And A Second Book! | Kara Leigh Ford | Episode 1117

Kara Leigh Ford | Episode 1117

Kara Leigh Ford is an English potter and author. In Kara’s first visit with The Potters Cast we enjoyed learning about her journey into ceramics. Then she wrote a book, Pottery for Beginners and Kara came back for a second time to talk about her book. Today on Kara’s third visit with The Potters Cast we talk about her second book, The Essential Pottery Notebook.

SPONSORS

You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

diamondcoretools.com

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

How safe is it for a hobbyist to make their own glazes in their own studio?

I totally get how intimidating making your own glazes might feel, but if you can follow a recipe for making a cake, you can make your own glazes. And as long as you follow the general safety guidelines with pottery which is anything that creates dust or you are working with powder, you need a respirator. You need a proper respirator with the attachments. Use one of those and you are going to be fine.

Why is it important to have a record of your firings?

Well, again, it is remembering everything, isn’t it? Certainly my firing schedules tend to be quite simple, however, I do use multiple different clays in my studio and various different glazes that all enjoy a different kiln firing schedule. And if there are a few weeks, months, or maybe even years between me making something and repeating that thing I am not really going to remember what I actually put into my kiln.

How does one go about properly reading cones?

So what you are looking for is an elegant arch. You want your target cone, which is your middle cone. You use three cones generally in a cone pack. So for instance if you want a cone six firing you would use cone five, which is your guide cone. You use cone six, which is your target cone. And you use cone seven, which is your guard cone. In my book there are pictures that clearly shows you what you are actually looking for.

You have a chapter in your book called, Pottery: Efficiencies and the Environment. What are you thinking about with that chapter?

Well, so getting your kiln and firings and processes more efficient really has a knock on affect on how efficient your entire studio is. Everything you do as a maker has an impact on the environment. SO we all know we are emitting carbon all the time and the pottery industry isn’t exempt from that. There’s a carbon footprint that we should all be aware of and if your processes and firings are successful there is less waste.

Are you stoked to have written a second book and who specifically is your book targeting? Who is your perfect audience?

Yes, I am absolutely thrilled to have written a second book. I didn’t even think I had one book in me let alone two. So this feels pretty special.

And who is this book for? Well, I would say people who are pretty much hooked on pottery. So it might be that you don’t necessarily have your own studio, you might still be firing at a community studio, this book is still going to help you. So I think any potter that loves pottery, wants to make their work better, more efficient, less waste, more successful, this boo