Holly Davis on mon 28 aug 06
I may need some help! I sent a post yesterday, but it never showed up on
the list. I am returning to the list after a hiatus and could really use
some advice. I am a new teacher in a very urban high school (= very limited
funds) and need some info. I am starting the kids off with pinch pots and
we are looking at some Native Amer. work. I'd like to have them burnish
their pots so they get shiny. Do I need to have them add terra sig before
burnishing (or polishing)? What's the least expensive, most effective way
to do this? If I need a terra sig, what is the easiest way (and, again,
least expensive, way to accomplish this? Any advice will be helpful!
(Especially those of you with some high school teaching experience :)
Thanks in advance...and hopefully this time my post will go through.
Holly
Snail Scott on tue 29 aug 06
At 04:55 PM 8/28/2006 -0400, Holly D wrote:
>I am starting the kids off with pinch pots and
>we are looking at some Native Amer. work. I'd like to have them burnish
>their pots so they get shiny. Do I need to have them add terra sig before
>burnishing (or polishing)?
No! I don't know any Indians that use terra sig -
that's a European method. They do it the plain,
ordinary (and very cheap) way - rub it 'til it's
shiny. That's all. A smooth rock like an agate
is great, but the back of a metal spoon will do
a dandy job, too.
Have them smooth it once with the spoons while
it's stiff leather-hard. When the clay is mostly
dry - hard and getting lighter-colored, but not
fully dried, start burnishing. Many people add
a light swipe of water or mineral oil at this
stage, as they work. Be careful not to add too
much water, or to wet any part that was already
burnished. The mineral oil is safer, in the
sense that adding too much won't destroy the pot,
but water is free. You can do without either,
also; the added lubricant just makes it go a
little easier.
If you want to get the effect of matte designs
with the shiny backgound, just paint them with
a thin slip of the same clay, after burnishing.
The slip designs will stay matte. Sometimes it
can flake off the shiny surface; keeping it
very thin will help prevent that.
Terra sig is handy in that it eliminates the
elbow grease: just apply, swipe with a soft
cloth, and you're done. Personally, though,
I figure a little work won't harm the kids a
bit, and it'll give them a sense of investment
in the outcome, since the relationship between
the effort and the result is so very direct
and clear.
-Snail
lela martens on tue 29 aug 06
HI Holly,
You don`t need to use terra sig. You could...and there are good instructions
in the archives. Pots will still have a nice smooth shiny surface if the
kids
burnish carefully and the work isn`t fired higher than cone 09 or 010.
Terra sig might take time to get right and time is $ too. After the firing
is done
the pieces can be polished with a warm wax, also ideas in the archives, that
adds to
shine. I use melted bees wax.
Good luck..and a post of mine didn`t get through either.. problems at a
higher
level of cyber-space.
Best wishes from Lela
I'd like to have them burnish
>their pots so they get shiny. Do I need to have them add terra sig before
>burnishing (or polishing)? What's the least expensive, most effective way
>to do this? If I need a terra sig, what is the easiest way (and, again,
>least expensive, way to accomplish this? Any advice will be helpful!
>(Especially those of you with some high school teaching experience :)
>Thanks in advance...and hopefully this time my post will go through.
>Holly
>
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holly davis on tue 29 aug 06
> No! I don't know any Indians that use terra sig -
> that's a European method.
You made me chuckle...I like to say Indians too, but I was
trying to be politically correct :)
>
> If you want to get the effect of matte designs
> with the shiny backgound, just paint them with
> a thin slip of the same clay, after burnishing.
> The slip designs will stay matte. Sometimes it
> can flake off the shiny surface; keeping it
> very thin will help prevent that.
Do I need to add anything to the slip to make this
work...or just plain old clay and water?
Thanks for your help, Holly
Snail Scott on wed 30 aug 06
At 04:21 PM 8/29/2006 -0400, Snail wrote:
>> If you want to get the effect of matte designs
>> with the shiny backgound, just paint them with
>> a thin slip of the same clay, after burnishing...
and then Holly wrote:
>Do I need to add anything to the slip to make this
>work...or just plain old clay and water?
Plain clay and water works well, though adding
a little bit of CMC seems to make it more
workable. Commercial underglazes also work well,
and will flow and stick better than a plain
clay-and-water slip, but the CMC will go a long
way toward duplicating that property with plain
slip and the result will match the clay.
If you aren't shooting for the all-one-color
effect like Santa Clara blackware, and want a
polychrome effect more like, say, San Ildefonso
work, colored underglazes work well as a
shortcut, though of course it's cheaper to
add oxides to slip.
Remember to keep all firings below about ^010
or so; above that, you will start to lose the
shine of the burnishing.
-Snail
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