Joyce Lee on fri 19 sep 03
Thanks, Chris, for sharing your site with us.
I've visited you before, but this time I do
believe I comprehend the How and the Why
of the French Butter Keeper. Sounds like
fun, too. Your Cobalt Green and Lake Blue look
great .... as do your pots. This visit was a
good experience .... once again.
---------
Barbara....... good for you sticking with the glaze
book! You chose one of the magnificent ones.
I know you'll receive help in your search to
achieve a Chun Red of your own devising ...... but
...... stating the obvious here..... you can=20
be a Serious Glaze Addict and also use
commercial glazes.=20
I've pursued glaze
knowledge for the past 7 years..... since
entering the clay world ..... have experimented
with way too many glazes .... even I have
become convinced that having maybe 40 buckets
of glaze in my studio is a couple too many! I've
made more mistakes than I could document ....
and have loved every single minute of it (I think......
My Selective Memory sometimes fiddles
with the facts.) BUT I have something like
8 or 10 commercial glazes from Laguna,
Aardvark and Seattle Clay. They're fun, take
to layering well, and
generally are more reliable than mine. =20
Although=20
I do prefer Mel's Shino, Hank's Shino and
Coleman's Shino to
commercial ones ...... by far ....but then I didn't
have to
"work" with those either ..... the problems have
involved firing and how thick etc. .... not the
content of the glaze.
Experimenting with commercial glazes can be
worthwhile, as you've learned. Initially I was
disappointed in Laguna's fake salt glaze.... even
though I knew it wasn't meant to really Look
Like salt. I loved the first test.... then the=20
second one was different from the first..... and
the third was different from the second...... I
shoved that bucket into a corner and pouted
when my glance wandered its way .... and then
decided to try again...... with an Accepting
Heart. Whatta ya know....... turns out that one
of its charms is being different.... even being
pretty much unpredictable. It's now a favorite.
Joyce
In the Mojave where I stuck an old brown, heavy
.... very heavy..... pitcher out by the cactus=20
garden. It's one of the first I made .. meant it
to be a big bowl.... well, that didn't happen..... so
I spouted and handled it. We were talking
handles on Clayart that week so its handle
is strong, indeed.... has to be; the pitcher is
so heavy that if it contained liquid, I'd have
difficulty lifting it.... put a holder on the front
below the spout so it can be held up front
and back. Sooo the bowl became a pitcher.
........ the glaze was shino..... didn't know
that that particular shino just turned shiny
brown on brown clay ..... so it's brown with
bits of grays/orange ..... little bits..... here
and there...... not much..... just a little.....
I almost hammered that sucker many times ......
now it's Right Out Front in a Position of Pride.....
and everybody who comes in comments on
it ...................... favorably...... even I find it
remarkably something or other. =20
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