Cheryl L Litman on fri 13 feb 98
Hi,
I'm taking a sculpture class at the local community college and my
wonderful instructor (adjunct) says that he is teaching a basic ceramics
course for the fist time at another community college and wants to
include the basics on glaze formulation but isn't sure where to begin.
He's looked through several books but the more he looks the more confused
he feels about which approach to use. I thought I'd ask if anyone from
clayart would be willing to share their curriculum - don't know how
instructors feel about this since a lot of work goes into developing
curriculum?
Cheryl Litman
Somerset, NJ
email: cheryllitman@juno.com
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douglas gray on sat 14 feb 98
In message Cheryl L Litman writes:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I thought I'd ask if anyone from
> clayart would be willing to share their curriculum
It seems that things always change for me from semester to semester, but I'll
share what I have at this point. We have three levels of ceramic classes and
then a ceramic sculpture and design class. In each of the ceramic classes, the
students do some kind of glaze testing.
The begining class starts with single ingredient testing. I assign each student
a single ingredient, which they scoop up into a teaspoon. We pack the material
tightly and then turn it out into a small flat saucer. It is important that the
material maintain the shape of the spoon, so if it falls apart they have to redo
it. Also, in this same firing, I have them bring something from home to run
through the kiln. We've done everything from fruit/vegetable peels, cigarette
ash, to dog/cat food and powdered detergients/body powders. I do this just to
get them thinking about alternative surfaces. Some are nice, but most don't get
used. We fire both these tests with our first kiln load. Based on the fired
results, we catagorize each chemical into three groups, alumina, glassformer and
flux. The other from-home items get set aside as future possiblitites.
The next test is to combine two of the single ingrediants into a five-step line
blend test. I try to help them match up chemicals that will create a glaze,
most do. After these are fired we select the test that made the best glaze, not
too runny, not too dry, and we do one final test adding colorant. Again we do
line blends and I try to provide some ranges for the oxides that they choose.
We usually end up with some usable glazes that can be applied to some of their
work before the semster is over with.
In the Intermediate class, I work from Robin Hoppers book CERAMIC SPECTRUM. We
do two flux variation tests, a matt and a shiny (this test is explained in
ch.10). Once we have the results, we add colorants (another line blend test)
and if we have time, combinations of colorants. On top of this, they are
responsible for mixing up five glazes they find either in books magazines or
from clayart printouts (thanks!). So by the end of the semester, they should
have at least two glazes they created and another five or so that they found.
All of which can be applied totheir own work. I really try to ween them from
class glazes at this point.
In the advanced class, we switch to unity formula. By this point they have a
fairly good intuition about the ingrediants, knowing what to expect from certain
chemicals and combinations. This is where I try to tell them about the
chemestry behind the glazes. I have to admit, this is not one of my strengths,
so I rely on glaze programs like Hyper glaze and Glaze Simulator (still testing
this program). We develop 3-5 glazes using these programs. In addition, I have
them testing more found or acquired glazes. I should probably say that these
acquired glazes are actually tested, modified and retested to get the desired
results. I even make them rework one of the glazes to produce a different
surface.
In the design and sculpture classes we switch gears and do a lot of the cold
finishes that have been topics on the list recently (thanks again). And I
should add that all along the way, even in the beginning classes, we have
available alternative firing methods, such as pit fire, raku, saggar and so
forth.
There always seems to be so much more than I can cram into a given semester,
what with techniques and concepts and philosophical discussion. So I rotate
things around each semester, hoping that if by some chance they didn't get a
specific assignment, they will see some one else doing it and can ask how it is
done for themselves.
This is a very brief discription and may be too general to meet your needs, but
I would check out the hopper book and another favorite, CLAY AND GLAZES for the
POTTER by Daniel Rhodes. The new software available is also very helpful. Both
of the programs I mentioned deal with the unity formula and explain things more
clearly than I seem to be able. Beyond that, you might keep an eye out for
glaze lectures and workshops in your area. I know I do. There are so many
knowledgable people around who are willing to share their expertise, it should
not be difficult to find one in your area.
doug
============================================================================ =)
Douglas E. Gray, Assistant Professor of Art
P.O. Box 100547
Department of Fine Arts and Mass Communication
Francis Marion Univeristy
Florence, South Carolina 29501-0547
dgray@fmarion.edu
803/661-1535
Lili Krakowski on tue 17 feb 98
As I only have ten fingers and there are only 24 hours in the day:
snail-mail address please and the best I can do will be in mail.
Lili Krakowski
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