Basket Jag

Do you ever go on jags, during which you are interested in making one particular form, and not much else? That was me and these narrow vase-baskets a couple of weeks ago. There are bunches of them in this kiln.

Sometimes it's colanders or berry bowls; once in  blue moon it's teapots; often, of course, it's mugs. I know I can sell all of those things, but these baskets? I feel like I will need to individually explain to shoppers how you would use them. (As a vase, I guess. I was more interested in the form than the function, truth be told.)
Also in this load: salad plates, ice cream bowls, several lidded casseroles, a big serving bowl, a teapot, and a world of mugs. And, ^6 glaze tests! Here's another I am trying out.

Recipe Name:  Shino Sauce ^6

Cone:  6     Color:  Rust Gold
Firing:  Reduction     Surface:  Glossy

Amount     Ingredient
27          Spodumene--Foote
41          Nepheline Syenite
11          Ball Clay--Old Mine #4
5          Kaolin--EPK
9          Soda Ash
7          Gerstley Borate--1999

100         Total

               Additives
2          Iron Oxide--Red

The original, ^10 recipe came from Keith Phillips blog, Mudstuffing Sketchbook.

Last Outdoor Glazing

Finishing up the last glazing today for a ^6 reduction soda. This will probably be the last firing for which I can glaze outside, which is a bummer: glazing is such a messy business, and my studio inside is pretty small. In the winter I have to do a minor re-arrange every time it's time to glaze. It's a bit chilly out there today, but I don't mind: I've got my hot flashes to keep me warm.

This firing will include 8 test glazes and two flashing slip variations; basically to bring a flashing slip from^10 to ^6 you can usually just add 5-8% Neph Sy to the existing recipe. Write that down! That's my pearl of wisdom for today. That, and, if you are in a hurry, a kind of boilerplate approach to dropping a glaze from ^10 to ^6 is to replace to feldspar 1-for-1 with Neph Sy, and add about 10% gerstley borate. This isn't always the best way to preserve the color or the hand of the glaze but it will get you in the neighborhood. (Always keeping in mind the proportions flux of alumina and silica, which is what I have Glazemaster to help me out with. Yes, it's working again!) Alternatively, you can add 10-15% Ferro Frit 3134, which is now my favorite frit, as it is well-balanced enough itself not to require a lot of adjustment when used in this way.

Among others, I am trying again with the Amber Celadon. Here's the recipe I am testing at ^6:

Amber Celadon test

Alberta Slip          32.2
Wollastonite         12.7
Kaolin                     7.2
Gerstley Borate      9.0
Whiting                   6.8
Silica                    12.7
Neph Sy               19.5

Add:
Yellow Ochre         7.6
Bentonite               2.0

Five Glazes and A Freeze

Gah! I finally get a couple hours to work on my glaze conversions, and  - boom! - five formulas in, the Glazemaster software just ceases to work. So aggravating! It just keeps giving me the Hourglass of Despair. I've sent an email to the folks who sold it to me; I think I may have to de-install and re-install, with a new installation code, which I have to get from them.

Anyway! Here's what I was able to do before the derp dropped:

Recipe Name: Magic White ^6 Test 3A

Cone: 6 Color: White

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Semiglossy

Amount Ingredient

19.5 Feldspar--Custer

6 Zinc Oxide

18 Whiting

9 Kaolin--EPK

19 Silica

15 Zircopax

4.5 Spodumene--Foote

9 Gerstley Borate--1999

100 Total

Comments: Careful not to get it too thick! Will crawl or even split ware.

Recipe Name: Magic White ^6 Test 4A

Cone: 6 Color: White

Firing: Salt/Soda Surface: Semiglossy

Amount Ingredient

18.3 Feldspar--Custer

5.6 Zinc Oxide

18.6 Whiting

8.4 Kaolin--EPK

19.4 Silica

13.9 Zircopax

4.2 Spodumene--Foote

11.6 Gerstley Borate--1999

100 Total

Recipe Name: Tenmoku ^6 Test 1

Cone: 6 Color:

Firing: Surface:

Amount Ingredient

53.3 Nepheline Syenite

19.5 Silica

15.2 Whiting

7.1 Ball Clay--Old Mine #4

4.8 Lithium Carbonate

99.9 Total

Additives

7.6 Iron Oxide--Red

2.1 Bentonite

Recipe Name: Tenmoku ^6 Test 2

Cone: 6 Color:

Firing: Surface:

Amount Ingredient

45.6 Nepheline Syenite

22.2 Silica

17.3 Whiting

8.1 Ball Clay--Old Mine #4

6.8 Frit--Ferro 3134

100 Total

Additives

8.7 Iron Oxide--Red

2.4 Bentonite

Recipe Name: Satin Black ^6 test

Cone: 6 Color:

Firing: Surface:

Amount Ingredient

59 Albany Slip

13.5 Feldspar--Custer

4.5 Strontium Carbonate

6 Talc

15 Whiting

2 Kaolin--EPK

100 Total

Additives

1 Chromium Oxide

3 Iron Oxide--Red

2 Manganese Dioxide

1 Cobalt Carbonate

Will be mixing these up today, as well as full buckets of the successful test from last time, for the next firing - hopefully this weekend.

Inspiration is Where You Find It

When I drive down to Portland to teach my classes, I always bring a bin of tools and materials for my demos. At a minimum I bring my throwing tools, and my box of stamps. Students are free to borrow the stamps; I'm not one to worry that their pots will look like mine - I'd like to think it would take more than a stamp mark to duplicate me. Students who find they like the technique often make their own corral of stamps.

On Thursday, when I left class, I forgot my box of stamps.

This is sort of a big deal, as Portland is an hour away, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday are usually my most productive studio days. This happens to be a wetwork week - if I were glazing or firing, obviously less need for stamps in those cases. (And by "less" I mean "no".) I was thinking of driving down - maybe throw a bunch of ware, and make the drive while it's drying to a leatherhard, stampable state - and then my eye fell upon my new swimdress. (And by new I mean bought-used-on-Ebay-four-months-ago. What? That's why God made washing machines!) I'm not gonna go long about the swimsuit, but I am gonna say, if you're resisting buying a swimdress because it's what old ladies wear, give in and get one already! Much better for climbing in and out of canoes.

But I digress.

It occurred to me that the pattern on the swimdress would look very nice slip trailed. In the past I have just trailed simple lines or dots, but hey: no stamps? A great opportunity to expand my slip trailing skills. Here's what I came up with:

After that I started looking around the house for other fabric inspirations. And lo! the curtains right beside my desk had potential. Here's how that pattern played out:

Obviously I didn't try for a literal copying of either pattern, just let the fabric suggest botanical shapes to make. One thing I learned: I need some smaller needles if I want to do more detailed images.

Both still need handles. They are of B-Mix 5, and will be in the next ^6 firing, which should be soon, but my working time is so unpredictable lately that I am loathe to pick a date. In it will be the remaining ^6 conversion tests, which will allow me to publish the Glaze Notebook!

Bigger Wads Make Better Bottoms

That sounds vaguely obscene, doesn't it? But no:

I've always been inclined to use small wads, because to conserve wadding, because mixing it up is sort of tedious. I see now that I have been cheating myself! When the wads are too tiny, the flame, with its load of soda vapor, can't get under the pot; so the bottoms are pale and pasty and dull. Okay, that's harsh; but using bigger wads does allow vapor glaze to be deposited on the bottom, resulting in this soft, peachy, flame pattern. It's the subtle things that make a piece sing, and a beautiful bottom is definitely a plus.

Trimming Bat

My student and friend Ginette came to class one day with a great tool: a foam-rubber trimming bat. The "grippiness" of the foam saves time wadding, and allows you to trim without risking deformed rims. I made myself one:

First I cut a piece of foam rubber into a circle the size of one of my bats. I got the foam rubber at Jo-ann Fabrics; it's the sort of thing you'd use to fill out a sofa cushion.I used Gorilla Glue but I think almost any kind would work.

The bat is the sort that has pinholes.

Using a Sharpie marker, I drew concentric circles onto the foam, to help me get pieces

centered.

And Bob's your uncle! It really was much faster than my usual method of centering and trimming.

To Do Today

Today is the last day of August, and the start of Labor Day weekend - the cultural if not the astronomical end of summer. It's been a busy summer, not always in the ways I would have chosen, but I am trying to get my time back until control. With that in mind, I'm utilizing that old favorite tool of mine: the to-do list.

I unloaded a kiln on Wednesday, which never stops being fun and exciting. Thursday was sorting, pricing, packing, and delivering pots to Monkitree, Portland Pottery, and Kennebec River Artisans.

This was a ^10 firing; I've been alternating between ^6 and ^10 all summer, as it turns out that no, I can not go the whole summer without making new inventory in order to focus on the glaze conversion project. My bad! Nevertheless I am pretty much on schedule - still owe a few pottery Rewards, as well as the glaze books (of course!) but the upcoming ^6 firing will hopefully be the last of the 'test" firings, and contain more than half "real" work.

So! to the boats:

To do today:

• Scrape and grind kiln shelves. Six of my shelves are Advancers, which are crazy-expensive but necessary, as lifting the heavy regular shelves above my shoulders at arms length just had to stop. The Advancers need minimal grinding - an obvious perk - but not none. 
• It's a throwing day: cake stands are on tap (watch for a video!) and as well as pitchers and butterdishes.
• I still have pots that need homes from the last firing, so I will be preparing pots for delivery to The Artisan's Barn, Summer Island Studios, and the Bay View Company.

Soda Firing Workshop!

In conjunction with Portland Pottery and the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, I will be offering a Soda Firing Workshop this fall! It's happening Saturday & Sunday, September 14th & 15th at the Watershed Center. I will bring glazes,flashing slips, brushes, and trailing bottles; you bring two clay boxes of bisqued, ^10 stoneware. (I can't guarantee it will all get in the kiln but I will do my best!) We'll spend Saturday morning glazing, then break for lunch, and load the kiln in the afternoon. Portland Pottery will provide lunch on Saturday.
On Sunday we will fire the kiln. Students will learn about glaze application, loading, firing, and and have an opportunity to spray the soda mix into the kiln! I'll also provide wadding, kiln wash, and glaze recipes to interested students.
The firing will be unloaded the following Wednesday. Students are welcome but not required to attend the unloading. If you can't be there, please make arrangements to pick up your work at Portland pottery. The cost for this two-day workshop is $125.Call Portland Pottery to register, or for more details. (207)772-4334

Thursday Inspiration: Karen Hamilton

See lots more of Karen's intriguing work here and here.

What Do You Do When Inspiration Flees?

As regular readers know, my family obligations have expanded this summer. It's not that it's so much more work - though there is some - but it takes up a great deal more of my mind. In the interest of privacy, I won't share much of what's happening on that front, except to say some parts are going well - arguably the most important parts - and in other ways it's much harder than I expected.
One thing I find difficult is really feeling it in the studio. I can make stuff, but I can't get that so-excited-to-make-stuff feeling that is the reason I love clay; that feeling that results in the best pots. I page through the Thursday Inspiration posts, which used to send me spinning onto the studio post haste, but that hasn't been working; so I'm trying a different tack.
I purchased Kristen Keiffer's Surface Decoration video!
(I tried to post an image here relating to the video, but Blogger is giving me a raft of shit. Of course it is.)
I can't yet say whether this will awaken my snoozing inspiration, but I can say this: this video is wonderful. Though the general techniques are things I am familiar with, Kristen has different approaches to all of them. I've only watched the first two chapters and I've already learned so much! Just wanted to share this with my readers: if you've been considering this DVD, it's well worth the $50 purchase price.
I'm off to watch the rest of it. Hope you are having a good summer.

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