Abby Deneau on thu 14 apr 05
Hi everyone, I am a recently graduated ceramicist who is trying to run my
own garage studio and I have hit many roadblocks along the way. I work
with almost no money or equipment, i just handbuild sculptural teapots and
vases and take molds of them, firing them in a kiln that was rescued from
the garbage dump! Every problem seems huge before I bust through that
roadblock. Now I have finally gotten a small mold library of my own
designs and my only problem left is surface design. My work is about pop
culture and consumerism and I need bright colors! I tested many glazes,
and was using mason stains in a clear base for a while but the colors did
not really "pop" enough. Then I discovered Linda Arbuckle's wonderful
creamy white base and I fell in love. The mason stains of top of the
white base were brighter and more lively than any other i've tested. With
this new discovery came a whole host of other problems! Application has
been a true pain, my shapes are curvy and complicated and leave many drips
after dipping. Spending so much time on a piece of bisque, then carefully
sanding the majolica base to where i think it is ok, only to apply a thin
coat of top color and have it crawl in the kiln! I sometimes feel like i
want to give up. Sorry, this message turned out to be more of a venting
session, but I'll take it since I live alone and have had no contact with
ceramic artists since college.
ANYWAYS, to my question: (to those that are still reading, a warm THANK
YOU!) Is there any advice on applying the majolica base and the top coat?
I dip in a five gallon bucket of the white, then i have been painting the
top coat on, covering almost the whole surface except for some wax-
resisted polka dots. i clean off the polka dots, and around the edges of
these is where most of the crawling has occured. I was also wondering
about deflocculating the base with darvan-7, but it has epsom salts in it
already, which I believe are a flocculant. I feel lost, thank you anyone
who takes the time to read this! I have a website with some older stuff
on it, none of my new majolica work, but if you get a chance
www.eaglelakeceramics.com . THANKS AGAIN!
abby deneau
Cynthia Bracker on fri 15 apr 05
Try using Laundry Spray Starch over your base coat, prior to applying
the stains. You also didn't mention what temperature you fire to. If
you are working at low-fire, you need to mix the mason stains with
something to flux them down. Usually 1 part stain, 1 part Gerstley (or
synthetic) borate, 1 part Frit 3124 will do the trick.
Abby Deneau wrote:
>Hi everyone, I am a recently graduated ceramicist who is trying to run my
>own garage studio and I have hit many roadblocks along the way. I work
>with almost no money or equipment, i just handbuild sculptural teapots and
>vases and take molds of them, firing them in a kiln that was rescued from
>the garbage dump! Every problem seems huge before I bust through that
>roadblock. Now I have finally gotten a small mold library of my own
>designs and my only problem left is surface design. My work is about pop
>culture and consumerism and I need bright colors! I tested many glazes,
>and was using mason stains in a clear base for a while but the colors did
>not really "pop" enough. Then I discovered Linda Arbuckle's wonderful
>creamy white base and I fell in love. The mason stains of top of the
>white base were brighter and more lively than any other i've tested. With
>this new discovery came a whole host of other problems! Application has
>been a true pain, my shapes are curvy and complicated and leave many drips
>after dipping. Spending so much time on a piece of bisque, then carefully
>sanding the majolica base to where i think it is ok, only to apply a thin
>coat of top color and have it crawl in the kiln! I sometimes feel like i
>want to give up. Sorry, this message turned out to be more of a venting
>session, but I'll take it since I live alone and have had no contact with
>ceramic artists since college.
>
>ANYWAYS, to my question: (to those that are still reading, a warm THANK
>YOU!) Is there any advice on applying the majolica base and the top coat?
>I dip in a five gallon bucket of the white, then i have been painting the
>top coat on, covering almost the whole surface except for some wax-
>resisted polka dots. i clean off the polka dots, and around the edges of
>these is where most of the crawling has occured. I was also wondering
>about deflocculating the base with darvan-7, but it has epsom salts in it
>already, which I believe are a flocculant. I feel lost, thank you anyone
>who takes the time to read this! I have a website with some older stuff
>on it, none of my new majolica work, but if you get a chance
>www.eaglelakeceramics.com . THANKS AGAIN!
>
>abby deneau
>
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--
Cindy Bracker (ext. 12)
Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Inc.
1831 E 1450 Road
Lawrence, KS 66044
TOLL FREE: 1-888-822-1982
FAX: 785-841-8142
http://www.brackers.com
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