Lili Krakowski on sun 8 jul 07
Gay:
Parenthood involves diapers. Cooking , dirty dishes; gardening ,
weeding....Point being that the best loved "jobs" in the world can have a
dark, hateful side. If you hate glazing there are three approaches. You
make only pots that do not need glazing; you raw glaze, which means applying
glaze as you would slip; you promise yourself a terrific reward for
glazing--this can be dinner out, a new book--you get it.
While just now, we had a lot of messages responding to "I love
trimming..." to someone who hates it, we have not yet heard that anyone
loves glazing. I love glaze--but I sure do not love glazing--or why years
go I switched to slip decoration, one transparent, and one or two
glazes--both high in clay.
Now on to the actual topic.
Many here learned potting in recreational classes...where the Glazing
Lessons--ending a 12 week 3 hour a week class-- go like this.
The week before last class the teacher announces: "Hey, Folks. Next week we
glaze.... If you feel like it, bring some goodies so we can have a
party...." (Which means half the class is spent in eating cookies--not a bad
deal, but one should not eat in the studio, AND 1.5 hours for glazing?)
Teacher or tech mixes glazes and these sit in their buckets. And then
the class comes in, and if it is the first class they are very
lucky....because after 5 classes everything is a mess, and one is lucky if
glazes have been poured back into their proper buckets.
After a demo by the teacher... the class is let loose. "Do I have to rinse
that before I glaze?" "Oops, the handle came off...can I stick it back on?"
"You mean I should not dip the pot I just glazed black into the white
bucket?" And that is just for starters.
PEEPHOLES! It takes JUST as much practice to glaze properly as it does to do
anything else properly in clay!!You spend hours and hours learning,
practicing to
throw, to handbuild and begrudge glazing equal time! Glazing is a skill!
Master it!
HOW TO GLAZE PROPERLY.
Read and study the diverse techniques as shown in books. Dipping may be the
most frequently shown. (If there are videos and you can afford one, give
that a look.)
Make or salvage 20 pots or so you do not care about. Pots with spouts, with
handles, thingies with galleries and lids. Big/small plates. Big deep/small
shallow bowls, bottles.
Have them properly bisqued.
Mix a large bucket of mock glaze. I suggest maybe 70% silica and maybe 30%
clay. Add some color like a little food colorant to make overlaps more
visible. It may be only practice, but the silica is real, and you better
wear your mask!!!
Prepare this as you would a glaze. Mix, sieve 3 times. Here also is the time
to learn what is the proper thickness for your glaze.
With a few "vessels" on hand....dishpans, large plastic bowls, kitty litter
pans, oil-changing pans, cleaning pails---decide on what method to try
first.
Lettuce say it is "pouring". Review in your mind what you have read. Now
start to glaze the pots by pouring. When you have done, have a little rest.
(I do all the insides first, then the outsides. Vince apparently does the
outside first, cleans the rim and waxes it, does inside. (I hope I remember
this correctly.) It makes no never mind HOW you do it. Just do it, over
and over.
Rinse the pots thoroughly and allow to dry. If you rinse into a big bowl you
will be able to reclaim your mock glaze. Have a little rest.
When the pots are dry--depending on climate etc this may take
overnight--wash them gently as you would "fresh" bisque, and start the whole
process again. Have a little rest.
After you have pour/glazed all those 20 pots 5 times you will know how to do
it....Have a longer rest.
Next week: DIP. This requires quite a bit of glaze but for smallish pots a
5 gallon bucket should work. Repeat the whole process as above.
After doing it 5 times you will know how to do it. And have learned which
pots lend themselves to dipping and which not.
My obsession with Keeping the Hand Surgeon Busy has made holding pots for
glazing painful and annoying. So I apply glaze mostly by brush. With the
right glazes it works very well. I use a wide, rather sloppy, brush, and
often apply the glaze to the raw clay, set back on the wheel. (Has
limitations if you use a light clay and dark glazes--you have to recycle
separately, but you knew that.)
One also can spray glazes: I know too little about that to opine. Someone
else will.
Do you get the idea? Glaze application demands as much practice as anything
else. And this has NOTHING do with whether you plan to mix your own glazes
or buy them... NB I do not mention waxing the feet. There is no point here,
and then, I rarely wax feet anyway.
The "have a little rest" part is not a joke. This is hard tedious work, and
tiring. Too many people mistakenly think that forming is the hard "serious"
part and glazing a mere bagatelle.
Gay: After you have assembled your 20 plus pots spend A WEEK practicing how
to glaze. Ok? As to why one rinses bisque or washes, or sponges it...I
learned two reasons: That dust does settle on pots, often it does not settle
but is leftover from trimming, and or gets in from other bisque. Areas
"under" handles, around feet, inside bowls, and in galleries and flanges is
the most frequent/common. The other reason is that really dry bisque can
absorb glaze too fast--almost with slurpy noises--which can create pinholes
then and there.
One more note. In my opinion too many mix up too much glaze at a time.
And have too many glazes around at a time. Looking at RonJohn's book,
Powder Blue or Bone and one of the dark brown glazes should keep you
challenged and intrigued for at least a year. I have used Noah and
Hannah--two of my twice fired glazes--for years. They still challenge.
And I do not mix up more than 1 or so Kilo at a time. (Yes, I weigh out 3
or 4 batches of 1 K, keep in brown paper bags inside plastic bags, so I am
ready for when I need more) As I sieve the glaze to be used three times
before applying it, a 1 K based batch is just right, and I do not need to
spend too much time sieving. Leave the 30 gallon tubs to the production
guys, or those who fire everything Shino!.
AND glaze should NOT settle down like a rock--if it does it needs to be
modified with bentonite, calcium chloride and the like...check the Archives
or a book..
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
John Sankey on wed 18 jul 07
"we have not yet heard that anyone loves glazing."
OK, I'll bite: I like glazing.
Now, I wouldn't like production glazing, but then I don't enjoy
repetitive production work of any kind. But, to me, when I hold
my piece, brush in hand with dipping bowls near by, that's when
the piece gets the most visible part of its character. That's
when I review the shape and style, the feeling, that I've tried
to create with clay, and try to merge that with the character of
the glaze and the way it's brushed on or dipped. To me, that's
when the piece comes together. That's when I have a chance to
create something that has life in a way a production mill in
China never will.
Glazes have the potential for so much character! To me they are
what fascinates me the most about pottery. They gain from
intellectual work to understand them and from feeling too.
--
(Add 'Byrd' to the subject line of your reply to get through my spam filter)
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