Hollingsworth on fri 29 may 98
Clayarters,
We need help here at Georgia State. Tuesday, May 26, there was a
ventilation malfunction or a sprinkler malfunction or both that resulted in
45 minutes of water pouring directly on to our large gas kiln in the middle
of a firing. The contents - ware, shelves, posts - were pretty much a total
loss. As of today, it looks like the kiln itself is a goner. Replacing the
kiln in a better location than the basement where it is currently located
will be expensive and the Dean is asking why do we need gas anyway? Why not
just use electric kilns?
Here's where we need your help. The Dean wants to meet with Don
McCance, our fearless leader in the ceramics department and John McWilliams,
head of the art and design school, this coming M O N D A Y (!) and will
need a lot of persuading. I would appreciate it very much if you eloquent
clayarters would write a few words on the wonders of gas firing. As I am
sure those of you in the academic settings know, this is one of those
occasions where credentials may mean a lot so please don't be bashful in
stating them, academic or otherwise.
The Dean, Don, John and the rest of us, are also very interested in
how other schools handle the logistics and risks involved in gas firing.
Are your kilns indoors or out? What about off-site kilns? What factors did
you consider in choosing your kilns?
Georgia State is in the middle of downtown Atlanta which has
precluded wood, salt, soda and pitfiring. We do raku firing in an open
courtyard. Besides the recently toasted gas kiln, we also have a small
Alpine gas kiln and electric kilns of various sizes in an interior room
which is vented, apparently inadequately, to the roof five stories above.
The work of many of us in the GSU ceramics program cannot be done in
electric kilns. Far from narrowing our already limited firing options, we
would like to expand our possibilities. We will be writing letters
ourselves but we will need all the help we can get. Your messages will be
greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much.
Carolyn F. Hollingsworth,
Graduate Lab Assistant
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia
Talbott on sat 30 may 98
Why a gas kiln? Very simply put. In a gas fired kiln the potter
can create a reduction atmosphere that allows for the formation of
beautiful metallic glazes that are impossible to create in an electric
kiln. Such glazes which are fired in this low oxygen atmosphere are vivid,
bright, and brilliant. The Chinese discovered the wonders of a reducing
atmosphere thousands of years ago by using their wood fired kilns. The
magnificant copper red vessels of the Chung Dynasty speak for themselves.
As a potter and as a business man I would not even consider firing my pots
in an electric kiln. The gas fired reduction glazed pottery outsells
oxidation fired (electric kiln fired) ten to one. Also the expense of
firing a gas kiln is a fraction of the cost of firing an electric kiln by a
factor of about 267%. I will start a thread on this topic at:
PotterInfo.com at the "Kilns" board. Please let me know if you have any
questions..
Yours in Pottery and Art... Marshall
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Clayarters,
>
> We need help here at Georgia State. Tuesday, May 26, there was a
>ventilation malfunction or a sprinkler malfunction or both that resulted in
>45 minutes of water pouring directly on to our large gas kiln in the middle
>of a firing. The contents - ware, shelves, posts - were pretty much a total
>loss. As of today, it looks like the kiln itself is a goner. Replacing the
>kiln in a better location than the basement where it is currently located
>will be expensive and the Dean is asking why do we need gas anyway? Why not
>just use electric kilns?
>
> Here's where we need your help. The Dean wants to meet with Don
>McCance, our fearless leader in the ceramics department and John McWilliams,
>head of the art and design school, this coming M O N D A Y (!) and will
>need a lot of persuading. I would appreciate it very much if you eloquent
>clayarters would write a few words on the wonders of gas firing. As I am
>sure those of you in the academic settings know, this is one of those
>occasions where credentials may mean a lot so please don't be bashful in
>stating them, academic or otherwise.
>
> The Dean, Don, John and the rest of us, are also very interested in
>how other schools handle the logistics and risks involved in gas firing.
>Are your kilns indoors or out? What about off-site kilns? What factors did
>you consider in choosing your kilns?
>
> Georgia State is in the middle of downtown Atlanta which has
>precluded wood, salt, soda and pitfiring. We do raku firing in an open
>courtyard. Besides the recently toasted gas kiln, we also have a small
>Alpine gas kiln and electric kilns of various sizes in an interior room
>which is vented, apparently inadequately, to the roof five stories above.
>
> The work of many of us in the GSU ceramics program cannot be done in
>electric kilns. Far from narrowing our already limited firing options, we
>would like to expand our possibilities. We will be writing letters
>ourselves but we will need all the help we can get. Your messages will be
>greatly appreciated.
>
>Thank you very much.
>
>Carolyn F. Hollingsworth,
>Graduate Lab Assistant
>Georgia State University
>Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.PotteryInfo.com
101 CLAYART MUGS (Summer 1998)
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR APPLICATIONS
Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Sherman on sun 31 may 98
--------------------------original message-----------------------------
Why a gas kiln? Very simply put. In a gas fired kiln the potter
can create a reduction atmosphere that allows for the formation of
beautiful metallic glazes that are impossible to create in an electric
kiln. ...As a potter and as a business man I would not even consider
firing my pots in an electric kiln. The gas fired reduction glazed
pottery outsells oxidation fired (electric kiln fired) ten to one....
Yours in Pottery and Art... Marshall
-----------------------------reply------------------------------------
Dear Marshall:
I have to respond. Back when, many of us nor our schools had gas kilns
or, in many cases, the gas kilns were Denver kilns which are muffle
kils so the flame does not enter the firing chamber. Reduction was done
by introducing flammable material into the kiln through the spy hole.
We used rags soaked in oil or, our favorite, moth balls. My professor
additionally recommended sawdust or slivers of wood which could be
soaked in oil. He also used this technique for luster ware. If you
can get some really old copies of Ceramic Age, you might find one which
describes the technique used in England in which oil was dripped
directly on the piece.
Your second comment really confuses me. Where did you find the
research which indicates that gas fired reduction pieces outsell
electric fired oxidation pieces 10 to one. Just curious.
Rick Sherman
San Jose, CA USofA
sherman@ricochet.net
Berry Silverman on mon 1 jun 98
Reduction pieces outsell oxidation pieces 10 to one? Sounds like
someone is starting another pissing contest. If I can sell thousands
in a month, does that make mine better -- whether reduction or
oxidation? Maybe it just makes me a workaholic.
==
Berry Silverman
Berryware - Tucson, Arizona
berrysilverman@yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Talbott on mon 1 jun 98
Rick...
I can tell you from my sells experience that pots fired in kilns
that are fired by fossil fuels be it gas, wood, oil, etc., do far out sell
electric fired (oxidation) type glazes at least in my gallery. Put the two
side by side and you will a big difference. You know that as well as I do.
The purpose of my post was to assist Ms. Hollingsworth but I do believe
what I said to be true. I have not done a poll of all the galleries across
the US to come up with the 10 to 1 figure.
Happy Potting... Marshall
>--------------------------original message-----------------------------
> Why a gas kiln? Very simply put. In a gas fired kiln the potter
>can create a reduction atmosphere that allows for the formation of
>beautiful metallic glazes that are impossible to create in an electric
>kiln. ...As a potter and as a business man I would not even consider
>firing my pots in an electric kiln. The gas fired reduction glazed
>pottery outsells oxidation fired (electric kiln fired) ten to one....
>
>Yours in Pottery and Art... Marshall
>
>-----------------------------reply------------------------------------
>
>Dear Marshall:
> I have to respond. Back when, many of us nor our schools had gas kilns
>or, in many cases, the gas kilns were Denver kilns which are muffle
>kils so the flame does not enter the firing chamber. Reduction was done
>by introducing flammable material into the kiln through the spy hole.
>We used rags soaked in oil or, our favorite, moth balls. My professor
>additionally recommended sawdust or slivers of wood which could be
>soaked in oil. He also used this technique for luster ware. If you
>can get some really old copies of Ceramic Age, you might find one which
>describes the technique used in England in which oil was dripped
>directly on the piece.
>
>Your second comment really confuses me. Where did you find the
>research which indicates that gas fired reduction pieces outsell
>electric fired oxidation pieces 10 to one. Just curious.
>
>Rick Sherman
>San Jose, CA USofA
>sherman@ricochet.net
http://www.PotteryInfo.com
101 CLAYART MUGS (Summer 1998)
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR APPLICATIONS
Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
gwalker on mon 1 jun 98
I, too, found that part of the response about reduction fired ware
outselling oxidized ware a little blanket! We manufacture both, and in
my own four retail outlets and the 50 other shops and galleries we
supply across Australia, they are about even.And that applies equally to
funcional ware and the art pieces produced.
Great potting all,
Geoff Walker, Cronulla Pottery, Gold Coast, Australia.
D. Kim Lindaberry on tue 2 jun 98
Hollingsworth wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Clayarters,
>
> We need help here at Georgia State. Tuesday, May 26, there was a
> ventilation malfunction or a sprinkler malfunction or both that resulted in
> 45 minutes of water pouring directly on to our large gas kiln in the middle
> of a firing. The contents - ware, shelves, posts - were pretty much a total
> loss. As of today, it looks like the kiln itself is a goner. Replacing the
> kiln in a better location than the basement where it is currently located
> will be expensive and the Dean is asking why do we need gas anyway? Why not
> just use electric kilns?
>
> Here's where we need your help. The Dean wants to meet with Don
> McCance, our fearless leader in the ceramics department and John McWilliams,
> head of the art and design school, this coming M O N D A Y (!) and will
> need a lot of persuading. I would appreciate it very much if you eloquent
> clayarters would write a few words on the wonders of gas firing. As I am
> sure those of you in the academic settings know, this is one of those
> occasions where credentials may mean a lot so please don't be bashful in
> stating them, academic or otherwise.
>
> The Dean, Don, John and the rest of us, are also very interested in
> how other schools handle the logistics and risks involved in gas firing.
> Are your kilns indoors or out? What about off-site kilns? What factors did
> you consider in choosing your kilns?
>
> snip
>
> The work of many of us in the GSU ceramics program cannot be done in
> electric kilns. Far from narrowing our already limited firing options, we
> would like to expand our possibilities. We will be writing letters
> ourselves but we will need all the help we can get. Your messages will be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Carolyn F. Hollingsworth,
> Graduate Lab Assistant
> Georgia State University
> Atlanta, Georgia
Carolyn,
I know that space you are talking about. I went to GSU and got my MFA in
Sculpture back in '87. I took classes in the ceramics studio (say hi to
Don for me) and even taught a ceramics class there after I graduated.
I don't believe a decision about about whether or not to have a gas or
electric kiln should be based on how well which kind of pots sells best.
At least not in an academic setting! In a program that offers a MFA in
Ceramics students should have access to ALL kinds of firing techniques.
For a student to graduate from a masters program they should be exposed
to both reduction and oxidation firing techniques. I'm not saying every
student should be forced to do high fire reduction clay work, BUT they
should be given the opportunity to do so if that is where their interest
leads them.
It should be pointed out to the administration that the University of
Georgia, Athens, isn't that far away. Any potential students making a
choice between programs at GSU or U of G may make the decision based on
the facilities and options available to them. They might lose student
enrollment if their facilities aren't as diverse as U of G's.
The kind of kilns used in the studio should be based on what is best for
the students. Maybe the klin could be moved out into the courtyard. The
ventilation problem might be solved by connection into the vent system
used by the foundry off of the courtyard (if it's still there?) Or the
administration needs to provide a better system from the current kiln
location. The old system apparently worked for quite a few years. There
isn't any reason to believe it won't perform properly for may more years
if it is repaired.
Kim
PS. Say hi to George Beasley when you see him. Is Charlie M still there?
If so say hi to him too.
--
D. Kim Lindaberry
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Blvd.
ATB 115
Overland Park, KS 66210-1299
USA
to visit my web site go to: http://www.johnco.cc.ks.us/~klinda
to send e-mail to me use: mailto:klinda@johnco.cc.ks.us
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