mel jacobson on sun 11 mar 01
I have been asked by several to repeat this post.
if you have seen it...zap this. mel (this was in the middle of the
sick server problem.)
so, glaze.
>
>this one hits very close to home for me. clay body, clay body, clay body.
>it is the key to glaze/
>
>rhodes 32, the mainstay of my pottery for 30 years. it is the
>best...made me a great deal of money. folks just love it.
>
>lost it five years ago. looks like hell. laughable.
>(have told some of this before...so delete if you
>understand.) one cannot tell this story too often...it is
>so important.
>
>i was reading the life story of David Shaner. it is a wonderful
>piece of writing by Gerry Williams of studio potter. wonderful.
>
>David states:
>
>`I developed that 32 for Dan. It is a glaze that must go with a body
>that is heavy in iron`....BINGO. I RAN to my studio, opened the
>pug mill and started to dump yellow ochre into it. ran the stuff through
>about 5 times. added more ochre.
>made pots, added a nice rich slip of ochre. fired them......what i had
>made for 30 years was back. perfect.
>
>all the years i taught, i would save scrap midrange clay, tons of it.
>when i made my own clay body i would just add my own fire clay to it at
>about 30 percent. made a perfect cone 10 body...but, it was rich in iron.
>made a great many pots at school, brought them home, mixed them with
>the home studio pots. (the pots had different stamps on the bottom..always
>knew school pots.) for years i had my own pug mill at school, so made
>a great deal of clay, brought it home.
>
>after i retired i was not privy to that scrap any longer. (i have never been
>in my old school. never once. left, not to return.) i bought my clay from
>em at continental clay. nice body, low in iron. i also got involved in
>making
>a dirty porcelain, 25 percent stoneware added. throws well. makes a nice
>soft gray body.
>
>Rhodes 32 did not work with any of it. Then David Shaner re/taught me
>about the glaze. it did not travel at all. changed my clay body, lost the
>glaze.
>
>this story is a natural events story. things like this happen all the
>time. we
>just cannot `see the woods for the trees`.
>
>i have given ice cream pails of my home glaze 32 to students to take
>to college...they throw away the pots. `hey mel, that glaze sucks`.
>it did not travel. it must have a rich iron body. without it, well, it
>sucks.
>
>when you change your body, it sure means a great deal of research
>to create glazes that work with it. many stumble into greatness. it just
>happens. i was not smart, brilliant...just lucky in those early years.
>had a clay and glaze that were made for each other. luck.
>used them over and over. had 1234 with two percent iron...really nice
>celedon. found the formula for my temmoku written on a five gallon
>pail i bought at a potters garage sale for 5 cents. nicer than ron roys.
>(for god sake, smile) but, it was a perfect orange breaking temmoku. worked
>like a charm for me. found it.
>
>so, that is the story. it cannot be repeated too many times. so many
>potters
>do not understand this part of the game. when all the parts of the puzzle
>come together, throwing with ease and confidence, a great clay body that
>is yours, a glaze that matches it, then a great kiln that minds its master.
>then the great pots emerge...not every day...but the chances sure increase.
>nils does it, tony does it, david does it, ron r does it, on and on and on.
>i do it now and then...but, that is all i ask...now and then/
>a few racers.
>mel
>
>
>from the farm in wisconsin
>http://www.pclink.com/melpots
from clayart, melpots2
the farm
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