Friday, August 8

Glazes and . . . glazes

Thought I'd put a quick post up with some color, kind of. I've got six test mugs ready to fire. The absolute maximum I can get in my test kiln is seven, but that's good. It'll force me to do six or seven, learn from the firing and then go again. I am determined to feel like I have at least reasonable control or at least knowledge of what all the glazes are going to do with eachother and have a good idea of what works and doesn't before I glaze any more pots I have invested a lot of time in. Good plan!

One interesting note about these cups. I didn't like any of them when they were just sitting there as a piece of bisque. Now with some glaze on, even unfired glaze, they take on a whole new presence for me. I think I'll write about that later.

These are my five glazes. I know I said I was going to use only four, but two of them are blacks, so I figure that counts as one. One is a shiny black I use for a liner and another is a nice satin-matte subdued black that is nicer for the outside I think. I like that they all look different. It really helps keep my mind from getting a little overwhelmed, as we all know it can sometimes be hard to tell them apart at this stage. This was just luck by the way, not planning. Okay, gotta go. I've got to cut my day short because I am watching my little grandson tonight. That makes me think of another post. Hmmm. More later on, As The Wheel Turns.

4 comments:

brandon phillips said...

hello deborah, i am pleased to make your virtual acquaintance. thanks for visiting.

i really like your pattern/brush work here, i think its really strong.

i left a comment on your query about raw slipping below, don't know if it'll be much help. if you're interested there's a great article in studio potter by ruggles and rankin about raw glazing. i think it was in 91 or 92, same issue as their second kiln building article.

Deb said...

Hey thanks for the encouragement. This oxide brushwork, slipping and even brushing on glazes is very new to me. I was heavily in the camp of dipping and spraying, but I really like doing this. I find the task of glazing to be something pleasurable now instead of just a chore to be done.

Anonymous said...

Hi Deborah - thanks so much for visiting my blog the other day via Emily's!

As to your question about adding links go here http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_links.asp

I love these mugs and the brush work is fantastic!

I went to school in Maine and lived there for 5 years before moving back to Colorado in 2004. I really miss New England and would have stayed there if my husband could have handled the winters better. He had SAD which really affected him. One of my best friends lived in Laconia, NH - and I'd make the drive to visit her regularly. Beautiful area.

Hope you don't mind if I add your link to my blogroll...

Deb said...

Hi Cynthia, thanks for stopping by yourself. And thank you for the compliments about my brushwork. As I said to Brandon this is very new to me, but I really like it. We'll where it all goes from here. Thank you for adding me to your blogroll. I would say that I would add you to mine, but I already have! Winters can be rough around here. You gotta be prepared with clothes and something to do in the snow that you enjoy or it can be a miserable five months. But for some reason I still love it, at least for the first three months anyway.