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Cuerda Seca Technique?


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THANKS for the suggestions for reading some of the Hopper books. I finally got one. I look forward to getting a few more.

 

I discovered this technique I've always liked but never new what it was called so I've been trying to emulate it for the past few weeks. Cuerda seca. I found a recipe on a site for making my own black wax to use for the lines which was just some black stain in emulsified wax resist, but following it and then after firing, the black just came off as if like dry charcoal. I fired on ^04 earthenware bisque  to ^05 ramping up at 200 per hour. What did I do wrong? the recipe called for the resist to be of  a paste consistency but I can't help but think that contributed to the lack of adhesion. It's so hard to find information on this technique. Especially in english. I'm going to be firing  few tests tonight of the wax resist at a few different thinner viscosities. But I was hoping that I might gain some insight from your brains. :)

 

 

 

THANK YOU!!

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The black stain isn't going to stick to the pots by itself. You need to add some frit or gerstley borate or what would probably work better would be to just use some dry black glaze, one you know doesn't move during firing, and mix that with your wax resist. The original Cuerda Seca used manganese which will fuse to the clay but not a good thing to use health-wise. Would love to see what you do with it!  :)

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The black stain isn't going to stick to the pots by itself. You need to add some frit or gerstley borate or what would probably work better would be to just use some dry black glaze, one you know doesn't move during firing, and mix that with your wax resist. The original Cuerda Seca used manganese which will fuse to the clay but not a good thing to use health-wise. Would love to see what you do with it!  :)

Thanks, Min! Yeah, that was something I was wondering. It seemed odd that it said it was going melt into the clay on its own w/o something to actually melt. :) I'll add some frit. Stay tuned!

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As mentioned above the pigment/metal oxide needs a little flux like frit 3134. The technique is old and was revived in the tile industry in the Romantic California period around the 20s.(1920s). The Big ceramics store sells the premixed wax. The original Spanish recipe calls for an oil from a certain tree in Spain, "Balsano de Copiano". I still have a bottle of it from when I did my research there in 1980s on my Fulbright. I visited the city of Cuenca and potters in rural areas in the Province of Cuenca. Here is the info on it from the Big ceramic Store. http://www.bigceramicstore.com/info/ceramics/tips/tip74_cuerda_seca.html

 

Stephani Stevenson gave the talk on it at NCECA when we presented a dual lecture on Architectural Ceramics from Central Asia to Hollywood in Louisville. She showed some stunning installations  from tile companies like Capri Tiles from the 20s.

 

Marcia

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THANKS for the suggestions for reading some of the Hopper books. I finally got one. I look forward to getting a few more.

 

... found a recipe on a site for making my own black wax to use for the lines which was just some black stain in emulsified wax resist, but following it and then after firing, the black just came off as if like dry charcoal. 

 

 

Post the recipe if you want help on how to fix this. Pictures make it easier for people to help you too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

THANKS for the suggestions for reading some of the Hopper books. I finally got one. I look forward to getting a few more.

 

... found a recipe on a site for making my own black wax to use for the lines which was just some black stain in emulsified wax resist, but following it and then after firing, the black just came off as if like dry charcoal. 

 

 

Post the recipe if you want help on how to fix this. Pictures make it easier for people to help you too.

 

I think the problem was that they suggested using reclaimed dry glaze OR stain. They just went on the assumption that everyone would use the glaze that already had flux and people would know to add flux if they were just using stain. So, my bad, of course. I did a bunch of tests and finally got it to where I had added enough flux that it fused and didn't come off. :)

 

I would have liked to have posted pix of what I was looking to do, but I can't seem to get pictures to load. Sigh

 

THANKS so much! So much to learn and so many failures just get so frustrating.

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