Marcia Selsor

My 6 week online course begins Sept 23. early bird discounts until Sept. 6. The course covers obvara, ceramic and foil saggers, and introduction to very low temperature soluble salts, how to build a raku kiln, raku with latex resist. How to fire each of these. https://teachinart.com/alternative-firing.html

Thanks Pres. I have been busy experimenting!

I am teaching a workshop on soluble salts in low temperature saggers at La Meridiana next May 31-June 6, 2020. https://lameridiana.fi.it/product/23-2020-marcia-selsor-soluble-salts-in-low-fire-saggars/ We'll be covering several firing processes using ceramic sagger and foil sagger because it protects the kilns from contamination. I sometimes fire without saggers in my own kilns. Here are some examples of soluble salts in low temperatures. We will explore color development and using protective gloves. The course is limited to intermediate and advanced students with some ceramic chemistry knowledge. Course size is limited to 12 and is 25% booked already. If interested, please register soon to guarantee a spot. My 2 workshops in the UK are sold out already. Marcia

I taught primitive pottery during summers in Montana. We used a 2-3' deep pit. half way up the wall was a ledge to support refrigerator shelves. We started a fire with wood to create a bed of hot coals. We preheated the pots along the edge of the pit. When we had a bed of coals, we placed the pots , inverted, on the shelves. Then we added sawdust and dried cow manure , some thin sticks, in a pile up to 2 feet above ground level. Covered it loosely to contain materials. the flame would burn through in 2-3 hours. Then covered it tighter with more pieces of steel to cool. This is a Maria Martinez firing style. We processed the clay and added some grog. Very good success rate. I taught this class for rural teachers with zero budgets. Marcia Selsor

working on a new batch of pots for soluble salts. will be writing 2 articles about discoveries in PMI and Revisita Ceramica International. Workshop schedule filling up for 2020. Marcia

My gallery has many glaze recipe with photos but they go back many years. Thanks for sharing. I think this is a generous group. Marcia

I began firing to ^6 reduction in 1980 after 14 years of firing ^9-10. 6 reduction glazes teaching glaze chemistry to students.I developed many ^6 glazes for functional pottery which looked like ^10 stoneware or porcelain. Several of those glazes have been published in Michael Bailey's Oriental glazes and are the only 6 glazes in his book. After leaving University teaching I began developing glazes for ^6 oxidation. With help from others like Sandy Miller's explanation of holding temps, I worked on glazes for my functional ware and I was satisfied with the results. ^6 Oxidation is a popular method of firing particularly for people with restricted access to other kilns. ^6 clays are available as well. It reduced the carbon footprint by using about 1/2 the fuel to fire to ^10. Pyrotechnic manuals from refractory companies show diagrams of fuel consumption for temperature ranges. It ,makes more sense to me to lower temps. to ^6. Marcia

One of my all time historical favorites is Bernard Pallisey.

or hand building , I'd also include a sur-form good, and a rasp. Marcia

One way to patch soft brick holes was something mentioned on clayart years ago. I used this method when I was teaching at the U of Hawai Manoa. i - Use ITC diluted 50% with water are described on the directions. Soak the ceramic fiber with ITC and push into holes, cracks, glue chunks back together. I repaired several kilns that had been neglected for sometime plus some were damaged during a flood in the previous semester. This worked great and no need for rods. Marcia Selsor

I read ages ago and use this method. Fill a 5 gallon or slightly smaller free ice cream buckets with water around a bag of stiff clay in the bag. Open the bag and put 1/4-1/2 cup water and re-seal the bag. let it sit overnight or for a few days. This really works. I also saw a method for softening pugged clay. Dampen tee shirts. Put the stiff pugs inside the tee shirts and lay them into a shallow plastic storage container (like for under the bed) . Put the lid on and wait 3-4 days. very evenly moisturized. Marcia

Getting ready for my exhibition as one of 3 signature artists for our local Art Center Fundraiser; Art in the Beartooths. I have been firing and doing a few re-firings. Making interesting discoveries , at least for me regarding slight differences in temperature for soluble salts.

Thanks, Chad. It was great to finally put a face to your friendship by meeting you at NCECA. Marcia

I'd include a small section of hacksaw blade. 1.5-2" for scoring and refining edges. Marcia