bill edwards on wed 31 aug 05
I will be taking a short respite from the group. So
this is my last contribution for a few weeks. I will
be available wherever I am at my usual email. I have
to focus on some other areas and I take too much time
reading instead of working.
Please, you should read the whole thing. No need in
spell checking it. It's akin to me testing every piece
of your work for fit or aesthetics, let me have my
mistakes and failures, I have complied with social
expectations all my life.
First, the more important thing. My heart goes out to
the many displaced people who are being flooded and
have suffered the damages of this latest hurricane. I
am certain there were many potters also involved as
well as many art centers and galleries. However, any
loss of life, property or home is catastrophic. I have
even pondered going there to get a few people and
bring them here but fear for my own safety because I
need to be around for my grandchild. I am thinking,
what more can I do?
Spraying Glazes - There's always going to be some
over-spray but I have been airbrushing most my life
almost. I paid my college debts off on the beaches
spraying shirts and kept those skills up. Even when I
was manufacturing I was often spraying colorants for
testing purposes and even included a line of colorants
used for airbrushing on many substrates. There's
tactile stimulation and control. I do not use
templates on my pottery but have thought about it. I
like the free hand approach and if some over-spray is
involved I like what it does. For larger pieces use a
larger gun. I used 3 kinds of guns here. One was for
automotive painting, one was with a VL5 tip and needle
and the other a VL3 tip and needle. I decided a VL5
worked for most of this but needed some addition of a
lubricate which I had on hand, so lets stick with the
VL5 for small to mid-size pieces for this lecture.
Propylene Glycol was what I used. This is a humectant,
it helps prevent nozzle drying and slows down the
glaze drying process as well. Good in the HOT South
summer months, prevents freezing glazes in the winter
months to an extent. In the South it doesn't get cold
enough to have to really dose a glaze plus I do heat
my studio. *(Mentioned for those in colder climates)
I have shared methods here before on the various
materials that can be used in spraying such as P.G.
but it didn't catch any attention, I am not all that
interesting perhaps, maybe boring from too much
information at one time but its better than 30 small
mails on the same thing over a few days IMHO. Coming
from a manufacturing background there's a multitude of
materials I am familiar with that is fun to use
safely. Do not use anti-freeze that contains ethylene
glycol. Where you see mention of anti-freeze being
used as a humectant or lube look for that which is
made with propylene glycol or use glycerin. USP
Propylene Glycol is a well known food additive and we
have an industrial P.G. that’s useable but not as
refined. Ethylene Glycol will kill your pets if they
drink it and is toxic. Dr. Ed can give more on that I
believe.
Here's another hint of advice. The argument pro and
con. Some say that spraying is wasteful, others attest
its the way to go. This is no different than deciding
anything else about your work and should only be
included as one more facet to your diamond. I still do
the bulk of my work by dipping, using only the spray
method for specific things. Sometimes I want a more
runny line in the middle of a piece, I can spray that
instead of trying to get it right using a paint brush
and I use paint brushes too. The turquoise glaze was
hand brushed over a sprayed rutile/iron combination.
These techniques are being written about in the book I
am working on. If I keep giving out information I
won't have an audience. Not that I am looking for a
large one, but I do hope that all these learned
processes over the years can be put into use and have
a place to live on paper for future artists. Use at
least 30 pounds of pressure with the smaller air guns
and use a double action gun. I used 50 PSI but it's
because I have been using higher pressures for a long
time, often exceeding 60 PSI. I figured that would be
the next round of ?'s so I had better throw that in.
Call Paasche airbrush or Binks, Iwata, others and tell
them William Edwards said you need a list of their
stores that carry materials closest to you. I own no
stock in their business but have flown to Chicago and
visited several factories, several times and spent
lots of time with them at industry shows. Here's a url
for one of the lines of materials I used to produce.
It's no longer available. I sold the business and the
owner dried the market right up for whatever purpose.
He has several business's and its no longer my
worries.
http://members.fortunecity.com/alexhallen/excalibair.htm
Read about this artist and check out some of his work
using that line of colorants.
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/darinwheeler/info.html
e.nail and Magna-Air and sign colorants as well as
screen print materials was but part of the business
using water based technology. Often my products were
bulk produced for other business's that re-marketed
them. This is common for all industry. I would change
something to suit their needs.
The values have been under-estimated about the use of
airbrush. Several of the key players in the magazine
industry I used to deal with had ceramics and pottery
in them that even I wondered how they achieved the
effects using glazes that fired to all kinds of heat
ranges. It was natural for me to use high shear mixing
and a research and development background to enhance
what I do. Developing glazes and understanding the
unlimited processes is as fun as anything else in art
that I have been educated on or learned through
failures. Write me off-list and I will detail another
way to achieve high shear mixing for your glazes.
Safety - I don't care if you use a booth or go
outside, wear a mask when spraying glazes because you
are atomizing free silica and other materials you
cannot see with your eyes. I have always said use a
mask, use gloves when mixing and keep a clean studio.
Do not fear your craft, learn how to make use of
materials safely instead. I didn't pay for all that
toxicology not to learn something. Labs have been my
best friend and microscopic studies have certainly
enlarged my thinking on some things.
I will commend all artists for their hard years of
work. Look at Darin and his achievements. Look at
Linda Arbuckle and what she has offered over the
years. Look at Ron and John and countless others who
have contributed so much to all of us. It makes me
proud to be part of something this exciting and
especially the close contact I have with many of you.
It's about art! What I learned most was from beginning
artists that came in fresh and full of energy and was
ready to make discoveries. They are never to be
over-looked, if you over-look them you are passing up
on your best educational resource!
Bill Edwards
Edmar Studio and Gallery
302 South Main St (Shipping)
POB 367 (Mailing)
Camp Hill, Al. 36850
http://apottersmark.blogspot.com/
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
| |
|
