Clear Sealing White High Fire Bisque Ware

[rel]

Hello

new to the site and seeking thoughts and advice. I generally go back and forth from glazing to painting my "art" pieces of high fire white or brown clay. I recenetly did a number of nesting vessels that I intend to leave rough white bisque ware.BUT I am wondering how best to seal them if at all, to keep them pure white.  perhaps only seal the flat bottoms. they feel slightly rough to the touch from some peoples comments however that is part of the design. Is there a way thru sealant, paint, or whatever to close the porous cells and keep it from discoloring ?

THANKS

[Pompots]

http://www.aftosa.com/aftosa-pottery-sealant-4-oz/

[perkolator]

a lot of people have success doing similar thing with deck sealant - like thompson water seal

[Idaho Potter]

Please tell us you are not intending these to serve food.

[rel]

no certainly not for food...these are art pieces. and are quite beautiful left white and I want to keep them white without discoloring them.

thompsons water seal ? would it turn yellow?

what about some kind of spray cleay "paint" that I have sealed some other pieces with but that is over metallics so I dont know if they would yellow.

[perkolator]

it's hard to say whether or not a "cold" clear surface treatment will turn color with time.  best thing to do is look for products that claim they don't yellow/amber with time.

 

why not just glaze with a matte clear or even just simply fire to maturity if your concern is to seal the pores.  just bisking your work is going to leave them relatively brittle depending on the clay body you're working with.  with raw clay fired to maturity, the color is pretty much going to stay unless exposed to certain things like dirty hands or dust, etc.

[Mark C.]

The surface will be a dust collector as well as dirt from hands-Maybe a glass case for display.

As noted above in post-bisque is weak.

Mark

[rel]

these thoughts are so helpful esp the reminder that the bisque ware will collect dust  and oil. the reason for not firing again is that this is a high fire "510" clay, white with moderate grog. when fired in the secong firing it turns gray so therefore i wish to keep these pieces white. I am def concerned about the brittleness of the pieces however they are pieces to look at and pick up gently vs everyday use. I am tempetd to fire one of the sets of 7 nestings, let them turn gray and gesso with white paint as suggested by a colleague. then spray with a matte spray. experiment. or simply spray/cover with one of the suggested items here on the bisque. anybody have luck with Duncan products. and the matte cleay glaze will simply again, turn the piece garyer than leaving it bare and then painting...? not totally concerned with sealing pores as such, like the surface as is, just want to keep it looking this way.

thanks thanks thanks, hope for more ideas.

[perkolator]

or just simply use a clay body that fires white....just saying 

[Pugaboo]

You could try a white underglaze since they tend to stay mat and not glossy or you could try a high fire mat white glaze to finish the items.

 

Terry

[bciskepottery]

You could apply a soda ash wash (soda ash diluted in hot water, brushed or sprayed on the exterior) or a frit-wash (one that melts at low temperature if you are only bisquing).  These would provide a sheen to the surface and close some (but not all) of the porosity.  Neither surface treatment would be considered food safe.