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Qotw: What Is The Most Daring Material You Ever Added To Clay Or Glaze?


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Sometimes we just use prepared clay or glazes, bought at the supplier store.

 

Sometimes we make our own clay or glaze.

 

Sometimes  we want to be a bit special, crazy, outstanding, and we take whatever comes to mind and add that to boring, prepared clay or glazes.

 

I already added stones, pebbles, sand, marble powder, leaves, rice, stale zwieback, acorns, lint, salt and sugar, wood, nutshells, coffee grounds, straw etc. etc. to clay and glaze, with good or not so good results/effects.

 

I am still looking for the ultimate daring material  :o  but...

 

Can you help? What is the most daring, most crazy, most outrageous material you ever added to clay or glaze?

 

Have a great week everybody!

 

Evelyne

 

 

PS: if "daring" is not the right word, please somebody correct me. Thank you.

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Daring's a great word, I think!

 

I think I've done things in my own work that maybe give the appearance of daring, but I'm really a coward when it comes to materials.  I've done goofy things  like make glazes out of whatever I can find, but I had a ballpark result in mind and I always tested for results first.  Baking soda, borax, found stones, antacids, crushed shells, etc. all fall into the "weird" category, but I've been too safe with them.

 

Sometimes I could probably benefit with a leap before I look, it's not like making a few wild pots is particularly risky.  Art's a lot safer than a lot of things.

 

Something I've been toying with is casting a small run of tetsubin, throwing the prototype out of clay.  That would be the most daring thing I'll ever have attempted.

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I have added safe stuff to my clay like chicken grit, rice, tea, coffee grounds, moss, leaves ...

the most fun was when I added bits of my unsuccessful, fired colored clay pieces back into new work.

 

I smashed them with a heavy hammer ( they were wrapped in cloth ) then sieved the scraps by size. I put the larger bits into a ball mill using the smaller bits as grit. When they were smooth I wedged them into fresh clay and made work with it. Next time I will mill them a day longer to take off more sharp edges.

The work is beautiful as it cracked around the pieces as it dried and fired.

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Babs, you can't leave us hanging...............................

 

what a time to start packing up to drive out tomorrow.  or, if the rain keeps on this way, the next day.  nice not having a schedule.

 

evelyne, i don't remember doing anything like this but my friend denise (whose work i put up today) makes flying sheep.  they have cut nail legs that she fires on.  if you are familiar with suffolk sheep, then you would recognize them.  cut nails are square, black tapers with fat heads that make hooves.  no pictures, she sold them all.

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The most daring thing I've ever done is tried mixing 50% of a clear glaze with 50% of a white glaze that had no break, to see if it would add a little break. (Whooo. I think I better calm down!)

It worked. I was quite pleased with myself.

 

That is, until I saw Chris's insane, fabulous clay out of reclaimed pottery and I think she wins. ;) 

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Vermiculite, sawdust and broken florescent light bulb glass.  My high school art teacher encouraged us to do this.  He had us break the bulbs outside over a trash can and told us to try not to inhale the dust because it was poisonous.  We washed the glass then crushed it and mixed it in the clay,  when fired the glass would melt and make a glaze.  Enough of it did melt and make a glaze and the rest created a texture in the clay but not worth the effort or hazard.  I was handbuilding at the time so I didn't end up with many cuts but the people trying to throw it had small cuts everywhere.  Denice

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When I was in Latvia for a symposium in 1991, I arrived as the second half of the group. I got one lump of earthenware and one lump of high temperature Chamotte ( white stoneware). We were required to make something for the final exhibition. I went down to the Baltic sea, a few blocks away, and got 2 bags of sand. I sifted it and mixed everything together and was able to produce several ^9 pieces for the exhibition. 

 

Marcia

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Hi everybody. Great but cold weather here in Switzerland. No snow yet where I live...

 

Tyler: I think your mix of test material is not small at all. Crushed shells, I have to try those. And baking soda in a kiln?? Was everything blue afterwards? When I use baking soda in the pit fire, things get blue.... Tetsubin are teapots??

 

Chris: the result of the crushed clay pieces in your object is very beautiful. I was always reluctant to do this because I heard the inserted pieces will "jump" off either during the firing or afterwards. Even if one wedge them into the clay. Do they "melt" into the clay?

 

Babs: yes, oldlady is right! Your sentence is like a cliffhanger at the end of a book. Please tell us the story if possible.

 

Oldlady: how was the exhibition? Ahm... I've read your sheep story a few times but for the life of me I can't imagine those sheep legs of Denis' clay sheeps. I googled Suffolk Sheep but also their hooves are organic ;) and those burn away in the kiln, for sure. So please, the next sheep Denis is producing, please take a picture and thank you very much!

 

Alabama: the moss burnt away in the kiln? And: do you know what "daring" materials our ancestors used in their pottery shops?

 

Giselle: do you have a picture of the object you used your mixed-break-glaze on? Can you tell me what you mean with "the white glaze that had no break"? I am not familiar with that term in context with pottery and I want to learn. Thank you.

 

Denice: Did the Vermiculite and the sawdust you mixed in the clay gave satisfying results? They burn in the kiln, so you had what, little holes in the object? And boo! to the teacher! Why did he let people throw clay with glass in it. Also smallest pieces can break the skin and travel in the bloodstream. Good for you that you that you were a handbuilder.

 

Marcia: buongiorno to you. I love the pictures from Rome! Yes, sand is wonderful to work with. I use it often. But earthenware, high fire grog, sand, and firing at cone 9? That's a darin mix. The earthenware should have vulkanized at that temperature, no?

 

 

Still waiting for a potter who is more daring than we are. I am very curious what is possible and what is not. I love to experiment, but always stop I think too early, out of fear for the kiln....

 

Have a happy weekend!

 

Evelyne

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Giselle: do you have a picture of the object you used your mixed-break-glaze on? Can you tell me what you mean with "the white glaze that had no break"? I am not familiar with that term in context with pottery and I want to learn. Thank you.

 

Evelyne: Your English is so good that I forget sometimes that you are a non-native speaker. I think it very likely you know what a breaking glaze is but perhaps you have a different word for it. With an interest in pottery I'm absolutely sure you've seen them before! 

 

So here are glazes with a "break".  >> sml_gallery_67168_947_540333.jpgsml_gallery_67168_947_1181112.jpg

 

As you may already know, the term refers to a glaze color that "breaks" from thick to thin, giving a different color where it's thin, usually on a raised portion of the piece like slip trailing or an area with a defined edge like carving. It depends on the glaze. I have some that are best with raised slip trailing, others that are better with carving, and still others that work well with both. 

 

The glaze I was talking about is called Colonial white. It's part of Laguna's Versa 5 collection, which is a very well-behaved white but covers thickly and with no beautiful break to show off the slip trailing I like to do. 

 

The pitcher on the left is glazed on the outside with Laguna's Translucent Cream. The white pigments in it tend to gather and streak a little around any raised design with a nice break over slip trailing. Unfortunately it is also prone to bubble anywhere it's a little thicker, so I have made the change to Colonial White (on the right) which is quite reliable and does NOT bubble, but is also (to me) slightly boring. In the experiment I mentioned, I mixed 50% of the Versa 5 Clear with the Versa 5 Colonial White and I got more of a cream color with a slight break, which is what I was going for. However, I think rather than go to that trouble for larger pieces, in the future I will just find a nice creamy white from a different manufacturer that has the finished look I want and also behaves nicely. 

 

sml_gallery_67168_947_1886040.jpg

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Evelyn  The sawdust was in work that wasn't glazed it gave it a earthy rough look with a pitted surface.  The vermiculite was a disappointment I understood that it would burn out at C6 but it didn't.  It was a wall tile project and I wanted this really rough look I ended up picking the surface one out, it did really lighten up the tile.  I wonder how paper clay with vermiculite would work.   My potter teacher had those throw with it who wanted to try it, we only had one wheel in the class and it was the boys who tried, macho guys.  It was the late 60's and things were pretty wild for high school, drugs in the hall lockers if you wanted it.  My pottery teacher smoked a pipe during class and play the White Album, he ended up divorcing his wife and marrying a student.  More stories to tell later.   Denice

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Giselle: (blush blush) :wub:  Thank you for your compliment about my English.. And thank you for the explanation and for the pictures. Yes of course I know glaze like this and we call it "Punktierungseffekt". We can buy Amaco glaze with that effect here in Switzerland. Mostly it's shino glaze. I like your pieces and the glaze!!

 

Alabama: means you did a pit fire? ("No kiln, only sticks")

 

Benzine: how was the result? Did you get any results from banana/orange peel on glaze?

 

Denice: I can imagine that the sawdust- in- clay piece looks great. Do you still have it to show us? And I think you can add almost everything to paperclay. Great material if you ask me. And, oh-oh, that was some high school you went to.... :D:o

 

There is a really great book about putting additions to clay:

 

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/additions-to-clay-bodies/

 

You can maybe find out why you had the problems with the Vermiculite, Denice!

 

Best,

 

Evelyne

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Evelyne ...I have never had any piece 'jump' anywhere ... Some pieces fell off as it dried but I expected some would stick better than others depending on where they ended up.

They did not melt as they were fired to the same temperature both times.

I wondered how it would melt if the whole piece was fired higher but did not have access to a kiln that would do it. I suspect the whole piece would react the same way since it was all made from the same clay body.

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Chris: that really would be worth a try, firing said piece higher. Maybe you would get some volcanic results (vulcanize). Will you try when/if finding the right kiln?

 

Alabama: I've found the right pic in your gallery. Very interesting gallery by the way! You fire from start to end approx. 1 hour?

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Evelyne, I don't think punktierunseffekt translates into breaking glaze.  Punktierung means stippling, so I think you are referring to the dotted look on Giselle's pieces, which I believe she did with slip trailing.  A breaking glaze doesn't cover the slip trailing in a uniform manner.  It's thinner over the raised areas...that's the "breaking"...which highlights the effect.  I'm not sure which Amaco glazes you are referring to that create a stippling effect.

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I've never been too daring, but I have tried placing some things on top of glazes, to see the results; orange/ banana peels, pop can, etc.

 

Oooh. What happened?? What kind of firing do you do?

 

 

 

 

 

Benzine: how was the result? Did you get any results from banana/orange peel on glaze?

 

 

 

Nothing too exciting happened.  Where the peels were placed, had a slight variation in color.  The can maybe did a bit more, because there was still visible ash left from it, post firing.  This was all in an electric kiln and fired to Cone 05.

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Giselle: (blush blush) :wub:  Thank you for your compliment about my English.. And thank you for the explanation and for the pictures. Yes of course I know glaze like this and we call it "Punktierungseffekt". We can buy Amaco glaze with that effect here in Switzerland. Mostly it's shino glaze. I like your pieces and the glaze!!

 

 

Ahhh the language barrier. :) I would never have known what "Punktierungseffekt" is unless you told me. Can you translate that? I see "effekt" which I'm guessing is similar to "effect" but what does the rest mean? 

 

Amaco has some very nice glazes. The two cups on the top left photo were done in Potter's Choice Smoky Merlot, which is one of my favorites. Thank you for the compliments! 

 

Evelyne, I don't think punktierunseffekt translates into breaking glaze.  Punktierung means stippling, so I think you are referring to the dotted look on Giselle's pieces, which I believe she did with slip trailing.  A breaking glaze doesn't cover the slip trailing in a uniform manner.  It's thinner over the raised areas...that's the "breaking"...which highlights the effect.  I'm not sure which Amaco glazes you are referring to that create a stippling effect.

Doris: You're right! Yes, the texture is from slip trailing because it shows the break so nicely. I also do carving which can also work well with certain breaking glazes. I do have some glazes with a speckle, and I have a glaze that causes speckling to come through glaze but those are both quite different. 

 

Alabama: Your pit fired pieces are wonderful. I love how they look, I think I see some coiling experiments in my future! That's a technique I haven't really worked with yet. 

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HeyEvelyne,

Does everything fire in one hour? Most do, if they're bowls,

or open like the fiber tempered vessel. In most cases when its quiet

you can hear the vessel bing, I'm assuming its the sound of vessels

achieving ceramic temps.

Michael Hansen once said, "When firing greenware to ceramic outside, you can never go too slow!". So for a couple of years I went slow, then learned how to speed things up.

See ya,

Alabama

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Well, Evelyne, your description sounds right, it's just that punktierung translates into stippling.  It's possible that it doesn't translate literally and that's the German word for a breaking glaze, but it just doesn't make sense to me.  It's all very confusing!  Good thing I don't have to order my supplies in German!

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