Marcia Selsor Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 I fired a load of porcelain with some pieces I made in Sept. before I went to a residency in France. I sort of remember when throwing this piece that it was a struggle with some stiff clay. I may I recycled 2 porcelains together. I was a little shocked when I opened the kiln. I will add that I has washed off some slip decoration immediately before firing. I have never seen this before after 46 years of working with clay. Any comments on what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Washing off the slip may have weakened the pot. I try to avoid ever adding water to bone dry pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 It looks like a tension fracture to me ... just the way it fractured looks like there was a battle going on maybe between two clay bodies. I have to say that I really like how it cracked and would be tempted to keep it around for a while. Where was the decoration you washed off ... There or on the wide body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted November 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 The slip was over the entire surface because I had prepped it for shellac carving. While in France I tried a new idea which was more simple and worked better. So, I thought I'd give it a try back home. I think I may have mixed some paper clay scrap with Frost or else some ^6 porcelain from Alligator clay with Frost. It clearly had two types of porcelain and both were stiff to throw. I sponged off the slip but it did get damp....not wet but damp. It appeared dry before I fired. I did a slow bisque. I was just shocked to see how that cracked up. I have never seen that before and I have been teaching and working in clay for 40+ years. I think you both are right about the stress of two bodies and probably how the water affected the two as well. I thought it was a pretty amazing crack up. A second pot that I cleaned off the same way did not have any problems...sp I am thinking the 2 types of clay had a differential in their absorbency if that makes sense. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avaviel Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 I read a quote today, "If art isn't functional, bad pots are art*" or something to that effect. In this case, I'd love to see it glazed, even though it cracked. The fracture is quite beautiful. *Not to say I fully agree, the article was pointing out the disagreement between 'artists' and 'craftsmen', and how those distinctions can be superficial. But, I'm digressing from the thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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