What Does the Whiting D?

2.25 lbs Soda Ash2.75 lbs Baking Soda
4 lbs whiting
Enough wood shavings to fill a 5-gallon bucket halfway up
Enough water to make a tuna-salad consistency

This is the mix I add into the ports, on a length of angle iron, starting about Cone 8. I often get the question: what does the whiting do? A fair question, as it won't vaporize, so doesn't contribute to the glazed surface on the pots.

I can only tell you observationally, not chemically, what the whiting does: without it, the soda glaze seems less evenly distributed, and a whole bunch of it ends up on the floor of the burner channel. Which is not a good place for it, not only because it isn't doing any good, but because eventually it will eat away at the brick. I also periodically clean out the burner channel, and pour a fireclay/ alumina slip over the floor, to protect the brick. I am in no hurry to have to rebuild this kiln!

Half a Pound of Salt

Like Mary Poppins, this firing was"practically perfect in every way." I keep saying that. So it's probably worth mentioning what I did differently:

• Candling, and climbing slowly at the beginning.
• A single new, larger kiln shelf changed the path of the flame.
• 2.25 pounds soda ash, 2.75 pounds of baking soda, 4 pounds of whiting, and 1/2 a pound of salt. I think this last accounts for the juiciness and the honey-fied tones.

Just noting these things, so I don't forget.

Notes on the Firing

Um, what happened here? The shelf - a silicone carbide, the kind which are recommended for salt and soda - sort of melted into a crusty foam, at one corner. The bottom surface just disintegrated, peeled away, and destroyed four otherwise very nice mugs. The kiln gods work in mysterious ways, I suppose, and I am not complaining about an otherwise perfect firing, but dang! It would be nice to know, what, exactly happened here, because until I do, who's to say that it couldn't just happen again? I had already packed up most of the work for its various destinations - Kennebec River Artisans, Summer Island Studios, and Bay View Company - before I remembered to take photos, but here are a few pieces.





The shots are dark, because my daylight conditions are not ideal, and this is sort of a drive-by post - I'm on my way to meet the lovely ladies (so far, we're all ladies) of the Maine Pottery Tour.

Opening Night!

I have been back at the office gig for a couple of days, as their receptionist had to take some personal time, so I am filling in. The office closed early today, because President Obama is visiting Portland, which meant the city was randomly closing streets to thwart any would-be assassins.

Getting out early meant I got home in time to unload the kiln while it was still light. Do I always say it was the best firing yet? Well, this time I really mean it. Oh, there was the usual amount of running, sticking, and goobers requiring grinding, but the colors! I'm so pleased.

I've run out of light to take photos of individual pieces, but will try to snap a few tomorrow before these get boxed up to go to their various destinations.

Thursday Inspiration - Brenda Lichman

It's Hard to Take a Good Photo of a Flame

...so you'll just have to take my word that I've got an impressively dark-red flame squeezing out of every crevice. Body reduction by 11 AM is good news, and that was holding the kiln back so I could get some errands done. (Doug watches the kiln for me when I am running to the bank or the grocery store, but I wouldn't ask him to manage any change in the firing.) I threw a few sticks in there for good measure, to try to address my shino imbalance. Probably a wasted effort, since I'm pretty sure I loaded all the shino into the better-reducing half of the kiln; and since the issue is probably not insufficient reduction, but instead late reduction. The bland-shino side is also the hotter side, and I am reluctant to put any part of the kiln into reduction prior to 012, which means that 012 is down on the hotter side before body reduction commences. I am an adventurous soul but an experiment that puts half the entire load at risk is daunting to say the least. So, ya know, I'll probably try it next time.

Anyway! I'm sold on candling. I have not been a fan in past, as I suspect it uses more propane, but I just can't take any more of that 2 am bullshit. The smoke is clearing now, and it's about time to enter the lighter climbing reduction.

A Sticky Business

I had it in my head to show my students a technique using wax resist between glazes, when I ran into two obstacles: the apparent discontinuation of the thicker form of water-based wax resist; and my inability to find a glaze trailing pen that had not been clogged up by said resist. In my studio, I use paraffin wax, but it's not great for thin lines, tjanting tool notwithstanding. The staff at portland Pottery also prefer that we use water-based wax rather than paraddin or beeswax, since the kilns are indoors and the smell of burning wax can be pretty overpowering. But I digress.

Anyway, while looking for a glaze trailing pen, my eye lit upon the Elmer's glue bottle that is always around to assist with glaze mends, when you don't want to handle or whatever to get shifted out of place while being loaded, since only gravity is holding it in place until the firing.
Hmm...wonder if Elmer's would work in place of wax?

It didn't, exactly; it worked more like latex. The glaze clung to it, but the dried glue itself removed very easily from the pot, leaving a clean resist pattern.

Elmer's compares to latex like this:

• It's a whole bunch cheaper. That's a plus, obviously.
• It dries a lot slower. Minus. It took about 15 minutes for the glue to be dry enough that it wouldn't run when I turned the pot. A student suggested thickening the glue with cornstarch. It took almost an hour for the glue to be dry enough to remove.
• It came off the pot much more easily than the latex resists I have used.
• If you rinse your brush immediately, you won't destroy the hairs the way latex resists and wont to do.
  

Next I tried it on an unglazed pot, and had similar results, although it was a little more difficult to get the glue off the bare bisqued clay.

One of the things I love about my profession is that there are always new discoveries to be made.



In a related note, I recently bought some of Amaco's latex resist. (If I had discovered the glue trick first, I would have saved my $13.) It is in every way a superior product to Laguna's similar resist, except that it is smellier. The consistency is better, it removes more easily and even seem slower to destroy brushes.

American Craft Show NYC

Hey readers - Has anybody done this show? I am sorely tempted to throw prudence to the wind and start out (or, re-start, after 9 yrs away from art fairs) with this very high-end show. It has the advantage, for me, of not requiring that artists apply through Zapp, which would necessitate me buying or borrowing a better camera, or saving out pots to have a professional photographer shoot them; which, lucky me, there's a good one in Portland, around the corner from Portland Pottery, where i have to be a couple of days a week to teach my classes anyway. But if I can just choose the best from the shots that I take after each firing, that's one less obstacle. The application fee is only $25: very reasonable considering that I have seen fees of more than twice that for upscale shows. I think this is because it is still a relatively new show.

I kind of like, also, that there is no jewelry category for this show, and then I feel like a jerk for liking that. What, I'm afraid of the competition? Well, yes. Of course, it could cut both ways: jewelers always walk away with more money, but it's possible that their presence draws in people who would not otherwise attend. [Edit: Oops, I was wrong. There is in fact a jewelry category. Can't remember where I got the idea that there is not.]

Sometimes it's hard to discern between caution and timidity, except after the fact. The least expensive booth is around $1500, a pretty scary number for me, not to mention the cost of traveling to and staying in New York City; but I am ever-so-tired of doing almost well enough. Maybe it's time for a bold move.

All of this assumes that I can even get in, which is by no means a sure thing. Anyway: if you have feedback about the American Craft Show NYC, now would be a good time to share it. XO

A Day at CraftBoston

My sister and I spent the day at CraftBoston yesterday. We took the DownEaster train down from Portland, which I highly recommend: it was only $40 for a round trip ticket, and it saves the trouble of parking in Boston, not to mention the gas money.

It was sort of a research expedition, though I did make a purchase while I was there. I wanted to remember how a professional show looks and feels, as well as get some ideas for the booth that I am mentally building, as preface to physically building it. I did learn a few things, and was reminded of others. In no particular order:

• Lighting is key. I knew this, but was strongly reminded: insufficient lighting can cause a booth to just disappear.
  
• I really, really need to raise my prices, on the big things, at least; although even my mugs would be at the rock-bottom end of the range at this show.
• I won't be using black walls or curtains. This is, I'm sure, subjective, but the booths I felt drawn to used lighter colors.
  
• While all the booths looked nice and professional, they weren't as utterly fabulous as I was remembering. This is good news because I now feel confident that I can build something which won't be insufficiently fabby; maybe even something that stands out as fabbier than average.
  
• There should be something - more than one thing - near the front of the booth which is very affordable. Wandering around among the $1200 garments and $12000 furniture can make one start to regard the show as more of a museum, because buying something is completely out of the question. It was pretty exciting when I came across items that I could afford: a wooden spoon here, a pot holder there. I almost bought the wooden spoon just because I could, and I did buy three of the hot pads.
• Attending this show actually made me less enthusiastic about doing this show: observing and reading between the lines I got the sense that sales were disappointing. I hope I'm wrong, but that was the feeling I got. Several people told me they'd "made a lot of good contacts" - the "great personality" of art fair descriptors.
  
• I was surprised to see some knuckle-busters. Apparently not everyone has made the jump to Square. There was wireless service in the building, too, so Paypal was an option.
  
• The Buffalo wings at The Whiskey Priest are the best!

The show is still open until 4 pm today.

♫ Glazin' Pots in the Hot Sun... ♪

I keep humming to the tune of I Fought the Law.

Maine is having the most amazing, record-breaking warm spell. Though intellectually this worries me for Al-Gore-related reasons, I can't help but enjoy it today. Anyway, doggedly refusing to enjoy it has not been proven an effective way to combat global climate change. It's just upwards of 80 today, and I've reconstituted the glaze pavilion. Probably I will have to move back inside in a week or so, when we get back to seasonal temps, but it's worth it.

I have glazed maybe half of the 100 mugs, and a few casseroles and bowls. I may not get a kiln load finished today - I am making a point not to hurry, but just to take whatever time is needed to make each piece the pot it cries out to be. There will be lots of blue, purple, turquoise and white in this load: summer colors for a summer mood.
I was shooting for firing tomorrow, but I can already see that isn't going to happen. Saturday I have plans to visit Crafts Boston, so that makes Sunday the soonest the firing could occur. Luckily we are past the time when freezing might be a problem, so I can (hopefully) load tomorrow and be all ready to go for Sunday.

I better make cone packs! My oven broke so I can't quick-dry them if I forget.

Thursday Inspiration - Chandra Debuse

See lots more of Chandra's work here.

"Try Something New in Every Firing"

I can't remember who told me that. It's good advice; I wish I could say that I always follow it, but often I am scrambling to get the kiln loaded and the things that absolutely need to be fired, fired; too often I can't risk any bisqueware on something new.
This time, however, I have no great urgency, and, after all, I have 100 mugs to glaze; I can take the chance that some of them will not come out well, and hopefully learn something and improve my skill at the same time. Since brushwork is an area that I could stand some improvement, and since I was having visions of mugs that contrasted romantic and stark qualities (and also playful/stark), I am trying my hand at some more-or-less botanically correct roses, in plain black stain. Alright, if not botanically correct, at least recognizable.

I am in hopes that the soda will soften the stain in one direction, while the other side will remain more clear. I may paint a few more - it's a nice day and I am working out on the deck, first time this year. The stain I used is 60% Gerstley Borate and 40% Mason 6600. In past it has only worked over flashing slip when the slip was bisqued on already. After I finish brushing, I spray the pieces with laundry starch so that I won't smudge the work when I handle the mugs to glaze the inside, and to load them in the kiln.

I expect these out on Wednesday the 28th.