Veena Raghavan on mon 10 apr 00
Message from Toni Martens:
>Well I learned to fire a kiln in a hit and miss way, but glaze
chemistry remained a mystery to me. I made countless recipes
from books.........It is only since I joined Clayart, some years ago, with
it's generous
sharing of recipes and the incredible help and patience with my
butterfly brain of people like Tom Buck and Ron Roy, that I now
seldom open my kiln with a sinking heart, I know I am going to find
what I expected in there, well most of the time
I would like to second Toni, as I am in the same position she was when she
started mixing her own glazes and firing her own kiln. I hope to be in such
a situation in the near future. Up to now, I have had no opportunity to
fire a kiln, even though I have learned a lot about firing through reading
and from Clayart. I went to a session with a potter in Manhattan once to
learn the "mysteries" of firing and glaze making. She told me there were no
mysteries just a lot of common sense for firing and accuracy for mixing
glazes. I have been mixing small batches glazes for a couple of years now,
am obsessed with accuracy in weighing the ingredients, and have had a great
deal of success with almost all the glazes I have mixed. Without Clayart,
and the sharing of recipes and knowledge, I would not have reached this
stage. I agree totally that we should learn about glaze chemistry and
formulation, but all of us are not always in a position to do so right
away, and yet we do want to mix glazes and experiment. Surely, using
recipes from people know what they are doing and who have tried them out
successfully is a good beginning, a base from which we can move forward and
learn to develop our own glazes, in other words, a way to wet our feet
before plunging in to glaze formulation and calculation.
I
>To all you Clayarters out there who share so generously, blessings
to you, one and all.
Yes, yes, blessings indeed to all of you. Your generosity is not only
helpful, but inspirational, and encouraging.
>Thank you, thank you for sharing that BIG secret
I also second Toni's thanks. It has helped to dispel the feeling that the
big secret is only for a precious few, and has given me the hope that I too
will be able to learn (woolly brain and all) the basics, so that, one day,
I will be able to say to myself, yes, yes, I made this glaze all on my own
and now I know how to do it. Of course, there will be plenty of
disappointments, and plenty of stumbling blocks, but that will just add to
the challenge. To all of us out there who are just beginning to learn, "We
can do it!", and to all of those who know are helping us, "You are just the
greatest!"
All the best.
Veena
P.S. Before I sent this out, I saw mel's post. I guess there's not much to
be added to that one!
Also saw Graeme Anderson's post. I have heard this so many times
said in many ways, and it is so true of glazes and food recipes.
artist has his or her own touch, and this touch will in itself lend
a certain character to the glaze or dish. In addition to this, there are
all the other factors, kiln environment (cooking environment: gas or
electric, height of flame, heat to the oven, etc.). Nothing is exactly the
same
when produced by another hand. Some people have better technique,
others better artistry. There are so many variables, thus, the green
glaze, yours or mine, will not be the same, at least, I hope it will be at
least slightly different.
Veena Raghavan
75124.2520@compuserve.com
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