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waltraud's lustre troubles

updated fri 2 nov 01

 

Janet Kaiser on thu 1 nov 01


>>I'm a little bit in trouble with my husband. He's
afraid about the fumes and a possible contamination of
our house ....<<

Waltraud. I was hoping that our warnings would not make
you too afraid to try lustres, just encourage you to be
very careful. Others who use lustres may be able to
help more here, but although they do give off noxious
fumes, I believe that a little extra ventilation will
be enough to make sure you do not "contaminate" your
house. It is my understanding they are volatile or
"flüchtig", so they will not leave any permanent poison
either in the fabric or furniture of your home. Perhaps
it could be compared to doing some welding in the
house... Not something you would wish to happen every
day, but with adequate precautions nothing bad.

You are already firing your kiln in the house, so your
extraction and ventilation system must be adequate and
efficient? It would therefore also be OK when firing a
load of lustre ware. The only stage which is different
to a normal firing, is the application and you could do
that outside as many advised.

Try gold leaf by all means (it can look very beautiful,
especially on a black or dark coloured pot), but it
does not look at all like a lustre and you will not be
able to use it on everyday pots in the same way.
Perhaps if you only use lustre very occasionally --
maybe once or twice a year -- your husband can be
convinced it is OK?

I am looking forward to hearing about your slate
recipe!

Grüße aus Wales

Janet Kaiser - And yes, it cost a lot of money (all our
life savings, pension fund, etc.) and six years in time
and effort to restore and convert the Chapel into what
it is today. Sadly the roof is leaking and we will have
to start more serious work again soon... Always seems
to be a (expensive) problem with old buildings. Bread
and soup again this winter! But yes, The Path is a ray
of sunshine... We even had a pilot come to see it with
his family last week... He'd wondered what it was?!
Still a long way to go though... We need another 3,000+
tiles, so if you would like to participate with other
Clay Art buddies please do! Mit oder ohne Lustre! :-)

The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk