Michelle Bowden on sun 25 mar 07
I've been reading Clayart for years and have been working with clay for
decades, but still regard myself as a "newbie" when it comes to the
glazing/firing process. I am in great admiration of many of you, and,
after attending my first NCECA, found out what a great group you are, so I
feel safe to post a question. I recently emailed an INCREDIBLY stupid
question to one of you personally, so I'll try to control myself here.
What I would like to know, is what do you regard as a successful glaze
firing? I consider myself to be fairly good at forming pots, but
inevitably botch things up in the glazing/firing stage. From my last
glaze firing, I would consider about 60% as good results. Maybe of those
10% were great results. The rest need to meet my sledge hammer. I know I
have a lot to learn when it comes to the science of it all, and I'm
working on that.
I want to thank Wayne (for the boa), Mel (for the kiss and orange
sticker), and Mark (for his friendliness). I got a wonderful mug from
Maurice in the exchange, and was pleased to hear that Dave F. liked my
mug, which took a whole lot of courage from me to put out there! Maybe
next time I won't be so much of a wallflower.
Shelly
from New Castle, PA
Dinah Steveni on sun 25 mar 07
It's interesting to develop benchmarks to quantify success with glazes.
Sometimes your glaze test pots will make sense a couple of years down the
line. Maybe a couple of firings later. Sort of how long is a piece of
string. Keep your journal up-to-date. Make loads of notes of what you'd
like to see in your results, and be as specific in your terminology as you
are in IDing your test pots. From satin, to matt, to glossy etc etc. What
color, coverage, etc do you expect? Leave a space for notes/comments next
to a thumbnail sketch of pot. Then when your testing marries up with your
expectations you've got a result. From your cautious optimism you're well
on your way to achieving what you need for your pieces. Keep on testing.
Look carefully at your firing schedule. How high is your bisque? Should
it be lower or higher? Test pots in your body at a high bisque, and some in
a low bisque, then the same glazes. Try soaking your glazes at nearly your
top temp. Try a slow cool down from top temp. There are so many variables.
Test.
Dinah Steveni
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michelle Bowden"
To:
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 4:01 PM
Subject: successful firings (de-lurking)
> I've been reading Clayart for years and have been working with clay for
> decades, but still regard myself as a "newbie" when it comes to the
> glazing/firing process. I am in great admiration of many of you, and,
> after attending my first NCECA, found out what a great group you are, so I
> feel safe to post a question. I recently emailed an INCREDIBLY stupid
> question to one of you personally, so I'll try to control myself here.
>
> What I would like to know, is what do you regard as a successful glaze
> firing? I consider myself to be fairly good at forming pots, but
> inevitably botch things up in the glazing/firing stage. From my last
> glaze firing, I would consider about 60% as good results. Maybe of those
> 10% were great results. The rest need to meet my sledge hammer. I know I
> have a lot to learn when it comes to the science of it all, and I'm
> working on that.
>
> I want to thank Wayne (for the boa), Mel (for the kiss and orange
> sticker), and Mark (for his friendliness). I got a wonderful mug from
> Maurice in the exchange, and was pleased to hear that Dave F. liked my
> mug, which took a whole lot of courage from me to put out there! Maybe
> next time I won't be so much of a wallflower.
>
> Shelly
> from New Castle, PA
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
| |
|
