bburruss@csn.net on sat 30 mar 96
Awhile back there was a thread about Paul Soldner's raku halo glaze and
someone suggested that one of us should go up the mountain to Aspen and ask
the master himself. Well, if anyone's still interested and patient, Paul
will come down the mountain. On September 14 and 15, 1996, the Arvada
Center for the Arts and Humanities (details below), is holding a Paul
Soldner workshop. From the brochure "two-day workshop includes the artist
discussing his life, philosophy of art and teaching concepts, as well as a
variety of demonstrations including work on the wheel, slab construction
and construction of major sculptural pieces. The second day is devoted to
information about firing, glazing, surface embellishment and ceramic
"secrets"." Gee, sounds like fun. I signed up. As of last night there
were about a dozen slots left for the workshop.
Regarding the halo glaze, it is nifty, but doesn't seem to be too
difficult. We mixed up a batch of slip and stain a couple of weeks ago
and it worked first time and everytime. Maybe the instructor has to take a
Soldner workshop first . . . Major items: slip has to be thin, like milk,
or it peels; time in the reduction barrel "until the yellow smoke stops"
according to Soldner, but our pieces have been small, we fire at night,
it's difficult to see much "yellow" smoke, so we use 5 minutes in the
barrel, and out and watch for the halo to develop, then quench.
Last night I had some bisqued tea bowls, Laguna raku K body, coated
with Laguna porcelain casting slip (thinned and applied just after
trimming) sitting about so . . . just to be perverse, I splashed on some
Soldner stain (without the Soldner slip) and after 5 min. in the barrel,
bingo, Soldner's halo. Don't know what's happening here, but I like it.
So, back to the Soldner workshop . . . if you are interested, contact:
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
6901 Wadsworth Boulevard
Arvada, Colorado 80003
voice: 303-431-3939, FAX: 303-431-3083
workshop code: AC56, cost 120 bucks.
By the way, September is a beautiful month in Colorado. Arvada is a suburb
of Denver about 10 miles northwest of downtown. Come visit.
Bob Burruss
| |
|
