Alisa Clausen on sun 24 aug 03
That is right Wally, the article in Clay Times. I had rewritten the post
because I lost it and forgot to include the article information. For anyone
interested, Clay Times, July August, 2003. Good issue.
You have clarified another part of the process, which is important. The dry
clay by weight and Snail has said it easier to mix up the slip from dry
materials.
It is sometimes difficult to follow along a process from writings, whereas
doing it together with one who has experience would clear up some obvious
details. I am still anxious to try this. I have fine Flint and Limoges so
maybe I am almost there! I will also try slips with my raku body. Again, I
will post the results if they go well.
regards from Alisa in Denmark
Wally on sun 24 aug 03
Alisa and Clayart,
I assume that you refer to the recipe as mentionned in July's Clay
Times' article about my "Combo" Workshops with Linda and Charlie
Riggs at their fabulous Studio in North Carolina last April.
Layout of recipes was printed out a little bit different from the
original text, and might create confusion...."dry" does not refer to
the kind of clay. It simply means that the clay was dried in the
sun, as to get the correct weight-relation with the other 2
components which do not contain "free" water.
In fact I use what Europeans generally call a "fat" clay, which is
basically very plastic and colloidal.
My personal recipe calls for French "Limoges" which is a very
plastic, but groggy dark grey hi-temp stoneware clay. Good stuff for
firing Raku by the way....
Prior to above workshops, I experimented at home with samples of
various USA clays. Highwater Phoenix came out as the best
equivalent. Highwater Raku Clay as a good second...Others (like
Miller T and Loafers) were discarded....
No doubt other plastic clays (or raku clays) from other brands or
suppliers might do the job as well.... Experiment is the only
solution....Unfortunately I experienced that most USA suppliers were
not really very cooperative to send samples transatlantic......Said
in a "diplomatic" kind of way...
The best procedure to make the slip is to add the "dried" clay to
half of the water, let simmer for 24 hours, then mix thorougly, and
sieve through 40 mesh, which will get out most of the coarse grogg
and sand. Then add the other half of the water, and add the kaolin
and flint, mix again, and get through 100 mesh screen 4 or 5
times....
The most important thing is to get out most of the grog and
sand ..... If not, you might get an overdose of little black spots
after firing.
Another important thing is to use flint instead of quartz....
I learned that in USA, these are mostly regarded equal, both
called "silica"...
Allthough chemical composition is allmost identical, flint generally
has a smaller particle size than quartz.... Flint makes a better
fluid slip, less likely to create black spots, and usually gives
finer crackling.....
If you can only get quartz, use the finest grain size available.
Good luck with Danish equivalents !
Wally.
clayart@yahoogroups.com, Alisa Clausen wrote:
> Dear Lily and Clayart,
> I read with interest the article by Linda about Wally's naked raku
> technique. Without ever have seen it done, for the first time, I
could
> understand why to apply a glaze over the slip and how to fire it
and get it
> off. The interesting information also includes Wally's mixture
for the
> slip. He used a dry clay, plus Flint and Kaolin. I was thinking
about
> using my raku clay for the clay in my mix. I was at the
international
> ceramic center inbetween these thoughts of mixing a slip again,
and had the
> opportunity to ask again why we had no fire clay. No one could
really
> answer. Does not bother me to much because the lack of Northern
American
> materials has forced me to learn to use the local materials at
hand. I
> think an education that (happily) forced me understand more about
glaze
> makeup. Then boom, the missing link maybe. I think we do have
fireclay,
> but it not manufactured as a ceramic material. There is a type of
spackle
> or cement, called losely translated, fireplace and chimney patch.
It is
> sold in hardware and building stores. Lily, you were are right
the track.
>
> I bought a couple of kilos and am anxious to mix it like Wally's
recipe.
> Previously I have tried a lot of combinations of sand, Kaolin,
Alumina
> Hydrate, Zircopax and more with little good results. I will post
the
> results of the fireplace patch if they are good.
>
> Question.
> Maybe entering stupid corner. Wally says use dry clay, like a
raku body or
> Highwater Pheonix. I am wondering what would be the difference
between
> these two mixing methods:
>
> Drying my raku body and adding it the dry mix of Kaolin and Flint
and then
> adding water, thereby rehydrating
> the clay in the slip
>
> or
>
> making a slurry of my raku clay and adding the Kaolin and Flint to
the
> desired consistency.
>
> Is drying the clay necessary?
>
>
> The seminar at the International Ceramic Center was about
Sculpture and
> Architecture. I thought the information was too dense be
presented in
> lecture after lecture. However, the information was interesting
in general
> and the visiting artists were great to get to know a bit. I
especially
> liked meeting Robert Harrison from Archie Bray and Neil Forrest
from Halifax
> Univ. It is always a wonderful place to be a part of.
>
> regards from Alisa in Denmark
> Planning Ian Currie workshop for Sept. 27 and 28 in coordination
with
> Soenderborg Pottery School.
>
>
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