Hank Murrow on sat 26 feb 05
Dear Wes;
I see these pots as being on a continuum from Mel & Joe's rusty ones,
to the yohen-tenmoku you pointed us to.
In my mind, it is a function of the amount of iron in the melt (from
glaze and/or clay), and atmosphere during and at the end of firing, and
the shape of the cooling cycle.
For instance, I can imagine Mel and Joe's recipes fired in a
alternately oxidising and reducing fire, but quickly cooled at the end
to produce the cool color that you see in the yohen-tenmoku example.
Alternately, I can imagine the Song examples fired in oxidising
conditions (to develop the blisters which heal during cooling), and
cooled much slower with maybe a soak.......... turning out like Mel and
Joe's examples. As Mel said, a lot goes on in the application, the
firing, and the cooling. As I get older (and wonder more) I see most
glaze effects as points along a continuum. Maybe before my ticket
expires I will see all of them that way.
BTW, it is the scholars and connoisseurs who insist on these arbitrary
distinctions based upon appearance (which is their stock in trade)
rather than process. Potters look to process for inspiration.
Cheers, Hank
www.murrow.biz/hank
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