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Workshop and Lectures
2008	Gallery lectures at The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, Japan
2006	Invitation for workshop and lecture at the Indianapolis Arts Center in relationship with the Felix Conzales-Torres Project: “Untitled” (for Jeff) at the Indiana Museum for Art Indianapolis Indiana
2005	“A Juxtaposition of Text and Images” presenters Laura Weaver and Nel Bannier Women in the Arts Conference University of St Louis St Louis Missouri
2003	Wasburn University Topeka Kansas NCECA Connections 2003 San Diego California
2002	Arizona University Flagstaff Arizona Beaver Street Gallery Flagstaff Arizona Assessment Art Program Southeast Missouri State University Gape Girardeau Missouri Topical Discusions NCECA 2002 Kansas City Missouri 3 Lectures Art Department Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth Texas Chaffey College Rancho Cucamonga California
2001	UE Summer School Amsterdam The Netherlands
"Hanging clay" copy right Nel Bannier
Simple armature for building a straight standing figure: Small pallet or board 2' x 2', the last one on two strips of wood A board 2' x 2' also on two strips of wood (one by two's) One flange for a 1/2 inch pipe Two pieces of 1/2 inch pipe each 4 feet long threaded on both ends One 1/2 inch joint One 1/2 inch T-joint One 1/2 inch cross-joint Four pieces of 1/2 inch pipe 12 inch long and threaded on both ends Strong wood screws
Complex armature for a more complex standing figure: Plywood 3/4" thick and 42" x 42" wide Plywood 3/4" thick and 32" x 32" wide (take the left over wood with you!!) 3/8" drill bit (Bradpoint, is for wood) Two pieces of 3/8" iron rod 4 feet long 16 Heavy screws for flange to screw on to the plywood Four 3/4" pipe 7 feet long threaded on both sides Four 3/4" pipe 33" long threaded on both sides Four 3/4" flanges Four 3/4" T-joints Four 3/4" elbow-joints Four 3/4" unions Four 3/4" one and a half inch long threaded pieces for the unions (a close) Two 3/8" iron rod 64" long One pipe wrench Hanging structure: Three knots of 3 threaded jute rope (Wal-Mart) Newspaper Four plastic sheets 9' x 12 " (painters covering plastic) Cloth pegs Spray bottle
Repair of unfired clay Repair of unfired clay is to be done with dry clay made into powder and mixed with vinegar. Mix always a little bit at the time as to not expand the clay particles too much. Wet the to be repaired areas with vinegar and then apply the clay/vinegar paste. Use a brush with vinegar to make the place smooth. Never use water.
Repair of bisque ware Repair of bisque ware can be done with fireplace mortar (refractory) buff color from the brand "Worcester Brush". Read the manual carefully. It fires up to cone 13. The mortar can be mixed with sand to repair big areas. Work a bit at the time so that the silicon in the mortar has time to dry.
Repair of fired clay Repair of fired clay can be done with PC 7 (black and easy) or PC 11 (white and a bit more sticky and more expensive). The PC 7 or 11 can be mixed with sand and/or clay to fill big gaps. It easily can be painted with acrylic paint to match the glazes on the piece.
Stone ware recipe cone 12 65 % AP Green Fire Clay (no other clay, that might give yellow specks) 25 % Ball Clay 10 % Custar 100% Total Add 8 % small grog and 8% medium grog. Add 40 table spoons of fine sand and 40 table spoons of fine wood ash. Add half a bucket of clay slurry in which shredded butcher paper is mixed. If the clay body is the dough the sand is the salt, the ash the pepper and the slurry with the butcher paper are the eggs. As a matter of fact any clay body can be used even throwing wheel porcelain. Grog does not always have to be added, but always add to one badge of clay half a bucket of paper clay slurry to make the clay more plastic. Any way of decorating the green ware (in case of a one firing) or the bisque is possible using oxides, slips, mat glazes or shiny glazes.
Red Earthen ware recipe cone 04 - cone 2 5 % AP Green 20 % Hawthorn 30 % Red Art 5 % Ball Clay 10 % Wolastonite 5 % Talc 15 % Medium Grog 15 % Fine Grog 100% Total Add 5 % Calcined Alumina, 2 % Red Iron Oxide, 2 % Bentonite. Add also a full bucket of paper clay slurry and half a bucket of water.
Colored slips The unfired clay or the bisque (porcelain, stone or earthenware) can be colored with metal oxides and/or slip made out of a kaolin mixed with water. Grolleg is a rather pure white slip that easily can be colored with oxides. It gives a beautiful skin like effect. Ball Clay is more beige. The two together are more cream like. The percentages for color are: 6 % iron for a red brown 6 % cobalt for a light blue 2 % chrome for a light green 16 % rutile for a peach color 6 % zircopax for an intense white color 5 % manganese for light brown A mix of 6 % iron 4 % cobalt and 4 % manganese will give a black. These percentage are added to 100 gram of dry clay powder (either grolleg and/or ball clay).
Amy's porcelain shino Amy's porcelain shino gives a beautiful soft orange red if it is applied very thin, as thin as nylon stockings. Spomudene 150 gram E.P.K. 25 gram Soda Ash 40 gram Neph. Sy. 195 gram Ball Clay 85 gram Total 475 gram
Firing advice for thick irregular pieces with air-pockets: In case of a big piece it can be loaded into the kiln leather hard. The drying process has to be done with the kiln door open and the lowest possible flame in a gas kiln (or switch in case of an electric kiln), till the piece feels lukewarm and the kiln shelve too. When the piece feels warm close the door (or lid) but do not turn up the heat. Wait till the kiln stalls around 90 degrees. Leave it there for an hour. T ake a whole afternoon to gently get the kiln up to 225 degrees (the temperature where the piece might explode). Leave it at this temperature overnight and continue firing the next day. Use a whole day to get past 350-460 degrees to burn out all organic materials (an other moment that the piece might blow up). Try to get the kiln in the evening up to 900 degrees and let the kiln pass quartz inversion overnight. Once the kiln is showing moderate red heat you can finish firing the usual way either for a bisque or a one time firing. Big pieces might need to be fired down to avoid cracking due to a fall in temperature that takes place too fast when the kiln is turned off. Also going too fast through quartz inversion on the way down causes cracking. Just lower the temperature once the firing is done to either a moderate small flame in a gas kiln (not too small, watch your pyrometer) or to a low switch on the electric kiln. As soon as the kiln has no more color you can turn off the heat and let the rest of the cooling take place in a natural way. Never force open the kiln. Let it cool till you can put your hand in the flu without burning it, then crack the door open a bit. Your irregular piece needs gentle cooling to avoid cracking. For big leather hard pieces it might take 24 hours in the kiln to dry, three days of firing, one day of firing down, and one or two days of real cooling. When you make big work that does not fit your kiln it can be cut apart with a hacksaw and be fired in parts.