Antoinette Badenhorst on thu 2 jun 11
I've read the comments about Matt and Dave's porcelain with interest. With =
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Southern Ice temporarily unavailable, I am particularly interested in the s=
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now porcelain that they produce. Dave asked me to test the peoples porcelai=
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n last year and I found it a good clay for fine translucent work. It was no=
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t as brilliant white as SI, but none the less a nice claybody. I will use i=
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t if I need a different translucent body.=3D20
Earlier this year I tested Snow porcelain as a possible substitute for SI a=
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nd it stands up very well against SI. It is very suitable for my work and I=
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have no trouble with glazes, since I spray glaze=3DC2=3DA0 thin .=3D20
I recall many times before that potters disagreed with me about the difficu=
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lty of working with porcelain.=3DC2=3DA0 Fact is that=3DC2=3DA0 translucent=
porcela=3D
in=3DC2=3DA0is a tedious clay body that need special pampering. It is not f=
or e=3D
verybody and it is useless to blame the clay if it does not fit with your i=
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dea of what it should be.=3D20
=3DC2=3DA0You will find this statement on my website:=3D20
Porcelain is unique in the sense that it can be worked as clay,=3DC2=3DA0bu=
t=3DC2=3D
=3DA0when fired it reaches a state similar to glass. Primary qualities of p=
or=3D
celain are translucency and whiteness.=3D20
If you look at the composition of translucent porcelain, it contains very l=
=3D
ittle clay and much more glass forming ingredients. That is why it is so di=
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fficult to work with.=3D20
That being said: there are several "easier " porcelain clay bodies develope=
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d over the last several years=3DC2=3DA0 that does, or does not=3DC2=3DA0not=
fire tr=3D
anslucent=3DC2=3DA0.=3DC2=3DA0Easier working porcelains are developed all t=
he time,=3D
but there are also potters that does not recognize it as porcelain, but ra=
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ther as white stoneware. The temperature is also constantly adjusted.=3D20
DO NOT BLAME THE CLAY BODY for not doing what you want from it.=3DC2=3DA0FI=
ND t=3D
he claybody that will work for=3DC2=3DA0YOU and your type work. Talk to the=
man=3D
ufactureds and let them help you find the porcelain for your purposes. They=
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will be more than willing to help you with that AND they will do tests to =
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keep on meeting the needs of their clients.=3D20
I hope this will help to clarify the clay problems that some of you experie=
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nce. The only time that there is reason to complain, is if the claybody wor=
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ked for you before and is suddenly not working anymore. That is a different=
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story.=3D20
Best wishes.=3D20
Antoinette Badenhorst=3D20
www.porcelainbyAntoinette.com=3D20
Antoinette Badenhorst=3D20
www.porcelainbyAntoinette.com=3D20
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