customer of mine.  He is also a fellow buckeye. Last year he asked me to make a custom pot for the tree in the pictures below. Really nice tree, Chris!

 

 

Jerry Meislik, sent me this picture of his Fortunella hindsii in one of my pots. I believe the common name for this tree is Hong Kong kumquat. What a wonderful and unique tree. I was very excited to see it in one of my pots. Jerry is familiar to anyone who has spent even a little time around Bonsai. He is a teacher, lecturer and author in the art of Bonsai. His latest book, The World of Ficus Bonsai, is an invaluable resource for anyone interest in tropical bonsai. Jerry has a great website Bonsaihunk.com that is packed with information about Bonsai cultivation and care. His website also links to his blog which Jerry keeps up to date and is also packed with great bonsai reading.

 

Jerry informed me this week that this tree and pot was has been accepted to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington DC. Wow, very exciting for Jerry and I truly appreciate him letting me know.  Thanks for the pot choice, Jerry!

Mike Horine, Rocky Mountain Bonsai, sent me this picture of his Mountain Mahogany in one of my pots.  NICE tree, Thanks Mike!

The following two photos are from Robert M., Laguna Beach, CA.  These are both Bougainvillea in Iker Pots.  Lovely. Thanks Robert!

The following photos are from Mike Horine, Colorado. They are some of Mike’s wonderful trees and accents in some of my pots.

Photo credit: Mike Green

1st PhotoNew Mexico privet, needle juniper accent tree.

2nd photo New Mexico Privet, Hosta accent.

3rd Photo Gray Oak, Viola accent, Erodium accent tree(red pot)

4th Photo Mountain Mahogany, chocolate chip bugleweed/Viola Sweetheart accent plant

Nice Tree from Robb in Mississippi in a cracked finish pot.

These two photos are from Zach Smith, Bonsai South.  I highly encourage you to visit his Website.  He has a lot of nice bonsai and pre bonsai for sale and a ton of great information.  Zach's website is www.bonsai-south.com

The next two photos are from Ed Trout.  Ed requires little introduction.  He has an excellent website as well.  All you have to do is google Ed and you will find a wealth of images and articles. 

The next 4 photos are from Bruce Winter in Hawaii.  Bruce has not only a love for Satsuki Azaleas but a genuine talent as well.  

The next two photos are from Aaron Khalid, Lakeshore Bonsai.  The first is of a larch forest planting.  Very pleased to have his trees in my work. Aaron's website is: www.lakeshorebonsai.com

I receive this photo from Don Casselman, California of his beautiful Kingsville Boxwood. 

Susan Bennett of Ontario sent me this picture of a toad tucked into her bonsai.  It's a Where's Waldo picture.  Awesome!

This next group of pictures are from Michael Mehrmann.  Michael has such a flair for accent plants and he puts my pots to good use in his compositions.  Love these. 

This next group of Bonsai are from Mitch Boatman, Cedar Bog Bonsai.  Mitch is an Ohio guy and is pretty active on both Facebook and Instagram.  Mitch's blog is www.cedarbogbonsai.wordpress.com

The next group of pictures are from Mike Horine, Colorado.  Mike has been a long time customer and has a LOT of information and pictures on his website at: www.rockymtnbonsai.com.

This next group is from Mike as well.  The pictures were from the 20126 Rocy Mountain Bonsai Show

Dave Bartucci from Canada sen me this picture of his Japanese Black Pine. Nice.

This next picture came from Barry Eisenberg.  Nice tree Barry. 

The following Beech is from Judy B., Ohio.  Thanks Judy!

Nice Fukien from a great customer, Frank A., Wilminton, DE

Great example of wiring on this nice Fukien from Dan Crossley, Tennessee.  Thanks, Dan. 

Crescent Moon pot with a really nice tree from Chris Darkes, Ohio.  Chris is constantly adding new trees to his collection and has been a good customer for a while.  Thanks, Chris!

]]> I always enjoy getting pictures of customer trees in my pots (or anyone else's for that matter). I post the latest 20 or so here, with permission of the submitter. 

Luther U. from Virginia sent me these three pictures of his Hinoki Cypress and two kusamono plantings. All 3 in my pots.  Very nice!

I received an email from Chris, D. with his euphorbia lactea cristata variagata in one of my pots that won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair plant show this weekend.

Nice, Chris, and I really appreciate the picture.  

 

I received these pictures from a long time customer, Evan Pardue, of his wonderful entry at the Bonsai in Bayou 2024.  Evan is the Nursery Manager at Underhill Bonsai in Folsom, Louisiana. He won best accent with his Kusamono which was in one of my pots. The tree and accent are both very nice.  


 

Chris Darkes has been a long time customer of mine.  He is also a fellow buckeye. Last year he asked me to make a custom pot for the tree in the pictures below. Really nice tree, Chris!

 

 

Jerry Meislik, sent me this picture of his Fortunella hindsii in one of my pots. I believe the common name for this tree is Hong Kong kumquat. What a wonderful and unique tree. I was very excited to see it in one of my pots. Jerry is familiar to anyone who has spent even a little time around Bonsai. He is a teacher, lecturer and author in the art of Bonsai. His latest book, The World of Ficus Bonsai, is an invaluable resource for anyone interest in tropical bonsai. Jerry has a great website Bonsaihunk.com that is packed with information about Bonsai cultivation and care. His website also links to his blog which Jerry keeps up to date and is also packed with great bonsai reading.

 

Jerry informed me this week that this tree and pot was has been accepted to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington DC. Wow, very exciting for Jerry and I truly appreciate him letting me know.  Thanks for the pot choice, Jerry!

Mike Horine, Rocky Mountain Bonsai, sent me this picture of his Mountain Mahogany in one of my pots.  NICE tree, Thanks Mike!

The following two photos are from Robert M., Laguna Beach, CA.  These are both Bougainvillea in Iker Pots.  Lovely. Thanks Robert!

The following photos are from Mike Horine, Colorado. They are some of Mike’s wonderful trees and accents in some of my pots.

Photo credit: Mike Green

1st PhotoNew Mexico privet, needle juniper accent tree.

2nd photo New Mexico Privet, Hosta accent.

3rd Photo Gray Oak, Viola accent, Erodium accent tree(red pot)

4th Photo Mountain Mahogany, chocolate chip bugleweed/Viola Sweetheart accent plant

Nice Tree from Robb in Mississippi in a cracked finish pot.

These two photos are from Zach Smith, Bonsai South.  I highly encourage you to visit his Website.  He has a lot of nice bonsai and pre bonsai for sale and a ton of great information.  Zach's website is www.bonsai-south.com

The next two photos are from Ed Trout.  Ed requires little introduction.  He has an excellent website as well.  All you have to do is google Ed and you will find a wealth of images and articles. 

The next 4 photos are from Bruce Winter in Hawaii.  Bruce has not only a love for Satsuki Azaleas but a genuine talent as well.  

The next two photos are from Aaron Khalid, Lakeshore Bonsai.  The first is of a larch forest planting.  Very pleased to have his trees in my work. Aaron's website is: www.lakeshorebonsai.com

I receive this photo from Don Casselman, California of his beautiful Kingsville Boxwood. 

Susan Bennett of Ontario sent me this picture of a toad tucked into her bonsai.  It's a Where's Waldo picture.  Awesome!

This next group of pictures are from Michael Mehrmann.  Michael has such a flair for accent plants and he puts my pots to good use in his compositions.  Love these. 

This next group of Bonsai are from Mitch Boatman, Cedar Bog Bonsai.  Mitch is an Ohio guy and is pretty active on both Facebook and Instagram.  Mitch's blog is www.cedarbogbonsai.wordpress.com

The next group of pictures are from Mike Horine, Colorado.  Mike has been a long time customer and has a LOT of information and pictures on his website at: www.rockymtnbonsai.com.

This next group is from Mike as well.  The pictures were from the 20126 Rocy Mountain Bonsai Show

Dave Bartucci from Canada sen me this picture of his Japanese Black Pine. Nice.

This next picture came from Barry Eisenberg.  Nice tree Barry. 

The following Beech is from Judy B., Ohio.  Thanks Judy!

Nice Fukien from a great customer, Frank A., Wilminton, DE

Great example of wiring on this nice Fukien from Dan Crossley, Tennessee.  Thanks, Dan. 

Crescent Moon pot with a really nice tree from Chris Darkes, Ohio.  Chris is constantly adding new trees to his collection and has been a good customer for a while.  Thanks, Chris!

]]> <![CDATA[Preparing Bonsai and Pots for a Midwest Winter | Iker Bonsai Pots]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/preparing-bonsai-and-pots-for-a-midwest-winter-iker-bonsai-pots/ Fri, 17 Oct 2025 09:43:04 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/preparing-bonsai-and-pots-for-a-midwest-winter-iker-bonsai-pots/ Preparing Bonsai and Pots for a Midwest Winter

Here in the Midwest, winter is bearing down on us, and that means it’s time to start thinking about how to protect bonsai through the cold months ahead. Trees left outside will need some level of protection to survive our fluctuating conditions.

My Winter Setup

I use cold frames with the glass whitewashed and the lids propped open for air circulation. This setup lets me control the amount of rain and snow that reaches my trees. The goal isn’t to shield them from the cold itself, but to moderate rapid temperature changes. Around each pot, I pack mulch to help insulate and reduce freezing and thawing cycles.

Are My Pots Frost-Proof?

I get this question a lot — and the short answer is yes, with a few important notes. All of my work is made from vitrified stoneware, fired to the point that it can’t absorb moisture. This vitrification process is key to preventing spalling — the cracking or flaking that happens when moisture inside clay freezes.

Open clay bodies, such as terracotta or earthenware, can absorb up to 25% of their weight in water, making them vulnerable to freeze damage. Vitrified stoneware, by contrast, is non-porous and won’t absorb moisture — an essential quality for long-term outdoor use. Many imported low cost pots are made from earthenware. 

The Real Cause of Winter Breakage

When pots crack in winter, the culprit is almost always frozen water inside the pot, not the clay body itself. Water expands by about 4% when it freezes — enough to split a steel pipe, let alone a ceramic pot.

That’s why I focus on controlling moisture rather than avoiding cold. Protecting your bonsai from direct rain and managing water levels through winter storage are crucial. Even the best-draining soil will eventually reach saturation if exposed to too much winter moisture. And while we worry about the pot, the real concern is the tree — its roots still need air and balance, even in dormancy.

Pot Shape and Expansion

Pot shape can also influence how well it weathers winter. A pot that flares outward toward the top will experience less stress from ice expansion than one that narrows at the rim. It’s all about how the pot contains that expanding ice.

I’ve kept both styles outdoors for years without issue, but the key is still the same: manage waterlogging and freezing, and your pots will last virtually indefinitely outdoors.

Snow: Nature’s Blanket

There’s nothing more beautiful — or protective — than a fresh layer of snow on bonsai. Snow holds right around 32°F, insulating trees from harsh winds and deep freezes. Just be mindful: snow also means added moisture, so don’t let it build up to the point of waterlogging your pots.

Lessons From the Field

Last winter, I had a few trident maple pre-bonsai planted out in a field. It never occurred to me that deer might enjoy those tender branches — until they did. This year, I’ve built hardware cloth covers to keep them safe. Luckily, my visiting deer had an excellent eye for bonsai styling; the trimming it left behind wasn’t half bad.

A Season of Rest

Dormancy is an essential part of the natural rhythm — for both bonsai and the bonsai artist. Preparing your trees for winter doesn’t take much work, but preparing yourself for the slower season ahead might. Embrace the quiet months. It’s all part of the process. 

]]> Preparing Bonsai and Pots for a Midwest Winter

Here in the Midwest, winter is bearing down on us, and that means it’s time to start thinking about how to protect bonsai through the cold months ahead. Trees left outside will need some level of protection to survive our fluctuating conditions.

My Winter Setup

I use cold frames with the glass whitewashed and the lids propped open for air circulation. This setup lets me control the amount of rain and snow that reaches my trees. The goal isn’t to shield them from the cold itself, but to moderate rapid temperature changes. Around each pot, I pack mulch to help insulate and reduce freezing and thawing cycles.

Are My Pots Frost-Proof?

I get this question a lot — and the short answer is yes, with a few important notes. All of my work is made from vitrified stoneware, fired to the point that it can’t absorb moisture. This vitrification process is key to preventing spalling — the cracking or flaking that happens when moisture inside clay freezes.

Open clay bodies, such as terracotta or earthenware, can absorb up to 25% of their weight in water, making them vulnerable to freeze damage. Vitrified stoneware, by contrast, is non-porous and won’t absorb moisture — an essential quality for long-term outdoor use. Many imported low cost pots are made from earthenware. 

The Real Cause of Winter Breakage

When pots crack in winter, the culprit is almost always frozen water inside the pot, not the clay body itself. Water expands by about 4% when it freezes — enough to split a steel pipe, let alone a ceramic pot.

That’s why I focus on controlling moisture rather than avoiding cold. Protecting your bonsai from direct rain and managing water levels through winter storage are crucial. Even the best-draining soil will eventually reach saturation if exposed to too much winter moisture. And while we worry about the pot, the real concern is the tree — its roots still need air and balance, even in dormancy.

Pot Shape and Expansion

Pot shape can also influence how well it weathers winter. A pot that flares outward toward the top will experience less stress from ice expansion than one that narrows at the rim. It’s all about how the pot contains that expanding ice.

I’ve kept both styles outdoors for years without issue, but the key is still the same: manage waterlogging and freezing, and your pots will last virtually indefinitely outdoors.

Snow: Nature’s Blanket

There’s nothing more beautiful — or protective — than a fresh layer of snow on bonsai. Snow holds right around 32°F, insulating trees from harsh winds and deep freezes. Just be mindful: snow also means added moisture, so don’t let it build up to the point of waterlogging your pots.

Lessons From the Field

Last winter, I had a few trident maple pre-bonsai planted out in a field. It never occurred to me that deer might enjoy those tender branches — until they did. This year, I’ve built hardware cloth covers to keep them safe. Luckily, my visiting deer had an excellent eye for bonsai styling; the trimming it left behind wasn’t half bad.

A Season of Rest

Dormancy is an essential part of the natural rhythm — for both bonsai and the bonsai artist. Preparing your trees for winter doesn’t take much work, but preparing yourself for the slower season ahead might. Embrace the quiet months. It’s all part of the process. 

]]> <![CDATA[Introduction to Ceramics ]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/introduction-to-ceramics-/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:43:11 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/introduction-to-ceramics-/ Ceramics has been a decades long focus of my attention, interest, and need to make art. It is how I express myself, it is where I find diversion and peace. This is a little bit of my story and offers a few ideas for yours.

Early man created pottery for utilitarian purposes. It allowed him to store, transport and prepare his food. But for all its utility it also provided a surface for decoration and adornment. No matter what man’s invention, he has always expanded utility to include art. Everything man has ever made was adorned for visual appeal no matter how functional or utilitarian the item. I believe this is the essence of pottery. It is the embellishment of utility to an art form.

Ceramics is an art that expresses the artist’s message through both form and function. Function and art are not mutually exclusive. A hand thrown mug can exhibit both function and beauty. An artistic piece most often imitates a piece of functional work.

I possess little if any raw or developed two-dimensional artistic talent. I can sketch a form but I cannot draw a cat. I can create an engineering drawing but I cannot paint a sunset. I am much more comfortable with a third dimension. Shape and form touches me. My eyes and mind operate spatially.

My appreciation for ceramics covers many aspects. I love the process and the inclusion of equipment and technology. I find the details rich and interesting. I love the fact that a child can evoke the same elegance of form as a tenured potter. It’s not the technical correctness of the thrown form; it is the suggestion of motion, flow and color that lends beauty to a piece. Some of my favorite personal pieces are my least technically correct. My kitchen cupboard is filled with coffee mugs, bowls and plates of varying sizes, forms and colors. Together they state a single personal theme; they are mine and they are favorites. I have thrown thousands of pieces. Some I fussed over without satisfaction, some rose effortlessly from the wheel and to continue would only diminish the form.

I often hear this comment: “I’ve always wanted to try that” There is something about pottery that seems to pull people in with the notion that not only does it look like fun, but it also seems like something they think they could do. Both are true.

The purpose of this article is simple. I’d like to promote ceramics and give you a basic understanding of what is involved. I would hope to give you enough information to stir your interest and peak your curiosity. While many of my processes are my own I do follow relatively standard ceramic procedures that apply to most applications of the art form. As you’ll discover there are as many ways to accomplish the same process but there are general guidelines that hold true no matter what. I’ll cover the process only as an overview. There are hundreds of books, DVD’s, and internets sites available that describe process in more detail.

I often start my classes by asking if anyone owns any handmade pottery. It is rare to find anyone in a pottery class that didn’t get there through admiration of someone else’s work. If you can see value in craft, if you appreciate and recognize the feel of a handmade piece over a cast “perfect” vessel, you have 50% of the requirement for being a good potter behind you. You have separated yourself. You have the ability to recognize intrinsic value and a raw appreciation for the handmade vessel. If you cannot feel the”hand” of the potter, if your eye only appreciates the monotonous perfection of mass produced ceramics then look for others means of artistic expression.

The next requirement involves the issue of patience. Are you already ordering an art fair tent? You would be surprised at just how many people I’ve met whose mind has worked that far forward before they ever get mud on their hands. They see themselves first as the person responsible for the creation, second as one capable of creating. It’s all about the process - love the process, not the result… yet. Love of the process will yield the result you seek.

Making a pot in a classroom environment has its rewards. Glazing your pots with studio glazes and firing in the studio kiln s fun as well. However, working your own materials, making your own glazes, choosing your own clay bodies and developing your own style is the end-game. Work toward the goal of feeling comfortable calling yourself a potter. It is a description that will evade you throughout your journey. The most accomplished potters I have met are also the most humble. It is rare to find a potter that is completely satisfied with their work.

Pottery Classes

Due to the need for specific equipment, most people tend to start out in a class environment. There are other approaches and I will discus those a bit later. Taking a class is also an excellent way to get a feel for the art and your true interest. Most of us have a closest somewhere in the house where we hide projects or crafts that we plan to get back to one of these days. You would have been so much beter off had you been able to rent or borrow the equipment and tools. Taking a pottery class affords you the opportunity to do just that in additional to the benefit of getting professional instruction.

Almost every major city in the country has teaching studios. Often YMCA’s and other community centers offer pottery classes. These classes are relatively inexpensive but the disadvantage is that they often have less than modern equipment and at times less than ideal instructors. My suggestion is that you look on the Web or yellow pages and find a teaching studio that offers small classes with good equipment and plenty of kiln capacity. You will want some of your first successful pieces fired. Be sure your studio has the equipment and ability to handle firing and that they have a variety of equipment to allow you to experience it’s use. You will want to get the entire experience of a working studio, not a place where a quilting class will take place in two hours.

I would like to tell you that people in ceramics are all wonderfully open and inviting people. For the most part they are. However, as with anything that involves groups of people involved in common interests there tends to be studio cliques formed. Frankly, some studios can come off as unfriendly and pretentious. You will pick this up on your first visit. If they do not take the time to show you around and make you feel at home, move on. Some studios will drop a newbie in the middle of their intermediate classes just for tuition fee. This is not comfortable and I suggest you avoid it entirely. Ask about their beginners classes and state your apprehension. You should be in a class with a willing instructor with like-skilled future potters. You are going to mangle some clay so be sure the experience is fun, not embarrassing or stressful. Trust me; clay mangling is not just for the new potter. Even the most experienced potter folds a form occasionally.

Pottery always brings the image of a potter’s wheel to mind. Ceramics is a deep and expansive artistic medium. There are ceramic artists who never turn a wheel on. There are accomplished potters who throw entirely on a wheel. There are those who concentrate on earthenware, hand painted pottery, and those who specialize in high-fired stoneware. There are hand builders, wheel potters, sculptors, tile makers, and mold makers. There is a place within ceramics for your talents. The art is open to all. All that is necessary is desire.

If the thought of a potter’s wheel intrigues you, start with a throwing class. If you find that a little too intimidating then take a hand building class. Both afford you the opportunity to get your hands dirty. Some studios will require you to start with a hand building class to introduce you to the basics. That is fine, and probably a good idea. However, I find that a student who just wants to experience the wheel needs to be on one ASAP. It is your money and your time. You can still be introduced to the details along the way.

What I do recommend is that you take both hand building and wheel throwing eventually. It is important that you understand the processes of both. A wheel thrown pot can be embellished with the addition of feet or handles. A hand built piece may benefit from the addition of wheel thrown elements. I use both daily in my studio and my work.

Go It Alone

Can you teach yourself ceramics? Of course, you can teach yourself anything. Is it a good idea? It depends upon you. Truthfully, I had a wheel long before I ever took a class. However, I built my own wheel. My initial excursion into pottery was as much a fascination with the wheel and its workings as it was anything else. I have an engineering background and an aversion to buying anything that I can build. My problem is recognizing my limitations in manufacturing a piece of equipment in the garage with hand tool. Actually, I have never recognized my limit, but that is a whole other story. The fact is, I throw on my own wheel today. It has all the bells and whistles, electronic speed controller, DC brushless motor, all that. I have used many professional wheels and find myself favoring my own.

My first kiln was an old used Paragon I bought for $50 from the classified ads. It did not have a kiln sitter or electronic controller. I fired quite a bit of work in that broken down kiln. In addition to being a safety hazard it required that I stay with the kiln throughout the firing. Shutoff involved a thermometer and yanking the plug. Glaze and clay body maturity was almost a guessing game. Today my kilns have computer controlled firing and cooling programs and operates without my involvement. While the convenience of technology leaves more time to create, learning to fire with a manual kiln greatly expands your knowledge and feel for the process. For the record, I’d not go back.

Eventually I realized I needed to spend some time around tenured artists. I spent about a year in a class and shared studio environment. The experience was worthwhile but short lived, probably due to my own impatience. Once I picked up some fundamental techniques, I became bored and felt constrained so I went back to my studio to refine my techniques. Beyond actual studio classes, I find 2-3 day seminars to be excellent ways to interact with your peers, gain some outside expertise, and keep both your process and work fresh.

I later spent some time teaching beginner’s classes but again found the process too structured and quite frankly I did not agree with the studio’s approach to starting students out. It almost seemed desirable to convince the students that pottery was complicated and tedious. Regardless of what conventional teaching techniques dictate I felt that it was important to move to a place of satisfaction as soon as possible. Don’t make a new student spend 4 weeks centering a piece of clay when you can help them along and help them make a coffee mug they can actually use and enjoy. Centering and technique will come along a little at a time.

Working on your own is as simple as buying a few boxes of clay, a rolling pin, and board to work on. Many studios rent kiln space and prepared glazes are readily available at either your local pottery supply or off the internet. The craft is within your reach no matter what your budget or level of interest.

Cost

Potters wheels are like treadmills; a lot of people have them, few use them. EBay, Craig’s List, and classified are full of slightly (if ever) used pottery wheels. A kiln is nice to have but there is always kiln space available for rent. You could very easily purchase a used wheel and the tools you would need to set up a beginner studio for $500 - $1,000 if you take your time and shop well.

If a new wheel is what you’re after go to the Internet. As much as I prefer buying from local sources, I also prefer getting a deal. Wheels are so incredibly reliable these days that buying from an internet supply house is riskless. Many very good suppliers on the Net will stand behind your purchase as well as the shop down the street. Savings are usually in the hundreds of dollars. There are numerous manufacturers and a wide range of prices. Most features are almost identical. I do recommend buying the largest wheel head you can afford and be sure to see if the wheel has a reversing switch in the event you are a leftie like me.

There are some very nice kilns out there at good prices. My first real pottery kiln was an Olympic 1818HE with an electronic controller. I believe these are still in the $1000 range and can produce very professional work up to cone 10. Today I have L&L kilns. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Prepared Clay

I have worked with my own formula, prepared clay, locally dug clay, and recycled clay from my bins. There are so many good prepared clays out there it would be nearly impossible not to find one that meets your needs and preferences. Due to the high cost of shipping clay it is important that you find a local pottery supplier to buy from. All of the clay suppliers list dealers. You can Google these names for more information on clay:

  • Standard Clay
  • Laguna Clay
  • Highwater Clay

One major decision you will need to make is what type of clay and at what cone you will work with. There is nothing to say that you can’t work in all, but develop skills in one area and then move to others. You will see clays listed by firing range and clay type. There are three basic types of clay. These are earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.

Before we can discuss clay type you need to understand “cone”. Cones are simply a measure of the heat required to fire your clay. They are essentially a temperature sensitive ceramic cone that melts at a specific temperature. They give you the ability to measure heat work. Once they bend to the point where the tip touches the temperature for that cone has been reached.

Earthenware is a low fire clay. When fired it produced a hardened but open (porous) body. Terra Cotta clay planters are earthenware. They will wick and expel moisture. There are air pockets between the fired clay particles. Earthenware would break if water logged and frozen. Earthenware can be, and is often glazed. Earthenware glazes tend to hold their vibrant colors better when fired than the higher fired stoneware glazes which tend to be more earth toned and muted.

Midrange stoneware is considered cone 6 clay. This clay body is vitrified at cone 6 (2180 deg F). It will fire to a hardened state where water will not penetrate the body. The clay has moved to an almost glass phase (vitrification). It will have a distinctive stoneware ring when tapped. It is suitable for cooking and drinking vessels, planters, plates, bowls, and art pottery.

High fired stoneware is not much different other than it is fired to cone 10 and may be additionally vitrified depending on the clay body. Glaze tends to react somewhat differently at cone 10 than 6 but there are many potters working at cone 6 and producing work identical to cone 10. Most cone 10 potters work with gas or wood fired kilns to reach these high temperatures but today most electric kilns are capable of reaching cone 10.

There is a general trend toward Cone 6 stoneware driven by cost savings and the impression they are “greener”. I suppose there are a few supporting points to this but I find mid range to be user friendly and more predictable as far as results are concerned. It is really a personal preference. There is not much“green” about the clay firing process. It is energy intensive no matter what the fuel. As much as I would like to have a wood-fired kiln I cannot justify the volume of wood the process consumes. I do not consider myself a tree hugger but I take ethical exception to the process. Gas and electric is a much better option from a pure green perspective.

Porcelain is best left for later in your development. It can be challenging to throw and form. Due to porcelain’s delicate and transparent properties, it is usually thrown very thin. It is most often a high fire clay body. Porcelain makes an excellent long range target for your development.

Just for reference the actual temperatures of these cones are as follows:

  • Earthenware Cone 04 (1980 deg F)
  • Mid Range Stoneware Cone 6 (2180 deg F)
  • High Fire Stoneware Cone 10 (2250 deg F)

Process Overview

As earthy, folksy, and organic as pottery may seem the process is somewhat involved. It’s not necessarily complicated but the craft is certainly a technically rich field. It is a never ending learning process.

Shaping a block of clay into a meaningful or functional form is only a small part of the ceramic process. There are really 6 major phases from start to finish.

  • Preparing the clay
  • Forming the clay by wheel or by hand
  • Proper and slow drying of the clay
  • Bisque firing
  • Glaze application
  • Final firing to melt the glaze and vitrify the clay

I’ve touched on the forming process. The next and very important phase is drying the piece. Clay gives up water slowly and somewhat unevenly. It is important to retard the drying process so that the piece stays relatively the same level of saturation throughout the drying process. If a piece is dried unevenly it will warp and possibly crack either at the drying phase or later in firing. Often pieces are covered with plastic or kept in a drying box to even out and slow down the drying. A piece will usually shrink 5 – 10% during initial drying. This shrinkage is due to the volume of water being subtracted from the volume of the piece. The overall volume is reduced.

Most work is fired in two steps. The first is called bisque. This first firing burns out the organic compounds in the clay and hardens the clay but keeps the body open like a sponge so that glaze will absorb into the surface and stick.

The next step is to glaze the piece by either dipping, brushing or spraying. The piece will absorb the water from the glaze and leave a layer of the glaze solids on the surface. The piece must be again dried to evaporate the water. This process can take place quickly and a potter will often place these pieces where there is heat or a draft just to expedite the process.

The final firing is where all of the magic happens. This is the final cone firing to bring the clay to vitrification and melt the glaze. The early part of this firing can go somewhat quickly since all of the organics are already burned out. The objective is to reach the temperatures above the bisque level to finalize the glaze melt.

How much temperature and over what time varies by stage of the process and development of firing schedules is an article in itself. The important point is, this information is readily available and in a format that can be understood and mastered. It is NOT as complicated as it sounds. Anyone with the desire can absorb and apply these steps with ease. It is merely a matter of research and following directions.

Many types of finishes can be achieved by varying the firing temperatures and ramp speeds. Using gas or wood fired kilns will result in much different finishes than electric primarily due to the amount of oxygen present in the process. This is referred to as oxidation and reduction atmospheres. An electric kiln fires in an oxidation atmosphere. A gas or Wood kiln is capable of reduction. Again, it is intriguing and interesting but not overwhelmingly complicated. These are not things you have to be an expert on to get a start in Ceramics. They are development and learning issues.

 

Many of the pots I produce have no glaze at all. I use a variety of ceramic oxides and ceramic stains to add color or highlight to the piece. I apply these by either spraying or hand rubbing after the bisque. I do on occasion single fire some pieces. This process combines the bisque and glazing firing heat profile to allow you to load a dried raw clay piece and finish with a fully vitrified piece in one kiln firing. This is an area I experiment with continually. I like the natural finishes it gives me and I really like the single-fire process from a onmental responsibility perspective.

 

 

The Joy of Serendipity

The most intriguing aspect of ceramics is the tenuous control you sometimes have over the outcome. It is rare to have your expectations satisfied. The results are sometimes disappointment, sometimes pleasant surprise. Clay and glazes are a living medium. They react to their firing environment, temperature, location in the kiln, and chemical makeup. My best creations are often my least expected. A pot can pick up a blush of color from a pot sitting next to it in the kiln. A form can settle into a more organic shape during firing. A change in clay body can react totally different to your favorite glaze. Colors can mute or alter, finishes softens or gloss. This may sound like controlled chaos, but it is not. Control of the process comes from experimentation and perseverance. Experimentation and perseverance develops individual style.

Due to the type of work I produce I have an accepted rate of failure. I specialize in bonsai pottery which is essentially a bowl form with the addition of feet and holes. Both features tend to cause cracking and warp-age. Rectangular and oval pots are usually a combination of hand, slab, and wheel built parts that are joined at assembly. These wide flat forms are also very prone to cracking and warping. I have spent many years developing my own clay formulas that minimize these faults. As cliché as it may sound, ceramics is a journey. It is a never ending investigation of what works and what doesn’t. This is all part of the enjoyment of ceramics.

When things work it is very fulfilling. When it doesn’t, take it in stride, hit it with a hammer, and try it again. If you can’t let go, mediocrity will fill your shelves. Set a high standard for your work and take failure as a learning experience.

Ceramics Information

I have two favorite monthly publications, Ceramics Monthly, and Pottery Making Illustrated. You would be hard pressed to find a table or bookcase in my house that doesn’t have a dog eared copy of one of those two. I highly recommend you get a subscription. They are informative, idea generating publications. Visit some art fairs and look at other’s work. Do them and yourself a favor and purchase a few pieces. You will be supporting the ceramics community and expanding your collection.

INTERNET POTTERY SUPPLIES - just to mention a few

Sheffield Pottery Ceramic Supply

Big Ceramic Shop

Axner Pottery and Ceramic Supplies

Bailey Pottery Supplies

Clay world

Kentucky Mudworks

Sheffield Pottery Supplies

PUBLICATIONS

Ceramics Monthly

Pottery Making Illustrated

Clay Times

Studio Potter

INTERNET CERAMICS COMMUNITIES

Clay Art http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clayart/

Ceramic Arts Daily http://ceramicartsdaily.org/

Ceramic Arts Community http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/

 

Commissioned 24” Semi Cascade Pot

Copyright, 2015, Chuck Iker, Iker Bonsai Pottery, Batavia, Ohio www.ikerbonsaipots.com

]]> Ceramics has been a decades long focus of my attention, interest, and need to make art. It is how I express myself, it is where I find diversion and peace. This is a little bit of my story and offers a few ideas for yours.

Early man created pottery for utilitarian purposes. It allowed him to store, transport and prepare his food. But for all its utility it also provided a surface for decoration and adornment. No matter what man’s invention, he has always expanded utility to include art. Everything man has ever made was adorned for visual appeal no matter how functional or utilitarian the item. I believe this is the essence of pottery. It is the embellishment of utility to an art form.

Ceramics is an art that expresses the artist’s message through both form and function. Function and art are not mutually exclusive. A hand thrown mug can exhibit both function and beauty. An artistic piece most often imitates a piece of functional work.

I possess little if any raw or developed two-dimensional artistic talent. I can sketch a form but I cannot draw a cat. I can create an engineering drawing but I cannot paint a sunset. I am much more comfortable with a third dimension. Shape and form touches me. My eyes and mind operate spatially.

My appreciation for ceramics covers many aspects. I love the process and the inclusion of equipment and technology. I find the details rich and interesting. I love the fact that a child can evoke the same elegance of form as a tenured potter. It’s not the technical correctness of the thrown form; it is the suggestion of motion, flow and color that lends beauty to a piece. Some of my favorite personal pieces are my least technically correct. My kitchen cupboard is filled with coffee mugs, bowls and plates of varying sizes, forms and colors. Together they state a single personal theme; they are mine and they are favorites. I have thrown thousands of pieces. Some I fussed over without satisfaction, some rose effortlessly from the wheel and to continue would only diminish the form.

I often hear this comment: “I’ve always wanted to try that” There is something about pottery that seems to pull people in with the notion that not only does it look like fun, but it also seems like something they think they could do. Both are true.

The purpose of this article is simple. I’d like to promote ceramics and give you a basic understanding of what is involved. I would hope to give you enough information to stir your interest and peak your curiosity. While many of my processes are my own I do follow relatively standard ceramic procedures that apply to most applications of the art form. As you’ll discover there are as many ways to accomplish the same process but there are general guidelines that hold true no matter what. I’ll cover the process only as an overview. There are hundreds of books, DVD’s, and internets sites available that describe process in more detail.

I often start my classes by asking if anyone owns any handmade pottery. It is rare to find anyone in a pottery class that didn’t get there through admiration of someone else’s work. If you can see value in craft, if you appreciate and recognize the feel of a handmade piece over a cast “perfect” vessel, you have 50% of the requirement for being a good potter behind you. You have separated yourself. You have the ability to recognize intrinsic value and a raw appreciation for the handmade vessel. If you cannot feel the”hand” of the potter, if your eye only appreciates the monotonous perfection of mass produced ceramics then look for others means of artistic expression.

The next requirement involves the issue of patience. Are you already ordering an art fair tent? You would be surprised at just how many people I’ve met whose mind has worked that far forward before they ever get mud on their hands. They see themselves first as the person responsible for the creation, second as one capable of creating. It’s all about the process - love the process, not the result… yet. Love of the process will yield the result you seek.

Making a pot in a classroom environment has its rewards. Glazing your pots with studio glazes and firing in the studio kiln s fun as well. However, working your own materials, making your own glazes, choosing your own clay bodies and developing your own style is the end-game. Work toward the goal of feeling comfortable calling yourself a potter. It is a description that will evade you throughout your journey. The most accomplished potters I have met are also the most humble. It is rare to find a potter that is completely satisfied with their work.

Pottery Classes

Due to the need for specific equipment, most people tend to start out in a class environment. There are other approaches and I will discus those a bit later. Taking a class is also an excellent way to get a feel for the art and your true interest. Most of us have a closest somewhere in the house where we hide projects or crafts that we plan to get back to one of these days. You would have been so much beter off had you been able to rent or borrow the equipment and tools. Taking a pottery class affords you the opportunity to do just that in additional to the benefit of getting professional instruction.

Almost every major city in the country has teaching studios. Often YMCA’s and other community centers offer pottery classes. These classes are relatively inexpensive but the disadvantage is that they often have less than modern equipment and at times less than ideal instructors. My suggestion is that you look on the Web or yellow pages and find a teaching studio that offers small classes with good equipment and plenty of kiln capacity. You will want some of your first successful pieces fired. Be sure your studio has the equipment and ability to handle firing and that they have a variety of equipment to allow you to experience it’s use. You will want to get the entire experience of a working studio, not a place where a quilting class will take place in two hours.

I would like to tell you that people in ceramics are all wonderfully open and inviting people. For the most part they are. However, as with anything that involves groups of people involved in common interests there tends to be studio cliques formed. Frankly, some studios can come off as unfriendly and pretentious. You will pick this up on your first visit. If they do not take the time to show you around and make you feel at home, move on. Some studios will drop a newbie in the middle of their intermediate classes just for tuition fee. This is not comfortable and I suggest you avoid it entirely. Ask about their beginners classes and state your apprehension. You should be in a class with a willing instructor with like-skilled future potters. You are going to mangle some clay so be sure the experience is fun, not embarrassing or stressful. Trust me; clay mangling is not just for the new potter. Even the most experienced potter folds a form occasionally.

Pottery always brings the image of a potter’s wheel to mind. Ceramics is a deep and expansive artistic medium. There are ceramic artists who never turn a wheel on. There are accomplished potters who throw entirely on a wheel. There are those who concentrate on earthenware, hand painted pottery, and those who specialize in high-fired stoneware. There are hand builders, wheel potters, sculptors, tile makers, and mold makers. There is a place within ceramics for your talents. The art is open to all. All that is necessary is desire.

If the thought of a potter’s wheel intrigues you, start with a throwing class. If you find that a little too intimidating then take a hand building class. Both afford you the opportunity to get your hands dirty. Some studios will require you to start with a hand building class to introduce you to the basics. That is fine, and probably a good idea. However, I find that a student who just wants to experience the wheel needs to be on one ASAP. It is your money and your time. You can still be introduced to the details along the way.

What I do recommend is that you take both hand building and wheel throwing eventually. It is important that you understand the processes of both. A wheel thrown pot can be embellished with the addition of feet or handles. A hand built piece may benefit from the addition of wheel thrown elements. I use both daily in my studio and my work.

Go It Alone

Can you teach yourself ceramics? Of course, you can teach yourself anything. Is it a good idea? It depends upon you. Truthfully, I had a wheel long before I ever took a class. However, I built my own wheel. My initial excursion into pottery was as much a fascination with the wheel and its workings as it was anything else. I have an engineering background and an aversion to buying anything that I can build. My problem is recognizing my limitations in manufacturing a piece of equipment in the garage with hand tool. Actually, I have never recognized my limit, but that is a whole other story. The fact is, I throw on my own wheel today. It has all the bells and whistles, electronic speed controller, DC brushless motor, all that. I have used many professional wheels and find myself favoring my own.

My first kiln was an old used Paragon I bought for $50 from the classified ads. It did not have a kiln sitter or electronic controller. I fired quite a bit of work in that broken down kiln. In addition to being a safety hazard it required that I stay with the kiln throughout the firing. Shutoff involved a thermometer and yanking the plug. Glaze and clay body maturity was almost a guessing game. Today my kilns have computer controlled firing and cooling programs and operates without my involvement. While the convenience of technology leaves more time to create, learning to fire with a manual kiln greatly expands your knowledge and feel for the process. For the record, I’d not go back.

Eventually I realized I needed to spend some time around tenured artists. I spent about a year in a class and shared studio environment. The experience was worthwhile but short lived, probably due to my own impatience. Once I picked up some fundamental techniques, I became bored and felt constrained so I went back to my studio to refine my techniques. Beyond actual studio classes, I find 2-3 day seminars to be excellent ways to interact with your peers, gain some outside expertise, and keep both your process and work fresh.

I later spent some time teaching beginner’s classes but again found the process too structured and quite frankly I did not agree with the studio’s approach to starting students out. It almost seemed desirable to convince the students that pottery was complicated and tedious. Regardless of what conventional teaching techniques dictate I felt that it was important to move to a place of satisfaction as soon as possible. Don’t make a new student spend 4 weeks centering a piece of clay when you can help them along and help them make a coffee mug they can actually use and enjoy. Centering and technique will come along a little at a time.

Working on your own is as simple as buying a few boxes of clay, a rolling pin, and board to work on. Many studios rent kiln space and prepared glazes are readily available at either your local pottery supply or off the internet. The craft is within your reach no matter what your budget or level of interest.

Cost

Potters wheels are like treadmills; a lot of people have them, few use them. EBay, Craig’s List, and classified are full of slightly (if ever) used pottery wheels. A kiln is nice to have but there is always kiln space available for rent. You could very easily purchase a used wheel and the tools you would need to set up a beginner studio for $500 - $1,000 if you take your time and shop well.

If a new wheel is what you’re after go to the Internet. As much as I prefer buying from local sources, I also prefer getting a deal. Wheels are so incredibly reliable these days that buying from an internet supply house is riskless. Many very good suppliers on the Net will stand behind your purchase as well as the shop down the street. Savings are usually in the hundreds of dollars. There are numerous manufacturers and a wide range of prices. Most features are almost identical. I do recommend buying the largest wheel head you can afford and be sure to see if the wheel has a reversing switch in the event you are a leftie like me.

There are some very nice kilns out there at good prices. My first real pottery kiln was an Olympic 1818HE with an electronic controller. I believe these are still in the $1000 range and can produce very professional work up to cone 10. Today I have L&L kilns. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Prepared Clay

I have worked with my own formula, prepared clay, locally dug clay, and recycled clay from my bins. There are so many good prepared clays out there it would be nearly impossible not to find one that meets your needs and preferences. Due to the high cost of shipping clay it is important that you find a local pottery supplier to buy from. All of the clay suppliers list dealers. You can Google these names for more information on clay:

  • Standard Clay
  • Laguna Clay
  • Highwater Clay

One major decision you will need to make is what type of clay and at what cone you will work with. There is nothing to say that you can’t work in all, but develop skills in one area and then move to others. You will see clays listed by firing range and clay type. There are three basic types of clay. These are earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.

Before we can discuss clay type you need to understand “cone”. Cones are simply a measure of the heat required to fire your clay. They are essentially a temperature sensitive ceramic cone that melts at a specific temperature. They give you the ability to measure heat work. Once they bend to the point where the tip touches the temperature for that cone has been reached.

Earthenware is a low fire clay. When fired it produced a hardened but open (porous) body. Terra Cotta clay planters are earthenware. They will wick and expel moisture. There are air pockets between the fired clay particles. Earthenware would break if water logged and frozen. Earthenware can be, and is often glazed. Earthenware glazes tend to hold their vibrant colors better when fired than the higher fired stoneware glazes which tend to be more earth toned and muted.

Midrange stoneware is considered cone 6 clay. This clay body is vitrified at cone 6 (2180 deg F). It will fire to a hardened state where water will not penetrate the body. The clay has moved to an almost glass phase (vitrification). It will have a distinctive stoneware ring when tapped. It is suitable for cooking and drinking vessels, planters, plates, bowls, and art pottery.

High fired stoneware is not much different other than it is fired to cone 10 and may be additionally vitrified depending on the clay body. Glaze tends to react somewhat differently at cone 10 than 6 but there are many potters working at cone 6 and producing work identical to cone 10. Most cone 10 potters work with gas or wood fired kilns to reach these high temperatures but today most electric kilns are capable of reaching cone 10.

There is a general trend toward Cone 6 stoneware driven by cost savings and the impression they are “greener”. I suppose there are a few supporting points to this but I find mid range to be user friendly and more predictable as far as results are concerned. It is really a personal preference. There is not much“green” about the clay firing process. It is energy intensive no matter what the fuel. As much as I would like to have a wood-fired kiln I cannot justify the volume of wood the process consumes. I do not consider myself a tree hugger but I take ethical exception to the process. Gas and electric is a much better option from a pure green perspective.

Porcelain is best left for later in your development. It can be challenging to throw and form. Due to porcelain’s delicate and transparent properties, it is usually thrown very thin. It is most often a high fire clay body. Porcelain makes an excellent long range target for your development.

Just for reference the actual temperatures of these cones are as follows:

  • Earthenware Cone 04 (1980 deg F)
  • Mid Range Stoneware Cone 6 (2180 deg F)
  • High Fire Stoneware Cone 10 (2250 deg F)

Process Overview

As earthy, folksy, and organic as pottery may seem the process is somewhat involved. It’s not necessarily complicated but the craft is certainly a technically rich field. It is a never ending learning process.

Shaping a block of clay into a meaningful or functional form is only a small part of the ceramic process. There are really 6 major phases from start to finish.

  • Preparing the clay
  • Forming the clay by wheel or by hand
  • Proper and slow drying of the clay
  • Bisque firing
  • Glaze application
  • Final firing to melt the glaze and vitrify the clay

I’ve touched on the forming process. The next and very important phase is drying the piece. Clay gives up water slowly and somewhat unevenly. It is important to retard the drying process so that the piece stays relatively the same level of saturation throughout the drying process. If a piece is dried unevenly it will warp and possibly crack either at the drying phase or later in firing. Often pieces are covered with plastic or kept in a drying box to even out and slow down the drying. A piece will usually shrink 5 – 10% during initial drying. This shrinkage is due to the volume of water being subtracted from the volume of the piece. The overall volume is reduced.

Most work is fired in two steps. The first is called bisque. This first firing burns out the organic compounds in the clay and hardens the clay but keeps the body open like a sponge so that glaze will absorb into the surface and stick.

The next step is to glaze the piece by either dipping, brushing or spraying. The piece will absorb the water from the glaze and leave a layer of the glaze solids on the surface. The piece must be again dried to evaporate the water. This process can take place quickly and a potter will often place these pieces where there is heat or a draft just to expedite the process.

The final firing is where all of the magic happens. This is the final cone firing to bring the clay to vitrification and melt the glaze. The early part of this firing can go somewhat quickly since all of the organics are already burned out. The objective is to reach the temperatures above the bisque level to finalize the glaze melt.

How much temperature and over what time varies by stage of the process and development of firing schedules is an article in itself. The important point is, this information is readily available and in a format that can be understood and mastered. It is NOT as complicated as it sounds. Anyone with the desire can absorb and apply these steps with ease. It is merely a matter of research and following directions.

Many types of finishes can be achieved by varying the firing temperatures and ramp speeds. Using gas or wood fired kilns will result in much different finishes than electric primarily due to the amount of oxygen present in the process. This is referred to as oxidation and reduction atmospheres. An electric kiln fires in an oxidation atmosphere. A gas or Wood kiln is capable of reduction. Again, it is intriguing and interesting but not overwhelmingly complicated. These are not things you have to be an expert on to get a start in Ceramics. They are development and learning issues.

 

Many of the pots I produce have no glaze at all. I use a variety of ceramic oxides and ceramic stains to add color or highlight to the piece. I apply these by either spraying or hand rubbing after the bisque. I do on occasion single fire some pieces. This process combines the bisque and glazing firing heat profile to allow you to load a dried raw clay piece and finish with a fully vitrified piece in one kiln firing. This is an area I experiment with continually. I like the natural finishes it gives me and I really like the single-fire process from a onmental responsibility perspective.

 

 

The Joy of Serendipity

The most intriguing aspect of ceramics is the tenuous control you sometimes have over the outcome. It is rare to have your expectations satisfied. The results are sometimes disappointment, sometimes pleasant surprise. Clay and glazes are a living medium. They react to their firing environment, temperature, location in the kiln, and chemical makeup. My best creations are often my least expected. A pot can pick up a blush of color from a pot sitting next to it in the kiln. A form can settle into a more organic shape during firing. A change in clay body can react totally different to your favorite glaze. Colors can mute or alter, finishes softens or gloss. This may sound like controlled chaos, but it is not. Control of the process comes from experimentation and perseverance. Experimentation and perseverance develops individual style.

Due to the type of work I produce I have an accepted rate of failure. I specialize in bonsai pottery which is essentially a bowl form with the addition of feet and holes. Both features tend to cause cracking and warp-age. Rectangular and oval pots are usually a combination of hand, slab, and wheel built parts that are joined at assembly. These wide flat forms are also very prone to cracking and warping. I have spent many years developing my own clay formulas that minimize these faults. As cliché as it may sound, ceramics is a journey. It is a never ending investigation of what works and what doesn’t. This is all part of the enjoyment of ceramics.

When things work it is very fulfilling. When it doesn’t, take it in stride, hit it with a hammer, and try it again. If you can’t let go, mediocrity will fill your shelves. Set a high standard for your work and take failure as a learning experience.

Ceramics Information

I have two favorite monthly publications, Ceramics Monthly, and Pottery Making Illustrated. You would be hard pressed to find a table or bookcase in my house that doesn’t have a dog eared copy of one of those two. I highly recommend you get a subscription. They are informative, idea generating publications. Visit some art fairs and look at other’s work. Do them and yourself a favor and purchase a few pieces. You will be supporting the ceramics community and expanding your collection.

INTERNET POTTERY SUPPLIES - just to mention a few

Sheffield Pottery Ceramic Supply

Big Ceramic Shop

Axner Pottery and Ceramic Supplies

Bailey Pottery Supplies

Clay world

Kentucky Mudworks

Sheffield Pottery Supplies

PUBLICATIONS

Ceramics Monthly

Pottery Making Illustrated

Clay Times

Studio Potter

INTERNET CERAMICS COMMUNITIES

Clay Art http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clayart/

Ceramic Arts Daily http://ceramicartsdaily.org/

Ceramic Arts Community http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/

 

Commissioned 24” Semi Cascade Pot

Copyright, 2015, Chuck Iker, Iker Bonsai Pottery, Batavia, Ohio www.ikerbonsaipots.com

]]> <![CDATA[Privacy at Iker Bonsai Pots]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/privacy-at-iker-bonsai-pots/ Wed, 13 Dec 2023 06:39:10 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/privacy-at-iker-bonsai-pots/ I take your privacy very personal.  Your information is to complete our transaction alone. My credit card processing is handled though either PayPal or Braintree.  I have no access to your information other than what you provide to complete the transaction.   May websites will sell your information.  Not here. I live in the same world as you, and don't like it either when say...you subscribe to a magazine for "free" and all of a sudden your junk mail for "related offers" rolls in ten fold. It's also about the worst thing in the world when you sign up for a "contest" or other event, and supply a phone number...only to be added to every crazy call center's list to be pummeled and bothered for the rest of your days.

You can rest assured that I will never, ever share your information on any "spam" level with anybody.

  • Your address is used to verify your payment method, and used for shipment info
  • Your phone number is used to verify payment method, and for us to contact you in case of a problem
  • Your email address is used to confirm your order status and provide tracking information

We do not stalk you on the phone because you placed an order, no sales calls or solicitations ever.

By joining our mailing list via the home page or during checkout, you agree to receive an occasional plain text email that new pots have been added to the site from us and us alone.

I  couldn't rest easy any other way.

If you still have questions, feel free to contact me concerning privacy or other issues.

Chuck Iker

Iker Bonsai Pots

]]> I take your privacy very personal.  Your information is to complete our transaction alone. My credit card processing is handled though either PayPal or Braintree.  I have no access to your information other than what you provide to complete the transaction.   May websites will sell your information.  Not here. I live in the same world as you, and don't like it either when say...you subscribe to a magazine for "free" and all of a sudden your junk mail for "related offers" rolls in ten fold. It's also about the worst thing in the world when you sign up for a "contest" or other event, and supply a phone number...only to be added to every crazy call center's list to be pummeled and bothered for the rest of your days.

You can rest assured that I will never, ever share your information on any "spam" level with anybody.

  • Your address is used to verify your payment method, and used for shipment info
  • Your phone number is used to verify payment method, and for us to contact you in case of a problem
  • Your email address is used to confirm your order status and provide tracking information

We do not stalk you on the phone because you placed an order, no sales calls or solicitations ever.

By joining our mailing list via the home page or during checkout, you agree to receive an occasional plain text email that new pots have been added to the site from us and us alone.

I  couldn't rest easy any other way.

If you still have questions, feel free to contact me concerning privacy or other issues.

Chuck Iker

Iker Bonsai Pots

]]> <![CDATA[Studio Progress Video - Oct 15]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/studio-progress-video-oct-15/ Fri, 15 Oct 2021 09:06:23 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/iker-bonsai-pots-blog/studio-progress-video-oct-15/ Running a little behind on my original schedule so I shot a video to explain that and show progress as of Oct 15.  

]]> Running a little behind on my original schedule so I shot a video to explain that and show progress as of Oct 15.  

]]> <![CDATA[Clay for Bonsai Pots]]> https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/clay-for-bonsai-pots/ Sat, 01 Feb 2014 07:37:36 +0000 https://www.ikerbonsaipots.com/clay-for-bonsai-pots/
I get a lot of questions about the type of clay I use to make bonsai pots. Bonsai pots offer some unique challenges for clay selection. Wheel thrown work needs to be plastic enough to throw efficiently as well as being able to withstand trimming and holes in the bottom of the pot. Hand built pots need to join well, dry and fire without warpage in addition to being able to stand up to the firing process. All bonsai pots require penetration of the bottom for drainage and wire tie holes. 


Pots often have feet added as separate components. While the slip and score method of attachment is critical to making a good bond, clay selection also plays an important role. Fine grained clay makes the addition of feet more challenging due to the lack of structure within the clay to allow good bonding. I find making a good "pudding thick" slip helps tremendously as does making sure the pot and feet are at the same level of dryness. This allows them to be joined at similar stages of shrinkage. If the feet are wetter than the pot they will dry and shrink at different rates increasing the likelihood of cracks forming at the connection. I usually store the pot and the cut feet in a damp box for 24 hours for the moisture content to normalize on both pieces. My damp box is simply an old upright freezer I have in the studio that I store work in to maintain and control moisture. 


I use both cone 6 and 10 stoneware clay bodies. Stoneware clay bodies range from very plastic smooth clay to open bodies with varying amounts of grog and or sand. There are hundreds of commercial clay bodies available. For general pottery It’s likely there is a commercial clay that will meet your color and firing range requirements. But, if you are producing work that has delicate features or needs to dry and fire without warpage it may be necessary to develop your own clay body. 


I am constantly experimenting with clay trying to find the best of all features. As of today I have not found the magic formula. Developing a clay body from scratch can get very complicated. Rather than building a body from scratch I use combinations of commercial clay bodies with the addition of fine grog and other components. Because I have a pug mill in my studio it is easy to play around with formulas and add additional materials or mix bodies.


One addition I find to be invaluable is kyanite. This is a refractory often seen in raku clay bodies. Raku is subject to vast swings in temperature causing rapid expansion and contraction during cooling and heating. Kyanite adds some porosity and strength. For larger or more fragile work I will mix in 5 to 10 percent during pugging. Fine sand and grog also work but I find it changes the texture of the clay and affects it plasticity making it more difficult to throw well on a wheel.


When selecting a single commercial clay look at three particular descriptions. Most clays will list their texture, average shrink rate, and average water absorption. Texture will tell you if it is a smooth body or how course it is. Typically the description would be smooth, medium course, slightly course, etc. If you are making a large piece or hand-building you will want a more course clay. It typically will bond better, warp less, and dry evenly. A smoother clay will be easier to throw, will have a much smoother finish when fired and should be dried slower and out of drafts. Usually the shrink rate will be lower on more course clays. They typically shrink at around 10% while a smoother clay could go up to 14%. 


Shrinkage numbers are important if you are trying to produce a piece to a particular size. I often am asked to make a pot to say, 8" x 10". As simple as that sounds it's not really. You can do the math and see that to make a 10" dimension you need to have the wet pot at 11 1/4". I have little regard for the published shrink rates. I find that the same clay can vary from 8 to almost 20 %. Placement in the kiln can make a big difference. So, be reasonable when trying to hit dimensions. It's ceramics, you're not fitting a piston into a cylinder head. 


Water absorption numbers are really a measure of clay vitrification. Everyone has used a red clay planting pot. The pot absorbs water. You can see a color change where the water has penetrated the clay. This is an earthenware clay body and it is porous. It absorbs water, probably in the 20% range. Stoneware clay vitrifies nearly completely. It will not absorb water when fully fired or at least under 3 or 4 %. For a pot left outside a stoneware body is critical. Water freezing inside the clay will crack and spall the clay. Pot failure is likely. 


All of the commercial clay I purchase comes pre-pugged and de-aired but I still run everything through my pug mill. This is my favorite piece of studio equipment. It allows you limitless formula experimentation and allows you to blend clay to the consistency you need for your particular project. Another huge advantage of having a pug-mill is the ability to adjust moisture content. Years of shoving around hard clay on a wheel takes a toll on the body. Wrist and hand damage is minimized and throwing is more enjoyable. A softened clay is great when throwing a large shallow round pot on the wheel. Moving a lot of clay from center out is difficult as it is without having to muscle hard clay. Your ability to keep the clay centered increases and maintaining even wall and bottom thickness is easier. As with any piece of pottery maintaining a consistent wall and bottom thickness will assure even drying and firing. 


There are time when a stiffer clay is important. When raising a taller form on the wheel the clays ability to support itself will determine just how high and thin you can go. Clay weakens as it is worked because moisture content raises as you work with the clay. There are a limited amount of lifts you can perform until your clay will just not rise any further. Starting with a stiffer clay allows higher lifts. Often with a bonsai pot you will work a cylinder out from the center to increase diameter or shape a bowl form. Knowing the limits of the clay and your ability will determine success. Often I will stop at a point in the process and either let the clay dry a bit, place a fan on it or even use a torch to speed drying. You can then continue to thin the walls and shape the piece. 


The pottery process generates a lot of scrap from trimming and throwing. As much as 40% of your clay ends up here. I make it a specific point to keep all of my scrap clean and separated so that I know what I am working with when I recycle. Having everything separated I know that my scrap bucket contain one specific clay. 


This first picture shows the mixing process. I add water and let the mixture set for a day or two to absorb the water and then mix with a simple hand drill and paint mixer.The ability to reuse your scrap and recycle clay saves money and helps you develop awareness of the nuances of clay bodies, texture and feel. As with anything else the more clay your handle the more familiar you become. While the pug-mill I own is capable of mixing and pugging scrap clay I still prefer to mix my scrap in a bucket and dry it to near working consistency before pugging. This process works with or without a pug-mill, you can also hand wedge the clay when the right consistency is reached. 



There are a lot of ways to dry the thick slip mixed in the bucket. You can put it in an old pillow case and hang it until it reaches the desired consistency. You can pour it out on newspaper on a concrete floor so the concrete pulls the moisture out. Most often I use a plaster wedging slab I have. I just drop handfuls of the wet clay on the slab. As you can see by the picture I will poke holes in the drying clay to speed the process and even out the drying.


The next series of pictures shows adding the clay to the pug-mill. This particular pug-mill is a Peter Pugger VPM-9. It has a mix function that homogenizes the clay and a pug function that de-aires and pugs the clay out in a nice 3" round pug to be cut to desired length. I go straight from the pug-mill right to the wheel. I rarely have to wedge and often do very few centering lifts on the wheel.

You will never get anywhere in ceramics without reading a little and experimenting a lot. What works well for one rarely works well for another. There are some general guidelines you can follow. I hope I have given you a few. I have seen clay and glazes that I use being used by other potters with wildly different results. Clay is the foundation for anything you will make. It is where your particular hand will show. The shape of your fingers, the pressure you apply, and the finesse you employ will be recorded in it's surface. It photographs your techniques in 3 dimensions. 

]]>
I get a lot of questions about the type of clay I use to make bonsai pots. Bonsai pots offer some unique challenges for clay selection. Wheel thrown work needs to be plastic enough to throw efficiently as well as being able to withstand trimming and holes in the bottom of the pot. Hand built pots need to join well, dry and fire without warpage in addition to being able to stand up to the firing process. All bonsai pots require penetration of the bottom for drainage and wire tie holes. 


Pots often have feet added as separate components. While the slip and score method of attachment is critical to making a good bond, clay selection also plays an important role. Fine grained clay makes the addition of feet more challenging due to the lack of structure within the clay to allow good bonding. I find making a good "pudding thick" slip helps tremendously as does making sure the pot and feet are at the same level of dryness. This allows them to be joined at similar stages of shrinkage. If the feet are wetter than the pot they will dry and shrink at different rates increasing the likelihood of cracks forming at the connection. I usually store the pot and the cut feet in a damp box for 24 hours for the moisture content to normalize on both pieces. My damp box is simply an old upright freezer I have in the studio that I store work in to maintain and control moisture. 


I use both cone 6 and 10 stoneware clay bodies. Stoneware clay bodies range from very plastic smooth clay to open bodies with varying amounts of grog and or sand. There are hundreds of commercial clay bodies available. For general pottery It’s likely there is a commercial clay that will meet your color and firing range requirements. But, if you are producing work that has delicate features or needs to dry and fire without warpage it may be necessary to develop your own clay body. 


I am constantly experimenting with clay trying to find the best of all features. As of today I have not found the magic formula. Developing a clay body from scratch can get very complicated. Rather than building a body from scratch I use combinations of commercial clay bodies with the addition of fine grog and other components. Because I have a pug mill in my studio it is easy to play around with formulas and add additional materials or mix bodies.


One addition I find to be invaluable is kyanite. This is a refractory often seen in raku clay bodies. Raku is subject to vast swings in temperature causing rapid expansion and contraction during cooling and heating. Kyanite adds some porosity and strength. For larger or more fragile work I will mix in 5 to 10 percent during pugging. Fine sand and grog also work but I find it changes the texture of the clay and affects it plasticity making it more difficult to throw well on a wheel.


When selecting a single commercial clay look at three particular descriptions. Most clays will list their texture, average shrink rate, and average water absorption. Texture will tell you if it is a smooth body or how course it is. Typically the description would be smooth, medium course, slightly course, etc. If you are making a large piece or hand-building you will want a more course clay. It typically will bond better, warp less, and dry evenly. A smoother clay will be easier to throw, will have a much smoother finish when fired and should be dried slower and out of drafts. Usually the shrink rate will be lower on more course clays. They typically shrink at around 10% while a smoother clay could go up to 14%. 


Shrinkage numbers are important if you are trying to produce a piece to a particular size. I often am asked to make a pot to say, 8" x 10". As simple as that sounds it's not really. You can do the math and see that to make a 10" dimension you need to have the wet pot at 11 1/4". I have little regard for the published shrink rates. I find that the same clay can vary from 8 to almost 20 %. Placement in the kiln can make a big difference. So, be reasonable when trying to hit dimensions. It's ceramics, you're not fitting a piston into a cylinder head. 


Water absorption numbers are really a measure of clay vitrification. Everyone has used a red clay planting pot. The pot absorbs water. You can see a color change where the water has penetrated the clay. This is an earthenware clay body and it is porous. It absorbs water, probably in the 20% range. Stoneware clay vitrifies nearly completely. It will not absorb water when fully fired or at least under 3 or 4 %. For a pot left outside a stoneware body is critical. Water freezing inside the clay will crack and spall the clay. Pot failure is likely. 


All of the commercial clay I purchase comes pre-pugged and de-aired but I still run everything through my pug mill. This is my favorite piece of studio equipment. It allows you limitless formula experimentation and allows you to blend clay to the consistency you need for your particular project. Another huge advantage of having a pug-mill is the ability to adjust moisture content. Years of shoving around hard clay on a wheel takes a toll on the body. Wrist and hand damage is minimized and throwing is more enjoyable. A softened clay is great when throwing a large shallow round pot on the wheel. Moving a lot of clay from center out is difficult as it is without having to muscle hard clay. Your ability to keep the clay centered increases and maintaining even wall and bottom thickness is easier. As with any piece of pottery maintaining a consistent wall and bottom thickness will assure even drying and firing. 


There are time when a stiffer clay is important. When raising a taller form on the wheel the clays ability to support itself will determine just how high and thin you can go. Clay weakens as it is worked because moisture content raises as you work with the clay. There are a limited amount of lifts you can perform until your clay will just not rise any further. Starting with a stiffer clay allows higher lifts. Often with a bonsai pot you will work a cylinder out from the center to increase diameter or shape a bowl form. Knowing the limits of the clay and your ability will determine success. Often I will stop at a point in the process and either let the clay dry a bit, place a fan on it or even use a torch to speed drying. You can then continue to thin the walls and shape the piece. 


The pottery process generates a lot of scrap from trimming and throwing. As much as 40% of your clay ends up here. I make it a specific point to keep all of my scrap clean and separated so that I know what I am working with when I recycle. Having everything separated I know that my scrap bucket contain one specific clay. 


This first picture shows the mixing process. I add water and let the mixture set for a day or two to absorb the water and then mix with a simple hand drill and paint mixer.The ability to reuse your scrap and recycle clay saves money and helps you develop awareness of the nuances of clay bodies, texture and feel. As with anything else the more clay your handle the more familiar you become. While the pug-mill I own is capable of mixing and pugging scrap clay I still prefer to mix my scrap in a bucket and dry it to near working consistency before pugging. This process works with or without a pug-mill, you can also hand wedge the clay when the right consistency is reached. 



There are a lot of ways to dry the thick slip mixed in the bucket. You can put it in an old pillow case and hang it until it reaches the desired consistency. You can pour it out on newspaper on a concrete floor so the concrete pulls the moisture out. Most often I use a plaster wedging slab I have. I just drop handfuls of the wet clay on the slab. As you can see by the picture I will poke holes in the drying clay to speed the process and even out the drying.


The next series of pictures shows adding the clay to the pug-mill. This particular pug-mill is a Peter Pugger VPM-9. It has a mix function that homogenizes the clay and a pug function that de-aires and pugs the clay out in a nice 3" round pug to be cut to desired length. I go straight from the pug-mill right to the wheel. I rarely have to wedge and often do very few centering lifts on the wheel.

You will never get anywhere in ceramics without reading a little and experimenting a lot. What works well for one rarely works well for another. There are some general guidelines you can follow. I hope I have given you a few. I have seen clay and glazes that I use being used by other potters with wildly different results. Clay is the foundation for anything you will make. It is where your particular hand will show. The shape of your fingers, the pressure you apply, and the finesse you employ will be recorded in it's surface. It photographs your techniques in 3 dimensions. 

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