What are the steps of the pottery process?
1. Wedging/Set Up: Determining the amount of clay required for the project, wedging the clay to evenly distribute moisture and prepare the clay for throwing. Throwing: Centering the clay on the wheel, pulling/shaping clay to the desired shape, wet trimming and smoothing clay and removing the finished piece from the wheel.
2. Drying to Leatherhard: Covering the wet piece with plastic or other material to promote slow even drying of the piece to a state hard enough to be held, dry trimmed and carved. Greenware/Bisque Fire: When pottery piece is completely dry and contains no moisture. Ready to be fired in the kiln to prepare the pottery for glazing. Kiln firing turns the piece from greenware to bisqueware.
3. Glazing: Bisque pottery is immersed in colored vitreous material (liquid, powdered glass) to create a glossy or matte hard finish. Can be done in a variety of colors and combined with other techniques to produce unique finishes and effects. Glaze Firing: The final firing of the pottery piece that melts the glaze and cools to a hardened glass finish. Once the piece is cool, the item is finished and ready for use.
How long does it take to complete a project?
I share studio space with quite a few other potters in the local area, which means I cannot directly dictate when a piece is fired in the kiln. Typically, for all projects, I suggest six weeks from start to finish. During the holidays, six weeks is the average. During the rest of the year, I may be able to cut that time down to four weeks, but I cannot make promises. :) Throwing can be done in a day, initial drying sometimes takes two weeks, bisque fire takes a week and then another two weeks for glazing and then glaze firing.
How much clay does it take to make an item?
Some items vary, but generally these are the weights I've found to be consistent:
- Coffee cup/mug: 1 and 1/2 lbs
- Tea cup: 1 lb
- Cereal/ice cream bowl: 1 and 1/2 lbs
- Soup/medium sized bowl: 2 and 1/2 lbs
- Serving/Large sized bowl: 4 and 1/2 lbs
- Centerpiece bowl: 6 - 8 lbs
- Large Flower Pot: 8 lbs
- Dinner Plate: 3 and 1/2 lbs
- Cookie Jar: 4 lbs and 1lb for the lid
- Floral Vase: 4 - 6 lbs
How can I purchase your work?
I have some of my work available on Etsy.com, which you can check out through my shop right here on sibbotery.com. If you're local to Austin, TX, you can sometimes find my work available through a local gallery in town. For more information on local shopping, please feel free to email me.
Do you accept custom requests?
Absolutely!
If you have an item you have in mind, please email me. If you have an idea, I can consult with you, share some color ideas based on the glazes I have currently available to work with, and give you an estimate on time/materials required for the project. If it's a project that falls outside of my skill set: (wheel thrown, some hand augmenting), I will be happy to help you locate another artist that can assist you.
How do you ship items?
Very, very, carefully.
You may find your completed item comes in a box considerably larger than your requested item. After a few mishaps, I've found that you can never, EVER have too much padding. Which means your item will be swimming in packing material like wrapping paper, packing peanuts and or cardboard supports.
Shipping prices are detailed and set per item in my shop, they are based on the item size, materials required to pad the item and the current rate offered by UPS, my vendor of choice. You will receive a notification from me that includes your shipping detail when your item is ready to ship. Most items are shipped via Ground, but expedited shipping is available upon request. (Shipping fees will vary for special requests) Average ship time is 3-5 days.
Ooops! My item arrived broken. Now what?
Ugh. The heartbreaking sound of broken pottery. While I do my very best to ensure that doesn't happen, sometimes boxes are mistaken as soccer balls in the shipment process. In the event your item arrives broken, please take a photo of the item, email it to me and I will create a replacement item at no additional charge.
Sadly, if your Saint Bernard puppy knocks your item off the shelf while playing catch, these same rules do not apply. :(
How did you come up with the name sibbotery?
My little sister, since her high school years has called me "sibby." Some say short for "sibling" but I honestly think she heard it in some cartoon and decided that was her new nickname for me. When she and I sat back talking about names for my work, she blurted, "sibby's pottery...SIBBOTERY."
What can I say? It stuck. She's always been rather infectious.
What's the tagline meaning?
When I'm not in the studio, I'm a marketing/communications professional. And as a result, I'm a big fan of taglines. I chose "nurture gaia. create balance. exist unbound." because it's a reflection on what's been most important to me in my adult life. Being respectful of the earth that provides so many things used to sustain and comfort me. Learning to regain my balance emotionally through life's upsets and physically (I struggle with a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV) when I literally can't tell my top from my bottom. And finally, existing unbound because...let's face it, if you're not free to do what you dare to dream, you're probably not doing much living.
I wrote a blog post about it long ago, that goes into further detail.