mel jacobson on tue 24 jul 01
another wide street of controversy.
what is the best kiln, what style is the `best`..perfect?
i often think it is the `kiln you do not have`.
`god, martha, if i could only fire with soda and salt, then
i would be magic`.
sorry, it does not work that way...in my opinion.
faux glazes usually do not work either. they still are fake.
the kiln you have, by design, works a certain way. electric
kilns make great pots. we have been sold a bill of goods that
they are `baby pots, amateur pots`. sorry, that is a load of
bullshit. it is a concept that has been pushed on electric firing
potters by `important potters, gutsy potters`. it makes them feel
`more important`.
we find electric firing potters `feeling, second rate`. but, that as we
know, in the modern world...is feelings, we always deal with feelings.
right or wrong, issues of feelings. let us deal with intelligent, well
thought out decisions....not `feelings`. feelings are ruling the world.
i am really sick of it. we do not teach any more...we deal with children's
feelings. everyone must win all the time, all get a's and feel good
24 hours a day. to hell with it, nothing works that way.
if you have an electric kiln, be proud of it. don't let fancy folks put
you down...to hell with them. make your kiln work for you, as it
was intended...an oxidizer.
if you are unhappy with electric firing, well get another kind of kiln.
make one, build one, invest in your work. don't pretend your electric
kiln is gas...it is not. it is not fired with wood, it is electric.
well thrown, well designed pots, fired to cone 6 electric, are every
bit as good as wood fired, gas fired, pit fired, solar fired....
often it is us...us...you, that is the enemy. you `feel` less important
because you do not have someone else's kiln. give it up.
get on with your work. it may be close to perfect, just as it is.
i know, i know, many will say...`hey mel, you have a stoneware
kiln, gas, you have a wood fired kiln, a soda kiln`. yes, that is
true, but, i have invested time, money and energy into making and
building them....i bought land in the country to have them. i
invested in my pottery life. the money comes from pottery sales.
i did not buy a bmw. i fired electric pots in the high school for
36 years. good pots, stuff for kids to be proud of.
one of the major `pushes` that i am making as a board member
of a large art center is:
why are we not teaching the electric kiln and electric glazes to
our customers at the center? we fire gas/reduction, shino,
woo's blue, temmoku. can any of our clients go home and fire
their electric kilns? no....they feel minimal. their kilns do not
measure up. steve rolf, our new teacher, agrees...he is teaching
electric kilns next semester. a break through. do we serve our
clients? that is the question i ask. the answer is no...not with a
reduction kiln only. no student at the art center has ever fired the
electric kilns with a glaze firing...only bisque...three big skutt 1026's
and they only fire bisque. a quarter of our students have their
own electric kilns at home...never use them. tragic.
clay, that is what we are about. we make things. our home, shop
area often dictates what kind of kiln we have. if you live in downtown
london, perhaps you will fire electric. you will have to make it work
for you...or move. there are thousands of glaze ideas for an
electric kiln. find some that suit you. it will take years just to
find a couple of good glazes that you can trust and fire consistently.
match consistent pots, with consistent glaze in a consistent kiln.
what a concept.
mel
just stepped outside. four a.m.
humidity is gone.....light breeze from the north...cool breeze
from canada. our salvation, canada. our favorite uncle just came
to town...les humid.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Frederich, Tim on tue 24 jul 01
Good morning,
During my years of making pots, I have built most types of kilns and fired
them. Each kiln had its own personality and different results came from
each kiln. For the last 10-12 years I have been firing in electric kilns.
I started out at cone 9-10 in the electric and over the last 5-6 years I
have been firing at cone 5 1/2. Each change over the years required a large
amount of testing and conversion of clay bodies and glazes.
I have to agree with Mel. Electric kilns can produce great pots. I have a
shino type glaze, wood ash glazes, and a wide variety of colors and
surfaces. All of this took time to develop and I like what I do today as
well as the wood, salt and higher fired stoneware that I produced in the
past.
Electric kilns are wonderful if you learn how to fire them. With the
advancement of technology in kilns and controllers it is even easier today.
In a perfect world, it would be wonderful if we could have one of each type
of kiln and firing method available and be able to try it all. There are
not enough hours in the day or a life to do everything that I want to do, so
I try to do the things that I can do even better.
Take what you have, make it yours and do the best that you can do. Life
will become easier and more pleasant. A good day is waking up and being
able to make more pots. I am very fortunate to belong to a community of
people (anybody involved with ceramics) and to be able to associate with
them every day.
Best regards,
Tim
Ababi on tue 24 jul 01
>I have to agree with Mel. Electric kilns can produce great pots.
It reminds me of this story: My English teacher in high school was
asked if the bible in Hebrew was as beautiful as in English.
I never did perhaps never would -wood/ gas firing. (Except raku)
Tell me a is wood firing results are as nice as firing in electric kiln?
Ababi Sharon
Kibbutz Shoval- Israel
officially Glaze addict
ababisha@shoval.ardom.co.il
http://members4.clubphoto.com/ababi306910/
http://www.milkywayceramics.com/cgallery/asharon.htm
http://www.israelceramics.org/
Susan M. Isaacson on tue 24 jul 01
hi tim, i am a new potter. i bought an electric kiln and frankly have
little knowledge about using it. so that i don't reinvent the wheel can you
give me any tips, i.e. stoneware fires best at such and such for bisque, or
types of glazes used on white body clays. any books you can recommend would
be great. thanks for any help, info. susan i.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frederich, Tim"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 8:34 AM
Subject: perfection/firing
> Good morning,
>
> During my years of making pots, I have built most types of kilns and fired
> them. Each kiln had its own personality and different results came from
> each kiln. For the last 10-12 years I have been firing in electric kilns.
> I started out at cone 9-10 in the electric and over the last 5-6 years I
> have been firing at cone 5 1/2. Each change over the years required a
large
> amount of testing and conversion of clay bodies and glazes.
>
> I have to agree with Mel. Electric kilns can produce great pots. I have
a
> shino type glaze, wood ash glazes, and a wide variety of colors and
> surfaces. All of this took time to develop and I like what I do today as
> well as the wood, salt and higher fired stoneware that I produced in the
> past.
>
> Electric kilns are wonderful if you learn how to fire them. With the
> advancement of technology in kilns and controllers it is even easier
today.
> In a perfect world, it would be wonderful if we could have one of each
type
> of kiln and firing method available and be able to try it all. There are
> not enough hours in the day or a life to do everything that I want to do,
so
> I try to do the things that I can do even better.
>
> Take what you have, make it yours and do the best that you can do. Life
> will become easier and more pleasant. A good day is waking up and being
> able to make more pots. I am very fortunate to belong to a community of
> people (anybody involved with ceramics) and to be able to associate with
> them every day.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Tim
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Marvpots@AOL.COM on tue 24 jul 01
Tim Friedrich:
Your comments are right on.
At the last NCECA you were extolling the use of self-supporting cones and I
thought I would try them.
I have a car kiln and as I anticipated, in rolling the floor/front back into
the kiln, the self-supporting cones fell over. Fortunately, I suspected
that, opened the kiln before firing it, found the fallen down self-supporting
cones, and removed them.
Your suggestions please!
Remember me?
Marvin Flowerman
Tommy Humphries on tue 24 jul 01
Me not Tim, but...
Try sticking them down to the shelf with a bit of slip... should hold them
till the kiln stops moving.
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 3:41 PM
Subject: Re: perfection/firing
> Tim Friedrich:
> Your comments are right on.
> At the last NCECA you were extolling the use of self-supporting cones and
I
> thought I would try them.
> I have a car kiln and as I anticipated, in rolling the floor/front back
into
> the kiln, the self-supporting cones fell over. Fortunately, I suspected
> that, opened the kiln before firing it, found the fallen down
self-supporting
> cones, and removed them.
> Your suggestions please!
>
> Remember me?
>
> Marvin Flowerman
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
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