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deep textures: which glazes do you use?

updated tue 15 apr 08

 

steve graber on sat 12 apr 08


well, i'm a little partial but i like tenmoku-jenson glaze as a combination. usually i go cone 10 glazes. jensen blue or red being rutile based glazes. rutile seems to go crazy real well on iron based glazes. (stock aardvark or laguna clay ready mixed glazes).

i never seem to get the bubbles you mention. that might be a fire thing.

for texture, i also do naked glazing - maybe just do the inside lik ea liner glaze, let the outside be raw clay and claybody?

spraying the glaze on also helps throw on a glaze color but not so much glaze to wipe out texture.

or stains work well. basic iron oxide.

make more pots anyway! you'll mess with various glazes and find ones you like.

(glad you enjoyed the tool)

see ya

Steve Graber, Graber's Pottery, Inc
Claremont, California USA
The Steve Tool - for awesum texture on pots!
www.graberspottery.com steve@graberspottery.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Anne Doyle
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 2:54:23 PM
Subject: Deep textures: which glazes do you use?

Hi claybuds...
Since returning from NCECA i have been having entirely too much fun with
my new Steve Tool... i made a series of casserole dishes with handles
which i think look super cool but i am hesitating with the glazing now as
i am unsure with such deep texture of what the effects will be... i was
thinking about deep glossy or satin greens and browns but i am curious to
see what nutmegs would do on these deep textures... i will of course be
doing a lot of testing in the next firing but thought i'd ask anyhow...

Does anyone have pics of pieces glazed with deep texture that i could
check out for ideas? I am a teensy bit concerned with the bubbles in the
texture when glazing and wondered if anyone has any tips/tricks to offer
up... i usually wash my pieces before glazing but should i glaze them
while they're still a bit wet to get less bubbles in the grooves?

As always all the advice and info much appreciated...

Anne Doyle,
in Saint-Sauveur QC watching the snow fall steady ... at this rate the
tulips will only be able to come out in july!!

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Anne Doyle on sat 12 apr 08


Hi claybuds...
Since returning from NCECA i have been having entirely too much fun with
my new Steve Tool... i made a series of casserole dishes with handles
which i think look super cool but i am hesitating with the glazing now as
i am unsure with such deep texture of what the effects will be... i was
thinking about deep glossy or satin greens and browns but i am curious to
see what nutmegs would do on these deep textures... i will of course be
doing a lot of testing in the next firing but thought i'd ask anyhow...

Does anyone have pics of pieces glazed with deep texture that i could
check out for ideas? I am a teensy bit concerned with the bubbles in the
texture when glazing and wondered if anyone has any tips/tricks to offer
up... i usually wash my pieces before glazing but should i glaze them
while they're still a bit wet to get less bubbles in the grooves?

As always all the advice and info much appreciated...

Anne Doyle,
in Saint-Sauveur QC watching the snow fall steady ... at this rate the
tulips will only be able to come out in july!!

Nobody Special on sun 13 apr 08


On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:54:23 -0500, Anne Doyle wrote:

---snip---
I am a teensy bit concerned with the bubbles in the
>texture when glazing and wondered if anyone has any tips/tricks to offer
>up... i usually wash my pieces before glazing but should i glaze them
>while they're still a bit wet to get less bubbles in the grooves?
>

Anne...

Have you considered spraying? Spraying really plays up texture.

Many of my pieces have texture or tight nooks and crannies. To obtain a
smooth, even finish, I spray four light coats of glaze, each from a
different angle. If I want to highlight the texture I spray two light coats
from two different angles, then spray a third heavier coat from a very acute
angle, giving a heavier application on the "face" of the texture, and a
lighter, fading coat on the leeward side. If there are tight places, I
first spray into them with an airbrush.

You don't need great facilities in order to spray. I use a Critter gun,
purchased from Lee Valley Tools. It is the same as the Bailey gun, but $10
or so cheaper. If you look under the rubber cover on the handle of a Bailey
it will say "Critter" underneath. As to an airbrush, the cheap plastic $5
one from Harbor Freight works great for glaze. It's quite primitive, but
I've been using the same one for about 3 years now without a problem. For
important stuff I have a Paasche, but for tucking glaze into corners the
cheap one works just fine.

You will laugh at what I did for a spray booth, but it served me well for 2
years. I now have the big Laguna spray booth (it's the King of England!),
but before that I used a "temporary" one made from two cardboard boxes, a
furnace filter, a bunch of packaging tape, and my shop vac. I cut a hole in
the back of a decent sized cardboard box (big enough for your work) just a
bit smaller than a furnace filter, then taped the filter over the hole
inside the box. Next, I taped a smaller box over the filter hole on the
outside of the big box. This small box acted as both a plenum and a
settling chamber. I cut a round hole in the back of the small box just big
enough to jamb my shop vac hose into. Voila.

The noise of the shop vac was horrendous, but it worked. The furnace filter
caught about half of the overspray. Much of the rest settled inside the
small plenum box. Very little actually ended up in the vacuum. Not ideal
by any means, but with my little $3 contraption and a dust mask I was able
to spray hundreds of pieces. In fact, I have a piece in Feats of Clay right
now that was sprayed in my cardboard box.

Just an idea, for whatever it's worth.

All the best.

...James

Lee on sun 13 apr 08


On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 4:54 PM, Anne Doyle wrote:

> Does anyone have pics of pieces glazed with deep texture that i could
> check out for ideas? I am a teensy bit concerned with the bubbles in the
> texture when glazing and wondered if anyone has any tips/tricks to offer
> up... i usually wash my pieces before glazing but should i glaze them
> while they're still a bit wet to get less bubbles in the grooves?
>
> As always all the advice and info much appreciated...
>

Anne,

I do deep texturing with a wire cutter that is made from a
stretched ballpoint spring. I usually do inlay: brushing on two
coats of slip and scraping off the high parts.

I don't have trouble with bubble and I do sponge all the
work with water, inside and out, except in shinos or crackle slips I
want bubbling in. (and I bisque at 012 and below or single fire)
I don't think you should have any problems. If you have any
undesirable pinholes after glazing, rub them out with your fingers.
Also, a slip coating on texture work can help cut down on pinholing.

Fire some small test pieces first. The empirical process
trumps theory every time.
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that
can be counted counts."
--(Sign
hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Steve Mills on sun 13 apr 08


I have always preferred to use translucent or transparent coloured glazes on textured work as they pool in the depressions emphasizing the surface qualities.

Steve
Bath
UK

Anne Doyle wrote:
Hi claybuds...
Since returning from NCECA i have been having entirely too much fun with
my new Steve Tool... i made a series of casserole dishes with handles
which i think look super cool but i am hesitating with the glazing now as
i am unsure with such deep texture of what the effects will be... i was
thinking about deep glossy or satin greens and browns but i am curious to
see what nutmegs would do on these deep textures... i will of course be
doing a lot of testing in the next firing but thought i'd ask anyhow...

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