mel jacobson on sun 27 sep 98
in my opinion, bisque ware is ugly. it does not feel like pots, it is all
pink and
rough. it loves to get dirty, dusty and makes potters cranky.
i don't like bisque pieces sitting around the studio.
kurt wild is a decorator, it takes him days to get all of his bisque ware
finished
and ready for the kiln. he keeps it all covered with thin plastic drop
clothes.
he keeps the dust and dirt away, is very careful.
you can leave pots with glaze on them around for years........just waiting.
but bisque....cover it, glaze it........and get it out of sight of
customers....
`oh, my, do this one in blue and i will buy it, can you do these mugs pink`.?
and then of course, they want to pick it up and handle it, grease all over
the stuff. and then the endless questions about why it is pink.
and, i find it really hard to bisque to cone 06.........i know the current
thought
on hard bisque, but it seems to hard to let glaze be porous enough to
really soak in.........i like cone 08, in fact, if i have a great deal of
layering to do,
i use cone 011.
i see many pots ,when out there looking, that seem thin, the glazes are just
not thick enough. i think it has to do with hot bisque.
there is a wonderful balance, almost magical, between the porosity of bisque,
the time in the glaze bucket, the layers of glaze, and the final `look` of
the
pot..........it takes years to master this technique, and i think it is the
most
difficult of all the steps of the potter. timing.
dirty, dusty, greasy bisque is the root of a great many glaze problems.
keep it
clean. or glaze right away.
if it is dirty, wash, and i mean wash. i use the garden hose with a hard
spray.
just line up all the pots on the deck and blast away. i often throw in a few
that have been glazed, and i don't like the look...just blast them with the
hose.
(don't start screaming pollution at me......i use all high temp felspathic
glazes and my plants love the extra chemicals, just use a great deal of water)
i never use the air gun, even though i have my studio fixed with
air...........it
just makes the air full of crap, and kicks up stuff from the floor to the
ceiling.
if stuff gets greasy, hell, i just throw them in the next bisque firing
with the
green ware and re/fire them. no big deal. and since i use a great deal of
wax, if i screw one up really bad, i just throw it in with another bisque
firing.
sometimes we as potters, as i can tell from the netposts, want to save
everything, make our own, but often it is a big time waster. i have a rule:
if i try and save a pot, maybe a tiny crack, or a flaw, that pot will come
back and haunt me...........it will split in the firing, fall in half, lean
against
a big piece, blow up, and generally ruin other great pieces.........throw the
damn thing out......make a new one.
people like david hendley are full time potters, he loves to dink with making
posts, shelves, experiment with things. it is his nature. he invented the
whole
earth catalog...he is a modern, one man commune.
but for most of you, go buy good shelves, posts, burner systems for your
kiln. don't mess about with trying to make things that industry has for
sale,
and for sale cheap..........unless you live in a remote part of the world,
or cannot
get the things you need for making pots..........just buy the stuff, it pays.
make pots, let others make the complex furniture for your kiln.
i have been using the same kiln furniture for 40 years........and it is in
great
shape........never lost a post in a firing. bought new shelves a few
years back,
all new..........then took the old shelves to the farm and have been using
them
in the wood and salt kiln for 10 more years.........rarely lose a
shelf......put a post
under the crack, fire again and again.
time in the studio is precious, don't waste it on dopey things. don't cheat
yourself, it does not pay.mel.mn
mel jacobson
14831 walker place
minnetonka, mn.55345
612 935 5943
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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