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fire clays (are they really so bad)

updated mon 17 jun 02

 

BVCuma on sun 16 jun 02


>>These materials are not made for the ceramic
industry. Why potters use them is beyond me. The idea of tooth, =
strength,
refractoriness, etc in a body can be achieved using other materials =
that
are more processed and provide a greater degree of safety.<<
______________________

Thanks Jonathan..
I appreciate your opinion.

But I think there is a huge gap
between the "ceramic industry"
and what I consider myself as...
a "non-profit seeking" studio potter
or whatever I happen to be making at the time.
As a natural born risk taker safety is not my game.
My approach is more an evolutionary one in nature
I'm not looking for a stable reproducable "product".
My body is made in small batches and changes are a constant.
I win about a third of my around three dozen or so =20
starting materials (though I am focused on relatively few)
not really knowing exactly and sometimes with no idea what they are
and will use materials collected from non renewable circumstances.
This is what gives my work "life" and is my life "work"...
it is always growing, evolving without overly clinging and dependant
on the saftey and security of a known and refined pinned down=20
staked out predictable piece of starting material.
I do prefer the uncertainty of the open terrain and a horse=20
that has retained an element of its original untamed nature.
I prefer the responsiveness required to handle unknown circumstances.
The work I do today I very well may not be able to do tommorrow.
By the same token what I will do tommorow...
I am not doing today.
I like it that way.
It is more of a path than a place...
avoiding the rat race.

seriously though...
to each his own.

Bruce

Earl Brunner on sun 16 jun 02


Very little of what we use is "made for the ceramic industry" or at least for
studio potters. Most of it is mined and prepared (frits for example) with other
applications and industries in mind.

BVCuma wrote:

> >>These materials are not made for the ceramic
> industry. Why potters use them is beyond me. The idea of tooth, strength,
> refractoriness, etc in a body can be achieved using other materials that
> are more processed and provide a greater degree of safety.<<
> ______________________
>
> Thanks Jonathan..
> I appreciate your opinion.
>
> But I think there is a huge gap
> between the "ceramic industry"
> and what I consider myself as...
> a "non-profit seeking" studio potter
> or whatever I happen to be making at the time.

--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net