Bonnie Staffel on thu 6 may 04
Dear Clayarters,
Sharing your own special glaze shows two sides of a coin. I had developed a
white base glaze from joining a recipe from Carlton Ball and Charles Binns
in several ratios. I used it with many changes for many years and still do.
As I was in business I did not feel free to share the recipe, but upon
moving to the Campbell Folk School, a new friend, Lee Davis, was having so
much trouble with his white glaze, I shared mine with him. Then I gave a
workshop in Florida and I gave them the recipe. What I got back from that
was not good. They said it did not turn out like mine. So here was a group
effort, who knows if they measured correctly, their ingredients were from a
different source, who knows, but I was very unhappy that I could not pin
down where they had made an error. When I share with individuals, if they
have problems, we work it out. I enjoy the sleuthing part.
Different firing techniques and kilns might give different results. My
glaze had a good firing range from Cone 8 to 10 and even over. I used it in
a wood fired kiln, electric and gas reduction, all with great results. If
you give a glaze to a relative newbie, they do not have the experience to
work with the firing. Expectations are varied. After a number of years of
this glaze giving him great results, Lee started to get complaints that the
silverware marked the glaze. So he and I worked with it as well as getting
suggestions from you Clayarters so he could solve the problem.
I am anything but a glaze guru, but use published glazes with tweaks of my
own. When a certain glaze ingredient became unavailable, I would read the
books and substitute other materials. I know I should have a glaze
calculation program on my computer, but that is just too much chemistry and
math for my hands-on brain.
Lee gave the recipe to a Lark Book publication a few years ago with the name
of Staffel White in describing his pot. That was a nice honor to be so
credited.
Warm regards,
Bonnie Staffel of Charlevoix, Michigan. It is starting to look like spring
with lots of rain.
http://pws.chartermi.net/~bstaffel/default.html
http://www.vasefinder.com/
Gene and Dolita Dohrman on thu 6 may 04
Another Clayarter and I were very taken with a wonderful pot in CM not too
very long ago. The glaze was breathtaking. I wrote and asked if the
individual would be willing to share the glaze recipe. I received a very
kind reply that it had taken the artist many years to formulate that
particular glaze and that he did not want to give out the recipe. It was
written in a very eloquent, thoughtful manner. I can totally understand
this decision. It took hours of formulation, mixing, testing, firing, etc.
before he finally got what he was looking for.
I don't believe we should ever feel slighted by someone not willing to share
a particular technique or glaze recipe. We are very lucky, indeed, to have
those among us who are.
MHO
Dolita
dohrman@insightbb.com
Louisville, KY
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