rmalmgren on tue 19 dec 00
Robin Hopper does a magnificent job of "revising the bible". For many of us
Daniel Rhodes book really was the bible for our first efforts to come to
understand our materials. I remember many nights trying to come to terms
with odd materials and differing sources for the same elements. "Clay and
Glazes" was our best source. In the last 27 years it has been over shadowed
by Hamer's "Potter's Dictionary" and a few other texts.
Hopper brings a poetry to this new look at an ancient craft. It is
wonderfully written with a wealth of photographs of historic and
contemporary work. The section on glaze calculation has segments written by
Richard Burkett, the author of HyperGlaze (and former ClayArt co-moderator),
Tony Hansen, author of Insight, Foresight and The Magic of Fire. Ron Roy
has also written an excellent section on how he uses the software programs
to work with glazes.
I've had a long interest in ways of coming to understand glazes and a
particular interest in how we might use the computer to assist in that
process. The deeper I get into that woods of knowledge the more I see the
chemical analysis and arithmetic (the stuff that computers are good at) as
being like a compass or a GPS system. Yeah, they may tell you sort of where
you are, but you had best be familiar with the terrain and how to take care
of yourself in the wilds if you want to get out alive. So, I've always had
enormous respect for those who've spent lots of time mixing tests and
keeping notes of results.
I've particularly enjoyed this new edition of "Clay and Glazes" because it
is written with that savvy blend and understanding of the materials, theory
and process.
Rick Malmgren
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