Art Pottery
When is the right time to buy pottery equipment?
I'm into pottery but at the moment im literally at the beginners stage with only a third lesson under my belt at college. When do you think it's the right time to start buying expensive art/pottery equipment? How do you know when your ready or good enough? Can you hire things such as kilns? I live in the Uk
Hi, The third lesson is early to start buying expensive equipment such as kilns etc.
You don't yet know what area of clay work you enjoy, it could be throwing (making pieces on a wheel), sculpting, or rolling out slabs and cutting them to form pieces, using molds or extruders...there are an enormous amount of techniques to learn, so i would advise against buying any large pieces until you know what area you are leaning towards.
You can buy a few small cheap items though, that can be used in all areas.
A craft knife (longer the blade the better) you can use this for cutting the clay at any stage except bone dry
A potter's needle (i made mine from a pin stuck into a cork) this helps you to roughen up a surface before attaching two pieces together.
Water bowl (any plastic tub will do)
plastic bin liners/bags (to prevent work from drying out)
Spray bottle (use an old hairproduct bottle if you want or buy a plant spray bottle) this helps to dampen down any work that is drying a bit too fast.
I have tool box to keep small tools/items in.
old credit card/store card - this will be used as a surface scraper.
paint scraper - to clear clay off work surfaces
rubber kidney - useful for smoothing surfaces
sponge - to clear up the mess! never dry brush surfaces and clear up all clay when finished, as when its dry it will produce dust which is harmful to health.
Yes you can hire kilns. Potterycrafts in London (battersea branch) hires out a few kilns, i can't remember how much it is but they have 3 or 4 i think of different sizes.
see www.potterycrafts.co.uk
most tools and equipment to do with pottery is expensive because it is speciallised.
I have the largest size kiln you can plug into a 13amp socket and it is 14 inches wide and top loading. It still cost me £1200 inc delivery etc Anything bigger is much more expensive and you have to get it wired in. Your college has kilns doesn't it? There are many pottery courses around the country and a number of degrees too which will really allwo you to expand your ideas and techniques without having to buy expensive equipment yet.
If you are just starting out,then i'm sure you will find it utterly addictive!
good luck and have fun!
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