yedrow Posted May 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 oops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yedrow Posted May 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 Thank you for your kind words Juli! Mea, I have a hydrometer. My problem with it is that viscosity effects the results. I'm getting through issues with viscosity though and I will use it next firing. I'm weighing the glaze (100ml) for specific gravity at present and I've made a type of viscometer out of a round bottom 1 cup, measuring cup. I'm also re-re-re-reading Pinnel's paper on flocculation as well as well as the section in Hammer's. I'm slowly getting my head around the 'feel' a glaze should have when it is ready to go on a pot. At work the glazes have been tested over decades. But in my home shop its a whole new game. The first pic is of a shallow bowl with Hesselberth's Waterfall Brown. I got this glaze to work after remixing it (I abused the first batch with HCl). It came out right. The second is Zamek's Floating Blue. I can't seem to make it blue. It came out wrong. I'm using a high iron body so I'm guessing the iron doesn't like the cobalt oxide. I'm sure I can sell the Waterfall Brown. I think I can sell the FB, even if its Floating Grey. Unfortunately neither makes my stuff work. A highly sellable glaze, in my experience, will likely reduce the value of a well made piece. As you mentioned, I think I need to work in thin, matte, and solid color glazes. I'm thinking I need to save the rutile for later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Pigeon Pottery Posted May 14, 2012 Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 I've also found glazing to be the most frustrating aspect of pottery. Not only do I lose sleep over each piece as it gets glaze-fired, but I've also hated the entire glazing process since I took my first class in 1972. However, I have recently started spraying my glazes, and I loathe it less. I've had only two loads of sprayed glazes so far, but I really like the results. I decided to start spraying after two years of working on larger pieces that were too big to dip----so they all had overlaps. I know some people find that esthetically pleasing, but I'm not one of them. That became worse after I started adding detailed surface embellishment that got obliterated by the glaze overlap and ruined all the work I had put into the careful layout of the design. For my "spray booth", I bought a big plastic box and a cheap turntable, got a hand-me-down compressor and started experimenting. My husband was kind and clever enough to set me up with a way to suck out overspray using my Shop-Vac. It didn't cost a lot, and I'm a lot happier with the results. Years ago I did some air-brushing on low-fire work, and I'm getting back into doing that on my current pieces. It's only taken me 40 years, but I'm finally finding my own style! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OffCenter Posted May 14, 2012 Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 I've also found glazing to be the most frustrating aspect of pottery. Not only do I lose sleep over each piece as it gets glaze-fired, but I've also hated the entire glazing process since I took my first class in 1972. However, I have recently started spraying my glazes, and I loathe it less. I've had only two loads of sprayed glazes so far, but I really like the results. I decided to start spraying after two years of working on larger pieces that were too big to dip----so they all had overlaps. I know some people find that esthetically pleasing, but I'm not one of them. That became worse after I started adding detailed surface embellishment that got obliterated by the glaze overlap and ruined all the work I had put into the careful layout of the design. For my "spray booth", I bought a big plastic box and a cheap turntable, got a hand-me-down compressor and started experimenting. My husband was kind and clever enough to set me up with a way to suck out overspray using my Shop-Vac. It didn't cost a lot, and I'm a lot happier with the results. Years ago I did some air-brushing on low-fire work, and I'm getting back into doing that on my current pieces. It's only taken me 40 years, but I'm finally finding my own style! As John Baymore would say, "BINGO!!!!" This potter's big breakthrough came not through testing but through taking a new approach to glazing. That is the point I've been making in previous posts. Testing is important but it's not the only or even the best solution to being in a rut with glazing. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yedrow Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 This is a piece I sprayed. It's a 14" dia. parabolic bowl, about 3" or 4" tall. I like spraying but it doesn't fit real well with production work like mugs and such. I'm going to be using spraying techniques to layer glazes, but that will take tons of experience to perfect. This lidded bowl is an attempt to layer glazes. Both of you are right, changes in perspective are needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 I think glazing your work or say working with glaze is such a separate process than working with clay itself. Both take lots of time to refine. I like Offcenters forget about standards thinking let it fly often works for me- spraying is to slow for production work. I dip with tongs and usea glaze jet on interiors and brush and squirt with bulbs. My pots now can haveup to 5 or 6, glazes on each piece including smaller things like mugs. That’s my style and ones glaze style does come with time. I worked early years with stoneware (15 years) then switched to porcelain, whichmakes glazes more vivid looking in color. I check my thickness before glazingon glaze day in each bucket with hydrometer and my taste for colors has changed over the years .I now glaze what others want to buy more than what I want orlike as its my living to sell the work. I learned long ago there is now accountingfor taste. What I think is butt ugly someone will love. I like brown and more folks like the blues so I gave up only offering browns long ago. I am known for lots of colors and size choices of everything-variety is the spice of life they say. Your own style and ease with glazes will come with time. I think of mastering clay as throwing-step one Glazing step two- kiln building and firing stepthree-selling step 4. I have missed a few steps as well but that’s enough for most production potters to get up to speed. Working with glazes is the best tool to master them. Remember if its was easy everybody would be doing it. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Don't feel like the glaze is the only way to decorate a pot. With textures in the clay itself, you may only need one glaze to make it pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yedrow Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 I dig the surface on that pot Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 I dig the surface on that pot Neil. Thanks! The design is etched. I use plain old wax resist on slightly-drier-than leather hard, but some people use shellac on bone dry pots. I'm not a big fan of drenching my bone dry pots with water, though. Too much chance of cracking. The glaze is Boji Blue, named after Lake Okoboji in Iowa, where my in-laws have a lake cottage. When I get it applied thick enough it looks like water. Took me about 3 years to get the formula just right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 "Took me about 3 years to get the formula just right" .... And oh boy!! Did you ever get that glaze right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 "Took me about 3 years to get the formula just right" .... And oh boy!! Did you ever get that glaze right! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartsyArtsy Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Neil, Stunning sink! or, as I first keyed... your sink is studding! Your are so right about not needing to decorate with glaze when you design for texture. Not only is that my preference, but it also makes for a much fresher and modern piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scout Posted May 17, 2012 Report Share Posted May 17, 2012 Very interesting! I have found if I concentrate on the clay first, and feel the excitement of that, and then turn my attention and excitement to glazing as a separate art, and then think about the firing, I can do each step with more enthusiasm. I do make little oval shapes of the clays I'm using and glaze each one with the different glazes I use and label the back. I put a hole in each one and put them on a leather string identified as the clay type. I have necklaces of all the clays I use, with the glazes I use on them. New glaze or clay... new pieces on the necklaces. One type clay per necklace, with a variety of glazes on the pieces. Wow that was hard to explain, I hope you can understand it. One more thing... if this is a job to you and not an artistic journey... you are already missing the boat! Scout Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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