Lili Krakowski on wed 18 jan 06
I was taken to task for using the word "blame" to describe a comment =
that some glazes did not fit a certain manufacturer's clay bodies, and =
some glazes from "Mastering the Art" needed revision Ok. "Blame" =
probably is a poor fit, so find a better one. Sorry for any hurt =
feelings.
However. If you take a size 7A shoe, and go to a shoe store and some =
manufacturers' shoes fit perfectly, but others don't--and they all are =
marked clearly 7A --what is the word you would use for the mis-fit? =
Certainly there is nothing wrong with your dear little =
tootsies...Certainly there is nothing wrong with the shoes. But if you =
go home and say the X brand does not fit, then those who worship at your =
feet will "blame" the manufacturer for not doing a proper job of =
sizing the shoes, and those who do not worship the ground on which you =
walk (we must assume there are some, albeit very few) will "blame" your =
feet.
The same applies to glazes and clay bodies. All we EVER could say is =
that using Soda Spar from Mine X, batch Y, Dated Z, and Whiting from A =
mine, Batch B, dated C we obtained this result on Clay body Whatever =
from Whoever Supplier, batch identified as Something or other. And with =
certain types of glazes the chances of something not matching up are =
greater than with other glazes...All I think we ever can say is that WE =
had to adjust THAT glaze, made with the materials we had on that day, =
to fit THAT body...
I teased Mary about her Big Scientist outfit and she graciously teased =
me back about her Super-duper Superwoman Glaze Master costume. Well, =
Mary, wear it in good health, and for many years. The point all of us =
who write about glaze on Clayart--even the most scientific of the gurus, =
the ones who actually know chemistry--know is that what potters do in =
their studios, what potters can do, what our limitation is, brings =
glaze-making out of the loop of hard science and closer to medicine and =
cooking.=20
I just got an anti-biotic for a bad cough--and its information sheet =
was endless. Although the people who made the thing (and it worked =
well) did the best they could, spending gazillions on research and so =
on, there were innumerable contingencies, variables, etc on that info =
sheet, telling me why that anti-biotic not only might not help, but =
might do me harm. This from people who have laboratories with the most =
incredibly wonderful machines for checking everything. So how can we =
expect with the many variables given us from the get-go to have glazes =
that work always and for everyone?
That is why I urged Mary to dump her Big Scientist Outfit...because =
unless she has all the fancy equipment needed she would just be breaking =
her heart. The Super-duper Superwoman Glaze Mater Outfit sounds just =
right!
As to cooking. You all know that olive oils vary, each eggplant is a =
bit different from the other, and so on--so that you check, recheck, =
add a little here, a little there....Same with glazes ....You need to =
develop a certain flexibility, and a sense of humor.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
| |
|
