so....

i've been having a small problem with bowls developing s-cracks. here is what i think is happening: when i slip bowls i only slip up to the foot ring, i don't slip inside the footring because it becomes too much of a mess and hassle, i can wax the footring but then it becomes hard to grip,etc, etc. after it stiffens back up i glaze the interior. i think the pots are cracking due to uneven expansion where the inside of the footring is(because the footring has no added moisture on one side?) this doesn't happen everytime, but it does happen too much. sometimes i don't even notice it until after i fire which means i just wasted good kiln space with a cracked pot. if this sounds like false logic to those more experienced than i in raw glazing let me know.

so after much debate and frustration i've decided to go back to bisque firing. slipping the pots leatherhard has no effect one way or another so i'll keep doing that. what this means for me is that i have to haul all my pots up to the university to bisque them and then bring them home to glaze and fire them. so i've decided to cut out one of those steps and move much of my studio up to the university. they've given me private studio space that is nearly as large as my studio now and get this, they have heat and air conditioning. this saddens me a bit but it really seems to be the most economical way to do things. maybe it'll be good for the students to have an in-house potter. i have my own wheel up here so i may leave mine at home for the occasional home potting, who knows? i think in the long run it will be more beneficial.

cheers.