Lili Krakowski on thu 23 mar 06
Kirsten: The one winter I spent in London I was both touched and amused by
Indian women who wore their wonderful saris but topped them off with huge
mufflers and heavy coats.
As I understand it, the sari is more than just an item of clothing. It
represents a type of status. If I remember what I read years ago, girls
wear their saris one way, married women another, and widows another way yet.
The reason I bring this up is that both the ethos and the "look" or
reduction firing is quite apart and separate from what reduction firing
really is. A METHOD of firing pots. Period. If you need to wear mufflers
sweaters and coats over your sari, something else might be a better form of
attire.
Electric firing, undervalued in this country, has a whole repertoire of
beauty of its own. And I suggest you will be much happier as a potter once
you learn the beauties and charms you can achieve with neutral fire.
(Always dance with the one that brung ya!)
Imagine yourself forced by circumstance (cruel--poor Circumstance always is)
to switch from the cello to the flute. That is what you need to do now. I
doubt any musician (Marianne where are you when I need you?)--then would try
to make the flute sound like a cello.
Having said that: Somewhere just now I misplaced some McWhinnie glaze
recipes involving wood ash. When I find them I will post.
Meanwhile. Experiment, test, with replacing some of the flux in your glazes
with ash. Some of the whiting with bone ash.
Cheat and be dishonnest . Trail or paint some Karo syrup (this is a brand
of corn syrup available in the US--if you are not in the US some sort of
sugar syrup or molasses should work.) Then sprinkle some wood ash on
that --the ash will stick to your sugary trail, and will flux that area of
your glaze more...creating that dribble drip effect.
Needless to say (a preface to something one insists on saying ) you also
can try sprinkling baking soda on your syrup marks, or borax. Use your
imagination. If you have odd bits of glaze around let some dry out and use
same as above.
DO remember that the dribbles--duh--will dribble (I flunked logic in
school!) and therefore be sure to use a "bisquit" under your test tiles or
pots.
And if you do not know what that is: make a very flat thin pancake of your
clay body plus grog, big enough to go under your pots. Bisque them, coat
with kiln wash, put UNDER your pots so that drips and dribbles do not hurt
your shelves.
And please. As you are not alone in your "recherche des temps perdus"
PLEASE lettuce know what works. Because there are others out there, with
the same nostalgia.
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