Deborah Thuman on sun 4 mar 12
I really wish NMSU had a glaze class. I'd dearly love to understand =3D
glazes. I can follow the glaze recipe. I can follow the firing =3D
instructions. I have a good working knowledge of the fully manual gas =3D
kiln. I know what clay bodies I like. I've made clay and I've bought =3D
ready made clay. I buy and use ready made clay. I do not understand, =3D
really understand, glazes. Flux? Frit? Opacificer? I kind of know what =3D
they do=3D85 but I don't really understand them. Suppose I make up a =3D
glaze, and it needs a little tweaking to make it perfect for my work. I =3D
don't have the faintest idea how or what to tweak. I know what a =3D
colorant is, but I don't know if "colorant A" will make the glaze unsafe =
=3D
for food or unstable. Why does a particular glaze give me nothing but =3D
problems in oxidation and turn out magnificent in reduction? Why does =3D
putting 40 6" square tiles glazed with Pete's Copper Red into the =3D
communal kiln with everyone else's work (this was before I decided no =3D
one fires my work except me) cause interesting effects? Yes, I did bring =
=3D
this up with my teacher whose response was: no one will care. Just one =3D
of the reasons I decided to learn how to use the kilns.=3D20
Deb Thuman
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_ie=3D3D5888059
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deb-Thumans-Art-Page/167529715986
John Post on sun 4 mar 12
Hi Deb,
I recommend reading Ian Currie's book titled Revealing Glazes. If you =3D2=
0=3D
take the time to read his book and learn his method of using grids to =3D20=
=3D
explore glaze recipes, the process will reveal much of the information =3D2=
0=3D
you are looking to learn.
Another good thing to do is to read about each ingredient in your =3D20
glazes in the Potter's Dictionary by Frank and Janet Hamer.
Lastly, I loved the make suggestion button in the software program =3D20
Glazchem when I was learning to reformulate glazes. I run Glazchem on =3D2=
0=3D
my Mac using Parallel's software and Win XP. Win XP laptops on ebay =3D20
are really inexpensive, the shipping probably costs more than the cost =3D2=
0=3D
of the computer.
I have a two videos on my Youtube channel that show a little bit about =3D2=
0=3D
how to use Glazchem and the make suggestion button.
http://youtu.be/t-STG11gBhE
http://youtu.be/RCao5VSshzc
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
http://www.johnpost.us
Follow me on Twitter
https://twitter.com/UCSArtTeacher
On Mar 4, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Deborah Thuman wrote:
> I buy and use ready made clay. I do not understand, really =3D20
> understand, glazes. Flux? Frit? Opacificer? I kind of know what they =3D2=
0=3D
> do=3D85 but I don't really understand them. Suppose I make up a glaze, =
=3D20=3D
> and it needs a little tweaking to make it perfect for my work. I =3D20
> don't have the faintest idea how or what to tweak.
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