Dinah Snipes Steveni on thu 7 oct 10
I think many consider the use of slip and then layering on top of that crit=
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ical to really special glaze effects. You really should test your own suite=
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of glazes and develop some slips in varying colors which will impart the d=
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esired effects to your work. Some folks, quite generously, will share out t=
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heir use and order but it's best if one tests and develops. Also, I think o=
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nce firing and the subbing of clay for bentonite is not quite the panacea f=
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or converting glaze recipes to once fired recipes. I studied and made up a =
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couple of Lucie Rie's once fired formulas based on information gleaned from=
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many reference books and even from a photo taken of several pages from her=
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notebooks which I scrutinized with a magnifying glass! Certainly a higher=
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percentage of china clay and or ball clay is necessary. I always put 1.5 t=
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o 2% bentonite in all my glazes. Old habit. Keeps them from settling into a=
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hard pan. Add the bentonite to the ball clay and stir it in,then add it to=
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the glaze. Respirator up and always wet mix. Alternatively, I have a dedi=
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cated to my workshop a hand held mini blade implement which breaks up the f=
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loating islands of bentonite for the next day after raw materials have slak=
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ed well. I know there's other methods to keep glazes from settling and no =
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doubt we will hear about them. In conclusion, I also suspect that many folk=
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s, myself included here, don't wish to share the layering procedures and sl=
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ip formulae because they represent a huge amount of time in the studio mess=
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ing around with heat work. Some secrets are worth keeping.
Dinah=3D20
http://www.dinahsnipessteveni.com
Facebook: Dianthus Visual Arts
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jd.steveni@comcast.com
360.336.6624
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