Gas Fired Alchemy, Zen Pots and All That.

 

Its not very often that you see a pot for the first time out of a glaze firing and you go WOW. The gas firing has worked some kind of magic on the Emanuel Cooper 152, the results are totally different from the oxidisation firing of the same glaze on the same range of clay bodies. The taller narrow topped pot has taken the glaze in very special way. I really like the way it has broken off the shoulder of the pot, the sharp edge has almost disappeared. Like the objects I glazed at the same time I worked a thicker layer of glaze on the top of the pot and it’s given a very light blue almost grey finish. The photograph doesn’t really do it justice. The squat rounder form has done things that look a bit like salt glaze, that broken reddish brown burnt finish has come out of nowhere. A real result with more to follow, the kiln is firing today with one of my very tall pieces in it. Glaze and form are almost working in harmony. Making pots is sometime a Zen experience.

Advanced Throwing a Pot 8th May

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Last night was a really good session! At last I’m beginning to see some results come out of the kiln the three pieces I photographed have all come out of an oxidation firing, one of which I could actually live with, the taller piece with the narrow top. The glaze is the Emanuel Cooper 152 wood ash. The results are better than I expected, I really like the orange burn out. I sprayed the glaze on thinly around the bottom trying to get the burn out effect that he talks about in his description of the glaze. The glaze and the shapes complement each other quite well. The darker stripped pot is bog standard buff clay that I use quite a lot, the others are all B17 The buff clay has something in it that reacts very strongly with the glaze giving it an extra dimension, maybe it was dipping that piece? The gas firing is going on today and will not be ready until Friday, it will be interesting to compare the pieces and the different clay bodies.

The thrown objects are all three pound balls, they all came out about 25 cm. I worked really hard at taking the weight out of the bottom of the pot. When I lifted them off the wheel head they felt the right weight for the height.

Will post as soon as I see the results of the gas firing, might pop into PCA after work on Friday. Its such fun!

Throwing Closed Forms to Desert Island Disks

 

I really got into it this morning while listening to Desert Island Disks. A funky selection of music really put me in the mood, thank you to Tim Minchin. Some of the forms are a bit dumpy so I have some turning to do. I want to try and balance the worked top of each form with a narrow tapered foot. Interesting juxtaposition to look at the difference in throwing style between Jack and myself. I try to make the shape as refined and finished as I can before cutting them off the wheel head. I was taught many years ago that trimming and turning was uneconomic as you end up having to process all that scrap clay. I will try making some lidded form next and maybe a teapot, the holy of holy’s.

Composite Throwing Time Laps

Jack and I made this video during the Easter holiday.  It’s been gathering dust on my desktop since then. I cannot throw fast enough to get the whole process shot in one take, the memory card on my camera is just not big enough. Maybe I should practice speed throwing? You can see how wonky the pots are as he works on them, you can also see how the clay acts almost like a fluid as it is stretched and worked through its different shapes as the pot evolves. I have the final piece still in the garage and will take it into college next week to put it through the rest of the process. Interesting to see how it comes out.

Hamburgers of clay into barbershop pots

Had a great time last night, there is always something new to learn and try out. Dan introduced to use the idea of making a hamburger of clay mixing a burger of earthenware into a large ball of stoneware, just like a burger in a bun. My problem was I wasn’t paying attention when he said you should mixed about 20% earthenware to stoneware just to stain the clay. I just took the clay straight from the bag and inserted it neat into my balls of stoneware. So long as the pots don’t go into reduction they should be ok. A bit of a derrr…. moment but the outcomes should be interesting. I used the spray booth for the first time this year to apply a wood-ash glaze. I followed the Emanuel Cooper recipe I have made before, 152 White-orange ash glaze you get a very subtle orange burn out when it goes in thinly. I tried to spray more glaze on the tops of the pots and virtually non on the lower half. I divided  the pots between oxidation and reductions as the book talks about very different outcomes form  the two firing environments. I’ve only ever seen the results from oxidisation so I look forward to next week to see what happens, car crash or triumph? The glaze doesn’t run like a traditional ash glaze so heres hoping. Dan suggested making a wood-ash glaze using just wood-ash, apparently it runs a lot, I want to use it on the very tall form I made last week. Its not my kiln shelves so why not.

I ordered a new glaze book that arrived today The Glaze Book- A Visual Catalogue of Decorative Ceramic Glazes published by Thames and Hudson, a bit of bed time reading and at least one new glaze experiment. Great session good fun.