Nick Blahna on fri 31 aug 07
I=92m wondering if anyone has had any success sealing a piece for eating off=
of after smoke-firing it
without losing any of the decoration. I know Dan Rhodes suggests using poly=
urethane in =93Clay and
Glazes for the Potter,=94 (pp.303). Has anyone had any success with that? =
Or does anyone know
whether there=92s a toxicity issue?
Thanks!
-Nick
Vince Pitelka on fri 31 aug 07
Nick wrote:
"I'm wondering if anyone has had any success sealing a piece for eating off
of after smoke-firing it
without losing any of the decoration. I know Dan Rhodes suggests using
polyurethane in "Clay and
Glazes for the Potter," (pp.303). Has anyone had any success with that? Or
does anyone know
whether there's a toxicity issue?"
Nick -
My assumption is that someone using ceramic plates doesn't want to be eating
off of plastic, and that's what you get if you seal the surface.
Smoke-fired ware can be beautiful, but they are not utilitarian pots. It's
just not the right use for them, from both a practical and aesthetic point
of view. Sure tribal peoples often eat/ate off of unsealed bonfired ware,
but that's the only ceramic ware they had, and they developed the antibodies
to fight the disease and bacteria. At the least, we would likely suffer a
serious case of Montezuma's revenge.
Enjoy your smoke-fired pottery, make forms that are appropriate for
smoke-fired pottery, and don't try to make them utilitarian.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
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