Record Keeping

I have an old 3-ring binder standing on a music stand in my studio. A pencil is tied to the stand with a string. (I can NEVER find a pencil or pen when I need it.)

The binder is divided in sections and one section says, Glaze Record. Another says, Firing Record. A third says Throwing Record (although handbuilt pieces are included).

I make blank pages for these sections so they are already formatted for my notes.

Here's what a sample looks like filled in:

The last page, the firing page, has a check-off box for the type of firing, a place to note the program number on the computer and one for noting how long the firing took. (Kilns change over time and you need to know about any changes in firing.)

The box in the corner is for quick notes on this firing I want to remember. The space at the bottom of the page is for more elaboration. This makes it easy to flip back through the pages and find what I'm looking for if I need to review a past firing.

The Throwing page is really just a blank grouping of sheets available for me to note down the measured diameter of a teapot lid, the beginning raw clay measurements of a piece so I can know the shrinkage rate, a place to diagram something--whatever you Think you'll remember, but Know you won't.

I find this works for me and I keep scanned copies of these pages in a file on my computer to print new ones quickly when I need them.