Joyce Lee on fri 20 feb 98
Have now had about half dozen of you ask what's the big deal with lichen
glazes and why would one use them. I'm sure some of our pros can answer
this better, but since I was asked... I'm not sure why I fool with
lichens any more than I know why I like tenmoku, tessa, shino, salt/soda
glazes, copper reds, barium greens/blues, rutile blues, carved pots,
chunky pots, primitive-looking pots, pots altered to the point of
distortion, rutile oxide rubbed on pots, in fact, almost anything with
rutile, mamo on brown clay, red clay especially when wet, woodfired
pots, unglazed pots. Many of these are a real struggle for me to
achieve. I have had zip success with others...and yet I keep trying.
The topper, of course, is that few potential customers really like any
of these looks. Good thing I fell into clay at the ripe old age of
older-than-dirt, so have never expected to sell much, just want to get
the pots into the hands of those who will treat them kindly and
respectfully. Lichens break or crawl into little squares or
rectangles; some are rather flat and smooth like flat cobblestones;
others are rougher and more jagged. Some clay artists use them in their
non-functional work. Other use them to decorate functional pots. Some
apply them to animal sculptures such as lizards, alligators, dragons.
Their use has eluded me but now am learning ways I might use them from
clayarters as I've sent out recipes. Thank you.
Joyce
In the Mojave where we never see nature's lichen. I miss it.
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