Test Tiles!

They're less blurry in real life.

Though I am sort of on a blog break for the summer, I couldn't wait to share my recent ^6 test results! This was a mixed firing - lots of tests, as well as several "real" pieces glazed in Julia Galloway's Water Blue, a glaze I can rely on not to suck.

It didn't suck, but it was a little too sweet and...bland?...for my taste. I may not have reduced heavily enough, or early enough, to get the deep, varied, mysterious blue-to-purple I had in mind.

The look I had in mind.

Nevertheless I think the recipients of these mugs and teabowls - my Kickstarter supporters - will enjoy them. It's definitely a pretty glaze.

I got lots of good information from the tests, and at least three keepers. See if you can pick the winners from these images:

^6 Amber Celadon test

^6 Brown's Blue tests

^6 Magic White tests

^6 Oribe tests

^6 Old yellow tests

The Amber Celadon test ran like a mad bastard - and let me tell you, mad bastards can run, even at ^6. None of the Magic White tests made me happy, but I got keepers of Brown's Blue - the tile on the left; Oribe - the bowl on the left; and Old Yellow - the tile on the far right.

This was the first test firing in my own kiln; the others occurred in Watershed's soda kiln. I was concerned about uneven temp, but that concern proved unfounded - there was probably a full cone difference between the hot and cold areas, but it was not enough that the glazes reacted badly, or not as far as I could tell.

Some Helpful Numbers

A stick of butter is 5" long x 1.25 inches square
To throw a butter dish:
Tray, 1.25 # of clay
Lid, 1# of clay, plus the "roof"

2-Quart casserole:
Pot, 4.25# of clay
Lid, 3.75# of clay

1-quart casserole
Pot, 3# of clay
Lid, 2.5# of clay

9" dinner plate, with wide(ish) rim: 4.5# of clay

12 oz mug: 1 1/8 pound of clay
16 oz mug: 1.25 pounds of clay

Soda Cobalt ^6 Tests

These are the test recipes generated from Glazemaster. Firing this week!

Soda Cobalt ^6

Test 1

Cone: 6 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Surface: Matt

32.4 Feldspar--Kona F4

14.3 Whiting

25.8 Silica

8.3 Kaolin--EPK

3.3 Talc

1.6 Gerstley Borate--1999

14.3 Frit--Ferro 3124

100 Total

Add: Cobalt Carbonate 1

Recipe Name: Soda Cobalt Test 2

Cone: 6 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Matte

34.1 Feldspar--Kona F4

15 Whiting

27.1 Silica

8.7 Kaolin--EPK

3.5 Talc

1.7 gerstley Borate--1999

9.9 Frit--Ferro 3134

100 Total

Additives

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Recipe Name: Soda Cobalt Test 3

Cone: 6 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Matte

35.8 Feldspar--Kona F4

15.6 Whiting

24.3 Silica

10 Kaolin--EPK

3.7 talc

10.6 Frit--Ferro 3185

100 Total

Additives

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Recipe Name: Soda Cobalt Test 4

Cone: 6 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Matte

32.9 Feldspar--Kona F4

14.3 Whiting

26.2 silica

8.4 Kaolin--EPK

3.4 Talc

14.8 Frit--Ferro 3124

100 Total

Additives

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Recipe Name: Soda Cobalt Test 5

Cone: 10 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Matte

32.9 Feldspar--Kona F4

14.4 Whiting

23.6 Silica

8.4 Kaolin--EPK

3.4 Talc

17.3 Gerstley Borate--1999

100 Total

Additives

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Recipe Name: Soda Cobalt Test 6

Cone: 6 Color: Blue/Purple

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Matte

28.4 Feldspar--Kona F4

12.4 Whiting

22.6 Silica

15 Kaolin--EPK

2.9 Talc

18.7 Frit--Ferro 3134

100 Total

Additives

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Life Intervenes

I have not been blogging as much as I would like lately. I am still working on my ^6 conversion - the next test is to happen in about a week - and making pots to fill my summer orders. We've had a little life change, however, which has taken some of my time and attention.

My teenage nephew has come to live with us. He is battling a heroin addiction and needed to be out of the environment in his hometown where it was easy for him to get his drug, because the temptation was too great. Heroin is an evil thing which clouds and torments the mind even long after the physical withdrawal is done. The battle is far from over, but he is a valiant warrior. We can't fight the battle for him - we can't even help much. The best we can do is give him a safe place to fight it, and try to put obstacles between him and the drug when his considerable will flags. 

Though its unlikely that anyone he knows reads this blog, it feels like an invasion of his privacy - already necessarily limited - to say much more than that. I still have lots to say about ceramics- I have a favorite frit now, that I can't wait to tell you about, for example - and will blog as time allows. In the meantime, send good thoughts our way, prayers if you've got 'em, and maybe things be alright.