Ron Roy on fri 30 may 03
What a wonderful description of the process - gave me goose bumps. It's a
adventure and everyone who does it will do it in their own way. The results
will be theirs and so will the joy. Anyone who says there are no new glazes
will soon find out differently.
As Craig says "The journey is the reward, not the destination". I have to
add - it's no small thing to have glazes that you have made for yourself -
there is an added dimention to the creative process that works in your
favour.
Wonderful post Stephani - and if you want to talk about a problem here I am
- I promise I won't spoil it for you.
It is important to read as many books as possible - regarding the oxides we
use. What you want is lots of description - pages if you can find them - in
the Hamer book there are 7 big pages in SiO2 for instance. The more you
know about the oxides the faster you will get what you want.
RR
>This is response to Wes' comments about 'picturing ' a glaze first and
>trying to design it from there.
>I too , have sometimes pictured a glaze in my mind, in fact there's one
>or two in particular I have been chasing after for some time.
>One is a rich semi matte terra cotta or brick iron red which breaks a
>bit on raised surfaces, at cone o4-02. I can FEEL this glaze, but I
>haven't nailed it yet. There are a few more. I get close, but not quite
>there.
>
>What I have found is that there is no shortcut, (unless you get lucky I
>suppose, and hit something right off the bat).
>
>It is like entering the 'tunnel of glaze discovery'
>you enter into the main tunnel with a glaze in mind,
>thinking 'Oh this is where I discover my dream glaze'
>
>But the main tunnel splits off into several other tunnels.
>every time you pass through yet another passageway, IT opens up into
>even more tunnels.
>Every tunnel has a name. 'let's explore calcium, let's explore boron,
>let's explore titanium, let's explore limits, let's explore trace
>elements, let's explore alumina silica ratios, lets explore ash, let's
>explore colorants....."
>at every turn you make a choice, knowing that by choosing one, you are
>not choosing others.
>and there seem to be a host of tunnels beckoning you! You can't go down
>all of them at the same time, yet you have to know your way around a
>good number of them in order to design a glaze
>
>Just look at any given element, and all of the things it can do in
>combination with other elements
>then think of how many variables there are just by choosing your base
>materials
>then think of the variables encountered just changing the percentages
>of chosen materials .
>This is before considering the variations that come via interaction
>with your particular clay body and firing/kiln conditions
>This is far too much information for my brain to digest at once.
>
>There are methods to help you make sense of it, but if you even utilize
>these methods ,
>it takes time and you really must apply yourself,
>be prepared to feel like a greenhorn for quite some time.
>
>I feel like a slow bug learning at a very slow bug pace. But there are
>many wonderful and fabulous discoveries along the way. Yes, there are
>moments of AHA and I just keep building on them.
>
>I am waiting for Newton's apple to fall on my head and the whole wide
>tableau
>to unfold before me in rich polychromatic detail and splendor.
>But that hasn't happened yet so I keep plugging away.
>
>
>By the way if anyone would like to send me a big chunk of money or a
>grant so I can do this full time for awhile , that would be most
>appreciated,
>(unfortunately life keeps interrupting my glaze experiments!!!! hah ha!)
>
>I always poked along using a combination of intuition, line blends and a
>lot of reference materials. and of course I would try all sorts of
>published recipes, trying to get a winner. I have gotten a couple of
>good base glazes and special glazes this way, but it brought me no
>closer to the glazes I REALLY wanted.
>finally I just got frustrated enough to try a new approach. It bothered
>me that after all these years I still did not have the palette I wanted
>and did not know how to get it. This after 20 years working with clay.
>I adapted a glaze a couple of years ago, which I felt was successful,
>and am still learning about how I can stretch it, push it, what it will
>and will not do.
>
>In the past year I finally started applying Ian Currie's grid method and
>am also trying to get up to speed on limits and have also started
>learning how to use a glaze calculation program
>
>I like Ian Currie's method, which I surmise is an adaptation of
>quadraxial blends, because it shows me some observable relationships.
>The only frightening thing about it, is that it REALLY opens up the
>possibilities!. Suddenly you have before you a gazillion possible
>glazes!!!! YAAAAAAAA!!!
>
>Because these grids show you an observable, tangible pattern of
>relationships with a given set of materials, you can begin to make sense
>of it.... I am trying to combine this with what I am learning from
>materials databases, and I am trying to combine what I see with what I
>learn via reference material and glaze calc software about glaze
>expansion, limits, etc.
>I also listen ravenously to tips and anecdotal information I get from
>those more knowledgeable than I,
>
>but it is still a long road, and there's no getting around doing the
>work.
>
>I guess my final analogy would be that the glaze you picture is the tip
>of the iceburg that is visible above the water line.
>The work you have to do to get there is that part of the iceburg below
>the water line.
>
>best wishes
>Stephani Stephenson
>steph@alchemiestudio.com
>Carlsbad CA 92018
>
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Ron Roy
RR#4
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Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
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