Annie Chrietzberg on sat 21 may 05
The whole idea of changing or creating a clay body to fit a glaze seems
absolutely ridiculous to me. Of course, if that's the way you WANT to
work, this is not a criticism. Practicality, seems to me, to dictate
an easier way....
People who are starting out, for example, in their garage, can do so
with a wheel and a kiln, a table, and a sink. Beginning Ceramist can
find a claybody (s)he wants to use - for whatever reason - and then buy
small amounts of surface (glaze, engobe, paint, wax, etc) ingredients
based on a few recipes, test them on that clay body to the extent they
are capable of/interested in, and once they hit a winner, buy enough
ingredients to mix a large batch and get on with it.
To start with a glaze and create a claybody that fits is far more
complicated. Mixing claybodies requires more initial investment in
equipment - mixer & pugmill. Yes, you can mix a claybody in a trough
with a hoe, or with your feet, but in all clay mixing cases you have
dust issues and cleanup issues, probably not suitable for the
garage/beginning/low-budget/low-science situation. Again, if you
prefer to work that way, knock yourself out, and please post your
findings to the list.
If your goal is to make stuff, however, that is the long way around.
Yes, you could mix up small batches of clays for testing to see if they
fit a glaze, say from one pound to five pounds - but for a someone who
needs more immediate practical information - how the claybody is
suitable for their working method - small batches won't cut it -
especially for beginners. And then there is the aging issue which
effects the way a claybody handles in the forming, but not necessarily
in the firing.
You have to know what you ultimately want from your ceramic lifestyle.
If you want to make pots or sculpture, find the easiest way to go about
it - you might not necessarily need to get bogged down in all this
technical stuff at all.
Jonathan and I were at the recent CCACA conference where Sergei Isupov
was presenting and demonstrating. Someone asked him about his claybody
and to paraphrase what he said because I didn't write it down, he said
something like, 'look, I don't know. I use clay as a tool. You don't
ask someone who is drawing who made their pencil or what is in it. I
am not interested in why my materials work, they just do. I buy a
claybody I like, I make a slip from that claybody and mix colors into
it. I buy a cone 10 claybody and fire it to cone 6 to avoid
deformation. I use a commercial clear glaze. If you aren't familiar
with this ceramist - look him up before commenting on his method.
I am certainly not saying that his method of working is superior to any
other way, or that it is right for you, gentle reader. The joy of
ceramics is we can all develop our special relationship to the
materials through our preferred working methods, and what interests us.
Here's a glimpse of mine....
I am interested in the technical side of ceramics when I have to
trouble shoot, and am lucky I live with a technical wizard/junkie. I
am also interested in the shortest path to success and try to wade
through the deluge of information I am privy to, and not get
sidetracked into the many interesting technical tangents.
The main interest I have in Technical Ceramics and Knowledge of
Materials is horsing around with the words and ideas - for example -
where did the silica go, I don't know but tridymite. That's funny to
about 15 people, myself, Kaplan & Pacini included. When I'm around
the techies you bet I shut up and listen, because it's funny to me as
well as informative.
The opinion I'm positing is this: all this technical stuff is there
for help when you need it. If you don't understand it or are not
interested in it you can still make fabulous things - all this techie
stuff is not necessarily necessary. Don't let it scare you or run you
off. If you see any of your preferred technical gurus sitting together
at a conference, you have some options - offer to buy the next round of
beer, or if that doesn't seem appropriate or comfortable, eavesdrop.
Or point to their lap and say, 'is this seat taken.' Wearing a feather
boa will help with this.
Or, obviously, use this list to ask a question, and when the tribes go
to war over the answer, use the bs sieve, employ the giveashit meter,
go with the one you think is funniest/cutest/whose answer rings true,
or test all the methods. Just don't let this technical blather become
a fear that gets in the way of your work!
love to all,
Annie
Kathi LeSueur on sat 21 may 05
Annie Chrietzberg wrote:
> The whole idea of changing or creating a clay body to fit a glaze seems
> absolutely ridiculous to me. Of course, if that's the way you WANT to
> work, this is not a criticism. Practicality, seems to me, to dictate
> an easier way....
>
It may seem that way. But, if you have a glaze you've been using for
years, it is very popular, has a unique look, but suddenly stops
working right then there are several options. One is to replace the
glaze, but it may not look the same. Two is to alter the glaze which may
also cause it to look different. Three, change the way you fire. And,
if all else fails, look at changing the clay.
I had this very problem. A glaze pinholed and pitted on certain forms.
Many members of Clayart offered advice. I tried it all. But in the end,
if I wanted to keep using that glaze I had to use a different clay for
the pieces that always developed flaws. I hate doing this. I use one
clay for 90% of my work. But, those vase forms have to have a different
clay. In the end, that was the only option for me.
Kathi
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