Kate Johnson on wed 9 feb 05
was Re: sorry. A bit more about glaze calculation
Lili Krakowski
Editor, TIRADE: the Journal of Ridiculous Opinions
Oh Lili! You made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair!
But just musing on here...you mentioned earlier about people who really
enjoy the glaze calculations and the exacting science it is (I'm
paraphrasing here) and those whose patience and attention are elsewhere.
It made me think about the differences in what interests people, what it is
they are after, and all the shades in between the extremes of product and
process. Some people are impatient to get to the end product, and others
enjoy every step along the way.
I think there are also those who enjoy one or more steps of the process and
not another, of course...I love the design process, the feel of clay in my
hands, sculpting, working with magical things like mocha tea and slip
marbling, but glazing...oh, glazing...SO VERY frustrating...
And yet there are so many who do truly enjoy the glaze calculations and
testing...I'm in awe of all Alisa's tests, and Ron and John's book, and so
many others. I suspect when I finally hit on what works for me, in my quest
to produce 18th C. style pottery, I'll do the Dance of Joy and not try
another glaze (until my interest moves on to something else)!
Mind you, the gorgeous glazes others produce make my mouth literally water.
I love the temmokus and shinos and all the rest. LORD that's gorgeous. I
have a favorite mug that shades from incredible intense blue to purple to
red, then off into a bluish white--it reminds me of the Northern Lights.
But...what I'm after is that elusive transparent honey on low fire pieces,
and I'm too stubborn to believe I can't get it without lead. So I keep
pushing that rock uphill, but not enjoying that part of the process nearly
as much as the occasional exciting hint or glimmer of success...
As someone and I were discussing offlist, you really can't reproduce the
patina of great age, but...I keep pushing that rock nonetheless...wonder if
it would get boring if the product suddenly eclipsed the process, finally?
Regards,
Kate Johnson
Graphics/Fine Arts
http://www.cathyjohnson.info/
http://www.epsi.net/graphic/
http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_1494_profile.htm
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