Rimas VisGirda on mon 5 sep 11
Richard Aerni said:=3D0A=3D0ABack in the dark ages (1988-90) when I taught =
at a=3D
college in Rochester, =3D3D=3D0Awe fired the bulk of our work in reduction=
at =3D
cone 6.=3DA0 Most of the =3D3D=3D0Astudents were aspiring art teachers at t=
he hig=3D
h school and below age =3D3D=3D0Alevel, and had no practical experience mak=
ing =3D
or developing their own =3D3D=3D0Aglazes.=3DA0 Using the Val Cushing/Robin =
Hopper=3D
limit formulae/substitution =3D3D=3D0Amethod, I had all my classes divide =
up i=3D
nto teams at the beginnning of =3D3D=3D0Athe semester and work on glaze dev=
elop=3D
ment as the semester progressed.=3DA0 =3D3D=3D0AUsing limit formulae for gl=
ossy, =3D
mattes, etc, we came up with a number =3D3D=3D0Aof viable base glazes and a=
s th=3D
e semester went on, I had them further =3D3D=3D0Aself-select into color gro=
ups.=3D
=3DA0 By the end of the semester we had =3D3D=3D0Aseveral dozen very nice c=
one 6 =3D
reduction glazes, and the students had a =3D3D=3D0Agreat sense of satisfact=
ion =3D
with their accomplishments with glazes, as =3D3D=3D0Awell as a greater fami=
liar=3D
ity with their materials.=3DA0 I never wanted my =3D3D=3D0Astudents to get =
their =3D
glazes only from the bottle or from the back of =3D3D=3D0Athe Ceramics Mont=
hly =3D
magazine.=3DA0 Teaching fishing as opposed to giving =3D3D=3D0Afish away, e=
tc...=3D
=3D0A=3D0AI'm surprised that 6R was taught to lower education majors. In my=
exp=3D
erience of teaching (in the Midwest) I've never heard of a high school with=
=3D
a gas kiln. Many of my college classmates in CA went on to teach high scho=
=3D
ol and there is only one instance that I know of a HS having a gas kiln and=
=3D
that's at Encina HS in Sacramento; it's a downdraft that I built for a cla=
=3D
ssmate, Eric Dahlin. I would be interested to know if anyone has encountere=
=3D
d gas fired kilns in lower education...=3D0A=3D0AI like the teach fishing a=
nalo=3D
gy. In my teaching, I never felt the need to teach glaze calc; mixing up cl=
=3D
ass glazes from known recipes, sometimes converting them to smaller batch w=
=3D
eights if the bucket already had a bunch in it, was as far as I thought nec=
=3D
essary. Everything else they did themselves from making clay to firing kiln=
=3D
s, electric bisque and gas 10R glaze...=3D0A=3D0A=3D0A-Rimas=3D0A
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