woody b Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hi, folks- My first post on this forum! I'm happy to be here but definitely a newbie -- and this is no-doubt a newbie question. I started handbuilding some fun/funky houses a couple months ago. While color amps up the "fun factor" of the more flamboyant pieces, I've been thinking about some of the quieter pieces. What are the rules about combining different clays in one sculpture? For example, if one clay is used for the roof, another for the walls, another for window frames, another for doors, etc., should they share the exact shrinkage % and cone? Do the shrinkage % have to be the same or can they vary a percentage point or two? Many thanks in advance. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Woody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 building house is fun, whether in clay or in brick and wood to actually live in. i have a collection, probably 40 of them and each is a treasure to look at and enjoy. go to it, but consider what you are trying to do. are you looking at differing clays to add color to your work or texture or a differing amount of grog versus a smooth finish? if you are going for color, you can add colored stains to the same clay body and get a variety that way. if you are trying to combine a smooth wall with a groggy roof, for example, you can add grog to your clay body and get that result. there are endless variables within these suggestions. color and grog, etc. trying your own body, assuming you are happy with it, with simple alterations will be the simplest way to add the variety you are looking for. you will have to experiment with each change so keep good notes if you try different clays together, you will be looking at testing the combinations repeatedly. so the question becomes, do you want to make houses or tests? if you have never seen them, look at the marvelous houses made by jan richardson at windy meadows pottery, currently in washington state. they are fun and so collectible they are on ebay as resales nearly all the time. jan has been making houses since the 70s and they are all great. i still have a collection of my own newbie houses where i used a black clay as a roof. looked great, melted just enough to stick to my white clay body nicely. the people who asked me to test their latest invention, the black clay, decided not to produce it after all so i have only 4 or 5 black roofs and no way to make more. whatever you do, have fun doing it. if it gets to be work you will not enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeble Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Mixing clays in a piece is one of those things.... The only way you'll know if it works is to try it out. Then they'll change the composition of one of the clay bodies, and kerfloop, you're out of luck. Adding colorant to a clay body you are using is something else you might think about, and it'll probably be a lot more controllable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 One thing to remember is to use clays for the same temperature. Don't use a lowfire with a high fire clay, at least not if you plan to high fire the final projects. Weeble has a good solution of using a single clay body and adding colorant. If you were to add colors in the earth tones you can vary the amount of iron oxide, use dry red art clay as a colorant, try burnt umber, bernard clay, yellow ochre. These additives in a variety of proportions can provide a nice range of earth tone. A reduction firing for ^6 would work. For varying in an oxidation firing, you may need to use a hight percentage of the additives. The main thing to prevent is to have some melt where others won't. So always test first. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody b Posted November 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Thanks, all, for the excellent advice and suggestions! I've been using Laguna CA-2 and enjoy everything about it but the color when fired. Other artists in our studio throw with B-mix and Redstone which have clean, rich color. I've got plenty to chew on for a while... Will have to play with adding grog and colorants, as well as combining clays. And thanks for the info about Jan Richardson's houses. Very, very cute! A couple days ago I discovered John Brickels' work --his architectural work is mind-blowing. "Awesome" is a much-overused word, but it definitely applies here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 I too would alter one clay body with color stains, grog, oxide wahes, and texture. The variety you can produce just from this option will keep you happy for years especially if you start playing with lichen and texture glazes. The trouble with mixing bodies is they likely won't play nicely together ... you might spend a week making a gorgeous run of houses then watch them all crack and warp. Not fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody b Posted November 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Chris, what is lichen? Ah! Just googled it. Yep, I see how I could fall down that rabbit hole! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 Yes, textured glazing and lichen glazes are a blast to use on sculptural pieces. They make the rooftops look aged and they do really cool stuff to rock or brick houses. I used to make a line of Italian villas for the garden and the effects last a long time ... even outdoors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 I just finished firing some experiments, one of them was layering a 4 different cone 6 Laguna clay bodies I had laying around my studio, some had grog, others were sandy, I even put a blog of 04 earthen ware on the outside of one. I was expecting cracks and total failure, every thing came out fine, one of the clays I used was Laguna Brown 391 that turns black when fired. I was wondering if that was the clay that old lady was needing I just purchased it. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody b Posted November 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Very interesting, Denice! How closely did the stated shrinkage percentages compare among the four clays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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