Pfeiffer Fire Arts on tue 6 nov 07
Could this not be solved by having a required orientation talk that covers
this?
We cover all this in our basic pottery class and have much less time than a
semester. This does not make them experts but they do know what to look out
for.
Making glaze does take some care and who has read every health statement and
discussion pro and con on every idem that could be used in a pottery studio?
Such detail one grows into and each comes to grips in some way with the real
or perceived risks. At first I would think an overview is all the is needed
to keep most people out of trouble. The short list is don't eat it and don't
breath it.
Dan & Laurel
>>>>
Do you think it is appropriate to leave the job of making and maintaining
glazes to student workers who
1, do not fully understand the health hazards involved
2, are in general only there for one semester (is it possible to learn
enough to be competent with glaze work in a very short period?)
3, are not potters and have no vested interest in the glazes?
4, and is this fair to those who use the studio and have the expectations
of having glazes they can rely on?
>>>
Donna Kat on tue 6 nov 07
Today I went into the crafts studio to finish up some work I had been
doing. When I got there all of the lids were off of the glaze
containers. Thinking the person standing there was a member that was
glazing I mentioned that this was not a good idea in general as it was an
easy way to contaminate glazes. I was then told that they were doing this
because the glazes had measured too thin with the hydrometer and they were
trying to get the glazes thicker. Knowing that unless someone had dumped
water in the glazes that it was highly unlikely that they were now thinner
than when they had been mixed and tested I pulled out the sieve, a bucket,
a pitcher and proceeded to demonstrate to the student how glazes settle
and if you don't get them stirred enough that there is going to be a
faulty reading with the hydrometer (or any other method of testing
thickness). By the time I got to the bottom of the bucket it was thick as
you could get without being rock hard. The student got the point. The
problem is that this is just one student out of the dozens that come and
go as work study students in the studio.
So the questions I pose to those of you who are in a studio environment
is -
Do you think it is appropriate to leave the job of making and maintaining
glazes to student workers who
1, do not fully understand the health hazards involved
2, are in general only there for one semester (is it possible to learn
enough to be competent with glaze work in a very short period?)
3, are not potters and have no vested interest in the glazes?
4, and is this fair to those who use the studio and have the expectations
of having glazes they can rely on?
Are there issues you can see here that I'm missing?
Donna
Ivor and Olive Lewis on wed 7 nov 07
Dear Donna Kat
Your comment " ....The problem is that this is just one student out of =
the dozens that come and go as work study students in the studio....." =
suggests to me that supervision has been inadequate.
Even in an informal teaching situation, which is what you seem to =
describe, students should not be left un-supervised. If a supervisor was =
present then they may be derelict in their duty of care. If this was the =
case, a quiet word in private may be appropriate. It may also be wise to =
ask if there is a formal study program which these students must follow =
with appropriate assessment measures. I don't believe letting students =
work un-supervised in a glaze labe is an option
I think the other points you make are valid.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
South Australia.
Digital Studio on wed 7 nov 07
Donna,
I'm currently a work study in the ceramics studio here at my college. I
always wear a mask when I mix glazes, have been mixing since the fall of
last year. I've already sold some of my pieces, and the glazes I mix are
the glazes I use. I would try to hire a work study that would end up in
a ceramics class and that would use the glazes they mix, so when they
ruin one of their pots, it makes a better point for them to get the
glaze right. Most people that take our class think that because they
took it in high school they know absolutely everything there is to know
about ceramics, and it's fun to see them shocked by the actual
temperature of Cone 6 or surprised by the amount of information they
need to learn for their tests. New students come in and think we "paint"
our clay... that we "bake" it... I like to watch them when they realize
the complexity and actual work involved, not just pinching clay and
painting it. We have about twenty separate glazes that everyone uses,
from Floating Blue to Raspberry. All of our glazes settle to the bottom,
some more than others. (And most of those are a pain to stir...)
I think I'm one of the few in our group of classes that understands a
lot of the complexity of ceramics and the information someone has to
know about it; I contribute this to how my professor teaches. When he
first taught me how to mix glazes, he gave me a general explanation of
things and I by myself Googled glazes and was confused by unity formulas
and the science of it all, and this was when I realized that what I was
doing was not just mixing powders together to make a liquid, I was doing
a science that people do for a living.
I took glazing seriously, and ran across Floating Blue online. I mixed
it, tested it tons of times, until it finally started to work out like
it was supposed to. My professor and the other students liked it so much
that it became an official class glaze, named after me (how exciting.)
It's so cool for me to see it come out in firings. It ranges from blue
floating on clear brown, to blue with black flecks or even floating green.
I think... that if you want the work study to take it seriously, don't
give a Cliffnotes version of glaze science. Instead, tell them of the
complexity of what they're doing, and maybe then they can take it
seriously. Ceramics is something that is fun but also can be taken
seriously at the same time, and I think that's why I like it so much.
Hope this helps you!
-Kendra
Donna Kat wrote:
> Today I went into the crafts studio to finish up some work I had been
> doing. When I got there all of the lids were off of the glaze
> containers. Thinking the person standing there was a member that was
> glazing I mentioned that this was not a good idea in general as it was an
> easy way to contaminate glazes. I was then told that they were doing this
> because the glazes had measured too thin with the hydrometer and they were
> trying to get the glazes thicker. Knowing that unless someone had dumped
> water in the glazes that it was highly unlikely that they were now thinner
> than when they had been mixed and tested I pulled out the sieve, a bucket,
> a pitcher and proceeded to demonstrate to the student how glazes settle
> and if you don't get them stirred enough that there is going to be a
> faulty reading with the hydrometer (or any other method of testing
> thickness). By the time I got to the bottom of the bucket it was thick as
> you could get without being rock hard. The student got the point. The
> problem is that this is just one student out of the dozens that come and
> go as work study students in the studio.
>
> So the questions I pose to those of you who are in a studio environment
> is -
>
> Do you think it is appropriate to leave the job of making and maintaining
> glazes to student workers who
> 1, do not fully understand the health hazards involved
> 2, are in general only there for one semester (is it possible to learn
> enough to be competent with glaze work in a very short period?)
> 3, are not potters and have no vested interest in the glazes?
> 4, and is this fair to those who use the studio and have the expectations
> of having glazes they can rely on?
>
> Are there issues you can see here that I'm missing?
>
> Donna
>
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>
--
Kendra Bogert
www.digital-studio.biz
641-208-6253
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