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Last Friday’s Zoom topic is on for today. Betty Woodman!

Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Betty Woodman attended the School for American Craftsmen at Alfred University in New York from 1948 to 1950. She has taught in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Colorado.

A leading ceramist whose inventive forms and painterly use of color have won her international renown, Woodman began her career making simple functional pottery. Although her ambitious experiments with clay have wrought great changes in her work, it still refers to some practical function even if her baroque, expressive forms are no longer strictly utilitarian. Woodman's art has been inspired by diverse sources, ranging from Etruscan and Minoa to Tange and majolica ceramics.

The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1980 and 1986, Woodman has also been a guest artist at the experimental atelier of the Manufacture National de Sevres in France.

551
Cone 6 White porcelain. Wins most vitrified award. Super smooth and creamy. Glazes are bright and brilliant on this clay. Great if you are staining clay bodies with mason stains or oxides (Nerikomi/Agateware).
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.0% Absorption 0.3%

630
Gray (White) Stoneware. This is the clay we used to provide in the communal buckets. Contains fire clay and mullite which (supposedly) enhances thermal properties. Fires grayish and the fired unglazed clay looks like white stoneware at cone ten. This is a good clay for beginners because the grog in the clay helps prevent cracking during drying.  Some people have experienced bloating issues with this clay body.

Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.0% Absorption 1.5%

240
Ivory (White) Stoneware.
A very smooth, plastic throwing body. This clay doesn’t have grog so it is more prone to cracking during drying, dry slowly to avoid this, not having grog allows you to sponge smooth t

Mouse Ceramic Studio is currently offering firing services to all. We charge $0.04 per cubic inch to fire in a community firing. (Except for members), each time the work is fired, it must be paid for. Measure your piece with an inch ruler or measuring tape, you will need the length, the width, and the height, the length is the longest dimension of your piece (usually) from side to side, the width is usually front to back, and the height is the measurement from top to bottom or how tall it is. Each measurement needs to multiplied by the next so length x width x height. This will give you the cubic inches of the piece; take that amount and multiply by 0.04 to get your dollar amount. For example, a cup with handle that is 6x4x4 is 96 cubic inches; 96 x 0.04 = 3.84 so the total for this mug would be $3.84 per firing or $7.68 for bisque and glaze firing. Members only pay for bisque firings and glaze is included as a courtesy and benefit of membership.

Since debuting in late 2019, Louis Vuitton’s Multi Pochette Accessoires has positioned itself as one of fashion’s most sought-after handbags. Receiving a significant amount of exposure whether it be via influencer marketing or a general social media presence, the bag spawned a multi-bag revolution of sorts. A variety of other brands released multi-bag silhouettes, and Louis Vuitton themselves even designed a slew of other multi-bags for both women and men.

The Brough-engineered concept AMB 001 bike seen at last year’s EICMA show has hit prototype stage and looks like it’ll soon be ready for prime time.

Maverick Viñales talks about the upcoming 2020 MotoGP restart, the arrival of Fabio Quartarato, and having Valentino Rossi as a teammate. Last season his racing number changed from 25 to 12.

Ducati is at EICMA 2018 with a substantial number of new or revised models, but the real piece of supreme engineering is the Panigale V4 R, a 998cc version of the 90 degree V-4 that last year claimed the title of most powerful street-legal, naturally aspirated bike, extracting 214 hp from its 1,103cc unit. We all knew that the final target of the Panigale V4 project was to create the ultimate Superbike series contender—the bike that would bring the World SBK championship back to Borgo Panigale. Indeed, the just unveiled Panigale V4 R seems to be ready to stand up to those expectations.

Take sportbike performance, give it more upright ergonomics, and top it off with Ducati’s treatment of a ride-by-wire electronic rider aids suite and the 937cc Testastretta twin cylinder engine and the 2020 Supersport is Ducati’s sport-touring machine more befitting of everyday riding while still capable of hitting apexes at the track or on canyon roads. The Supersport S version is even more athletic with fully adjustable 48mm Öhlins fork (base has 43mm Marzocchi) and Öhlins single shock (base is equipped with Sachs). The S also adds an up and down Quickshifter and passenger seat cowl as standard equipment.

After being dropped from KTM’s lineup in 2017, the 500 XCF-W has returned for the new decade as the Austrian brand’s flagship four-stroke enduro bike. Sharing many of the same components as the KTM 500 EXC-F dual sport, the 500 XCF-W is an off-road-only model and is spec’d accordingly.

That’s what I appreciate about Bottega Veneta, you’re not distracted by logos or crazy hardware; it’s all about the shapes and beautiful craftsmanship.