mel jacobson on thu 8 mar 07
i found an old rock polisher at a garage sale.
it works like a dream.
added some agate stones from my planting area.
crushed materials.
it is still a matter of speed and time.
i just turn it on, leave it over night...take it out.
about ninety percent of what i grind is cobalt.
i don't like those splashes of dark blue on the surface
of a pot. just chunks of cobalt.
same for some iron.
so. i grind it overnight. that is, if i am going to
make a clear blue glaze.
i do agree with lee love, lots of our commercial materials
are too over processed. just too fine...no chunks.
it gives some glazes that ...`commercial look`.
but,
that is my aesthetic.
i like pots that feel and look `hand made`.
if there is a chunk or a run...or they bottoms are
bit rough...so be it.
my customers want....`the mel look`, or they would
go some place else.
i know that many others can't stand any in/perfection...that is their
aesthetic. to each his/her own.
we each live a set of `standards` that we create in our own heads.
hard to change that. in fact, most never do.
it is why i have to fire a entire kiln full of test pots..new glazes.
i can't stand to work without adventure.
that is why i taught school for almost 40 years. security for the
family, so i did not have to live `securely` in my studio.
20 hand built pots in this firing.
yes, hand built.
i can, you know.
mel
it was like the kid that came up to my drawing board at the
high school...i had a very realistic landscape drawing on the
board....he said...`damn, i didn't know you could do `real art`.
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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