Lili Krakowski on tue 21 feb 06
Apparently Mrs John D Rockefeller--the mother of five sons--was asked =
how she could bear to repeat and repeat and repeat the instructions she =
gave her sons. "How can you repeat everything 100% times?" "Well," =
said she," If I didn't the first 99 would be wasted."
So once more, and again...Bob and Scott, lissen up. A recipe is at =
best a key to the door. It is at best the conductor tapping his baton =
to get everyone's attention, BEFORE he starts conducting. It is a lot =
less than what the wedding is to a marriage....(By now you either got it =
or forget it.)
The recipe for a glaze points you into a direction. It says: " Oh, =
Look: here we have some potash and some calcium, and some clay and some =
flint--" Voila! Go for it."
There are at least a thousand recipes around, probably more, with just =
those four principal ingredients. SO?
Because here come The Variables;
1. Each mined ingredient, and even those refined from mined =
ingredients, is likely to differ from the previous batch, or from =
batches of different provenance.
2. Each clay body will vary according to the same possibilities as =
#1
3. The water with which you mix the batch will vary, and can =
affect glaze results. Or why it is a good thought to make tests with =
distilled water if/when local water suspect.
4. Application method affects glaze result. The thickness of the =
glaze; the dampness of body underneath. If applied to leatherhard, =
greenware, bisqued clay. In my personal opinion (as usual Cannonball =
the Cat miaows to differ) whether a glaze goes on in several thin coats =
as distinguished from one heavy coat matters.--esp. when there are water =
soluble materials in the glaze.
5. Firing. Don't get me started. How fast you heat, how slow you =
cool, whether you soak at all, whether you don't, whether you let cool =
and bring heat back up, what other glazes are in the kiln or kiln walls =
and may fume affect the result. Unplanned voltage drops in electric =
kilns (as used to be around here, in winter, when the voltage dropped =
during the evening milking), slower firing due to old elements...ALL can =
affect the results.
6. Firing. #5 all dealt with electric. Now raise all that to the =
number of Cannonball's whiskers raised to the tenth power, and Voila =
again...THAT is .17972 of the possibilities raised by firing in a fuel =
burning kiln.
8. Perception: there is no definite definition of "satin", "matt" =
etc, nor of color. Mr K and I differed for years about a rug we had. I =
said dark green, he said black. So when I say "Apple red" you think =
one shade,I another.
(As you see I am trying to stay calm and be skyentiphic.
THAT IS WHY YOU NEED TO GET THE BOOKS. Lots of books. All the books. =
There are times when one small aside in one book will give you the =
answer you need. I cherish my Parmelee, my Binns, my good old Rhodes, =
my Cardew, my Leach. Older books, in part outdated because of newer =
technologies, MUCH outdated on safety issues, but still crammed with =
useful info, =20
I just got Michael Bailey's Oriental Glazes. Mainly outside my firing =
range and method (used fuel burners) but there appear to be some orangy =
Shinos. Wonderful book. I may only use a small part of it, but who =
cares? I am learning from it.
So please, Newbies. Stop already with the equipment. As the Yiddish =
expression has it :" It will help as cuppings help the dead." It isn't =
the wheel, it isn't the kiln--it is your mastery of the materials that =
needs perfecting. It isn't the recipes it is your ability to interpret =
and adapt and modify, and THINK glaze that will make you proficient at =
glazing...
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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