Paul Raymond on thu 20 may 04
firing
Kathryn and Stuart,
Hi. Before I answer your question I am no means an expert. However, I do
have a fair amount of glaze experience. When I lived in Santa Cruz I
helped a potter friend of mine develop his glaze palette. He was a
stickler for sieving.
Briefly, the entire process worked liked this: He started with several
Currie grids, (or something similar, about 4 as I recall). After a base
glaze was decided upon we did color blends on them and chose about 20
from what were probably 200 or so choices. Those 20 were then mixed up
to larger batches, about 1000 grams, I think. While all of this mixing
and weighing was going on we threw a whole lot of small cups, about 2 to
3 inches tall. After everything was mixed we very carefully set up a
process to dip every glaze over AND under every other glaze. Each cup
was coded with a high fire glaze pen so we would know for eternity
exactly which glaze was applied on that cup first and which glaze was
applied over it. The first dip covered the majority of the cup while the
second only covered the top half. That way we could see each glaze
individually as well as in concert with another.
Based on those results we again narrowed down the 20 to six that we
liked the best. By this time my friend, Steve, was throwing his regular
ware.
It is important to realize that Steve was working at his art for several
years before I knew him. By the time that I became acquainted with him
he had many years to develop his vision and he knew exactly what he was
trying to achieve. The reason we did all of the over and under dipping
was that those results were essential to how he ultimately wanted to use
his glazes. He threw very open and broad bowls almost exclusively. In
effect they served as large canvases for an abstract-expressionist
application of glaze. In fact some of these bowls were large and flat
enough that with the aid of a carefully carved foot they could be hung
on a wall. (A wire was wrapped around the foot and a simple loop bent
into it.)
By the time I got into school I had a pretty good idea of one way the
deal with glaze research. This is the model that I base my own work on.
He was a good teacher and since I did not go on to get an MFA this is a
very important foundation for my own work.
So, to answer your question, Yes we sieved. Twice at least. In my own
work I find that the glaze gets a good and thorough mixing by taking the
time to sieve. For one thing it gives you a chance to see all of the
particles in your glaze as they interact with water. This is especially
true when the last little bits of material are being shoved through the
screen. You can see what is too big to make it through. Usually there
are some sand-grain sized "things" that I find interesting to know are
there. I usually just turn over the sieve and include them in the glaze.
It is just a detail that I am glad to know about.
I have never heard of anyone who does not sieve their glazes and in fact
have heard it said that it is a good idea to sieve them before you use
them. Especially if they have been sitting for longer than a few weeks.
I hope this answers some of your questions. Good luck.
Paul Raymond
Franklin, Tennessee
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