Liz Willoughby on sat 20 apr 02
Just to open a can of worms. Carbon Trap Shino will insist on
proving all theories wrong just when you think you have it all
figured out. An interesting quote from the American Shino book, the
article by Malcolm, "The most important lesson that I have learned
during this Shino affair is that the more I work with it, the less I
know and the more I question. Every time I come up with a theory, it
is wiped out by the next firing."
But there do seem to be some consistencies. You gotta go into
reduction early, and here I do it differently from Lee Love, as I go
into heavy reduction at 012 and keep it in fairly heavy reduction all
the way to 10R.
Sometimes I get good results from a new glaze, sometimes I get white
from a new glaze, the same with old. So I always mix a new batch
with the old. Interesting too, I now use blends, fool around with a
little redart, maybe 3 %, a little Las Vegas clay, 3-6 %, and I
replace half the EPK in Malcolm's recipe with fine alumina hydrate.
I also have put Penn State and all my shino glaze tests together in
the same bucket. Quite frankly I think that the most important thing
if you want "crystals/halos" is where the pots are placed in the
kiln. There definitely are sweet spots. I will dip my pots in the
same glaze and they can be sitting side by side in the kiln, one will
get wonderful carbon and one will not. So I fool around with
sprinkled ash just in case I get an uninteresting pot.
Sometimes the best results come from mishaps. Now that mug that I
traded with Joyce, I had messed up the glazing, so had wiped off the
outside glaze, waited the next day to reglaze the outside and it came
out really deep orange, on porcelain.(because the salts have traveled
to the outside from the glaze, and then glazed over those salts? who
knows?). Then one day I was glaze dipping a vase, and you know how
you THINK there is enough glaze in the bucket to cover the outside to
the top. Didn't quite make it to the top, so I sprayed some more
glaze on the outside and did I get nice crystals, lichen like
movement all over the pot.(maybe a photo of one in the June issue of
Studio Potter). So that is working very nicely at the moment. I also
glaze and get them in the kiln as fast as possible.
Thickness of glaze is very important. Thin, more orange, thick,
whiter and usually more carbon trapping.
Wouldn't it be great if we could have glass kilns and could actually
see what was happening? I am reminded of Joyce and her copper reds.
Pete Pinnell says that too much soda ash will give you that lovely Shixx
Green.
Another interesting point. Randy Johnson says in his article in the
American Shino book, "later observations would conclude that the fast
temperature rise after an early period of reduction is what produces
carbon trapping". I was always curious about that because when I go
into early reduction my kiln shoots up, and because the glaze melts
at a low temperature, when the carbon is produced it is trapped and
sealed in the glaze. Now Mr.Mojo I think, HOLDS his kiln at 012 when
he goes in reduction. Is that right Tony?
It's all a ball game with carbon trapping.
Liz, who was awakened at 6.50 this am by a wood pecker on my roof,
then my BED started to shake, unreal, thinking how could a woodpecker
do this? (you must remember that I don't work on all cylinders until
at least 2 cups of coffee.) Found out later there was an earthquake
in northern N.Y. and the tremors were felt in Eastern Ontario.
>Mayor Mel wrote:
>
> > man oh man, shino is a bag of worms.
> >
> > so much depends on your clay body.
> > firing style.
> > when you reduce.
> > how long you let the pots sit on the shelf.
> > how old your batch is.
> >
> > there just are not simple answers.
> > and, even if you get a recipe from sir tony, it may
> > not work at all for you. but, then, it may be even better
> > on your clay and firing standard.
>
Mr.Mojo (Tony C.) says:
>I have seen people use Malcolms carbon trap glazes and they end looking
like
>walrus snot( a horrible dark green black)
>I have just started blending shinos for flavour. took Malcolms #3 and #2
>which we have worked with exclusively for 2 years. Only two glazes in our
>studio. I am now blending them like a line blend. 50/50, 60:40, 70:30.
It's
>easy. Just take 1 cup/jug/pail or whatever of one and add to the other or
6
>cups and 4 cups, or 7 and 3.
Liz Willoughby
RR 1
2903 Shelter Valley Rd.
Grafton, On.
Canada
K0K 2G0
e-mail lizwill@phc.igs.net
Lee Love on sun 21 apr 02
----- Original Message -----
From: "Liz Willoughby"
> Sometimes the best results come from mishaps. Now that mug that I
> traded with Joyce, I had messed up the glazing, so had wiped off the
> outside glaze, waited the next day to reglaze the outside and it came
> out really deep orange, on porcelain.(because the salts have traveled
> to the outside from the glaze, and then glazed over those salts?
You can help this same phenomenon happen by first dipping the pot in a soda
ash
water solution, letting the pot dry, and then glazing in shino.
--
Lee Love In Mashiko Ikiru@kami.com
"The best pots for me are the pots that I like." --Shoji Hamada (1894-1978)
http://www.awanomachi-tcg.ed.jp/mashiko.html
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