mel jacobson on mon 1 jul 02
mel is back at the helm of the ship.
hot here in minnetonka, maybe 100 today.
i have had a great last few weeks. hay creek was
almost perfect. kilns ran with perfection, including
the little train.
kurt and i gave it over to a group of wonderful women,
and they fired it very well. they did not work toward ash
deposit. it was more fired as stoneware with glaze, so
cone 11 firings with full maturity in about 8 hours. a bit
of work on the throat and of course, having great wood
made all the difference.
our new building is totally finished. used almost a mile of
1x4 pine to trim it all out. everything mechanical worked just
fine. a new well, toilets, and septic made our life much better.
i spent the last week at st. john's university in central minnesota.
it was the world conference of calligraphy. i taught `clay and words`
along with charles pearce and bob anderson. we did gas fired raku
and black ware with mostly novice clay folks. it was a great success
and the work that was turned out was wonderful. a great group...
very dedicated and enthusiastic.
most of the decoration was done with words applied with
water based wax resist. we have been wanting to use acrylic
paints to see if we could get residual chemical staining...and
behold, we got it to work.
charles pearce spear headed this experiment...used golden
white titanium arcylic....painted letters around the pot, fired
the raw clay as raku, then smoked the pots.....
the letters where a rich gray on black clay. we are thrilled with
the results. we have a great deal more to do, and will continue
this idea at hay creek. he has collaborated with bob anderson
who throws the plates and fires them. they have some real exiciting
projects in mind in the future.
i am back in the studio, with good work to come. had some
wonderful success with porcelain teabowls, shino and blush.
i am excited to to do more. made about 500 lbs of my infamous
stoneware/grog/sand/porcelain mix. i know, i know, not pure white.
but, who cares...it is for me. and i love gray.
and, it throws like a dream.
glad to be back with you.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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