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Firing1
Finally got to bed a 4.30 this morning. I loaded the kiln on Tuesday morning, and smoked it until 9.00 p.m., at which point I started adding gas, so by midnight I could leave it unattended. Inspected it at 7.00a.m. yesterday morning, <08 was down. Increased gas and lit the fan, and at midday <04 was only bending, so started fiddling with gas, air and flue. This went on until 11 p.m. when <5 finally started bending. But I wasn't able to close down until well past 3.30 this morning, Thursday.
It's not a large kiln, must be about 10-12 cubic feet, and extraordinarily regular. Downdraft, two burners, and generally easy to fire. But since I converted it from bottled to the local house gas supply (much cheaper) no two firings have been the same: The last firing was among the best I've had, with <10 reduction in 17 hours. This time it took over 30 hours, and I won't know the results until I open it on Saturday.
Hope I won't be looking the way I feel by the time I go to my English class this afternoon... Think I'll sleep most of the day tomorrow!
It's not a large kiln, must be about 10-12 cubic feet, and extraordinarily regular. Downdraft, two burners, and generally easy to fire. But since I converted it from bottled to the local house gas supply (much cheaper) no two firings have been the same: The last firing was among the best I've had, with <10 reduction in 17 hours. This time it took over 30 hours, and I won't know the results until I open it on Saturday.
Hope I won't be looking the way I feel by the time I go to my English class this afternoon... Think I'll sleep most of the day tomorrow!
Whistling water jars
I sent yesterday's Ceramic Arts Daily article to my brother in Chile, as he is also a music lover and interested in ceramics. And this morning he sent me back this link:
http:/home.eckerd.edu/ñransombc/ enigmaofwhistlingwaterjars.htm
You will notice a letter 'ñ' immediately after 'edu/'. The actual address has only the squiggle over the 'n', but I can't find it on my machine... Hope you can find it. If not, I'll see if I can figure out another way to send it on, it's really interesting.
Also, does anyone have any idea what shape the air hole should be to produce a whistle?
http:/home.eckerd.edu/ñransombc/ enigmaofwhistlingwaterjars.htm
You will notice a letter 'ñ' immediately after 'edu/'. The actual address has only the squiggle over the 'n', but I can't find it on my machine... Hope you can find it. If not, I'll see if I can figure out another way to send it on, it's really interesting.
Also, does anyone have any idea what shape the air hole should be to produce a whistle?
Back in business!
Finally had my first firing in over two years a week ago Friday-Saturday. Everything went OK, but insufficient reduction, due mainly to my being too tired after 22 hours to give it an extra hour's soaking. Realize I'll have to find the wherewithall to install pilots and a safety valve so I can leave the kiln alone for overnight smoking at the start, and again for a few hours after passing 900ºC. All the more important pieces came out fine, except for the four lamp bases which, despite drying for nearly two months, still had enough moisture in them to burst (I had placed them right next to the fire entrance, and not having pilots, the lowest possible flame is still too hot.) So some of the smaller pots were ruined by shards. Still, the chap who wanted the lamp bases was happy to take the smaller pieces on consignment, and now I just have to hope he manages to sell them!
Meantime, I'm starting to work on stuff for a show at year's end, so.... things are looking up! Also experimenting a bit with the Sèvres porcelain, which is extraordinarily easy to hand build with, nothing like the Leach recipe I tried a few years ago. I suppose this stuff has some sort of organic binder added (it's very sticky when too wet) so I can really pinch it out thin. I can even glaze it without bisqueing! I did put one piece in the kiln, unprotected so it got carbon spotting on it, but it came out nicely translucent in the thinner parts and a beautiful, resonant ring!
No photos yet, I'm afraid. I don't have a digital camera, so the regular photos on film have to wait till I've finished the roll. Besides, the small pieces that went to the shop left before I had bought the film...
Meantime, I'm starting to work on stuff for a show at year's end, so.... things are looking up! Also experimenting a bit with the Sèvres porcelain, which is extraordinarily easy to hand build with, nothing like the Leach recipe I tried a few years ago. I suppose this stuff has some sort of organic binder added (it's very sticky when too wet) so I can really pinch it out thin. I can even glaze it without bisqueing! I did put one piece in the kiln, unprotected so it got carbon spotting on it, but it came out nicely translucent in the thinner parts and a beautiful, resonant ring!
No photos yet, I'm afraid. I don't have a digital camera, so the regular photos on film have to wait till I've finished the roll. Besides, the small pieces that went to the shop left before I had bought the film...
Back again!
Hello, me darlin's!
Got back from Buenos Aires last night. The Consular person who interviewed me decided I could be granted a visa, and I should be receiving it in Salta some time next week.
I found B.A. as beautiful as ever, but the general atmosphere is sad. My cousin Bella is evidently depressed, though she tries to hide it. She spends most of her spare time (like me, she is retired, but continues to teach English and do translations because her retirement income and the pension funds from her deceased husband are insufficient to meet her living expenses) caring for her two infant grand-daughters. Bella's sister, Chris, survives on miserable alimony and the sale of Just aromatherapy products, struggling to keep herself and two teenaged sons afloat and as nearly mentally healthy as possible in an unhealthy situation.
It was not a happy visit, but certainly very enlightening. Claycarole's neighbours Angel and María may, on consideration, be right: I have felt, for the last few years, that the USA was psychologically worse off than the rest of America. But now, in the midst of the world economic crisis, I have a feeling that this, combined with Latin American corruption and hopelessness with regard to political change, has left us at an emotional disadvantage with respect to the developed world: It looks as if your new president is infusing a measure of hope and optimism up north that we, in the south, cannot aspire to in the foreseeable future. And yet, in this back-of-beyond, backward province where only politicians and delinquents (same thing, really)are rich, there is a measure of peace and contentment that is probably rare anywhere else on the planet.
On the personal level, I was relieved and happy to get back to my quiet home, be greeted by kind Regina who stayed to look after the homestead, and by the pets who, each in his own particular way, showed they had missed me. The stuff I'd glazed before leaving is OK, although Cooper's 319 blue iron oxide bone ash glaze is flaking off as usual (have to attend to that with CMC syrup tomorrow morning!). Have to wedge up another batch of clay tomorrow, too, but haven't the faintest idea what I'll work on next... B.A. was not as inspiring as I had hoped.
Love you all... Keep going, Peggy, P&M is a worthy cause, and I'm sure I'm not alone in my appreciation of the good job you're doing.
Be well, see clear!
Got back from Buenos Aires last night. The Consular person who interviewed me decided I could be granted a visa, and I should be receiving it in Salta some time next week.
I found B.A. as beautiful as ever, but the general atmosphere is sad. My cousin Bella is evidently depressed, though she tries to hide it. She spends most of her spare time (like me, she is retired, but continues to teach English and do translations because her retirement income and the pension funds from her deceased husband are insufficient to meet her living expenses) caring for her two infant grand-daughters. Bella's sister, Chris, survives on miserable alimony and the sale of Just aromatherapy products, struggling to keep herself and two teenaged sons afloat and as nearly mentally healthy as possible in an unhealthy situation.
It was not a happy visit, but certainly very enlightening. Claycarole's neighbours Angel and María may, on consideration, be right: I have felt, for the last few years, that the USA was psychologically worse off than the rest of America. But now, in the midst of the world economic crisis, I have a feeling that this, combined with Latin American corruption and hopelessness with regard to political change, has left us at an emotional disadvantage with respect to the developed world: It looks as if your new president is infusing a measure of hope and optimism up north that we, in the south, cannot aspire to in the foreseeable future. And yet, in this back-of-beyond, backward province where only politicians and delinquents (same thing, really)are rich, there is a measure of peace and contentment that is probably rare anywhere else on the planet.
On the personal level, I was relieved and happy to get back to my quiet home, be greeted by kind Regina who stayed to look after the homestead, and by the pets who, each in his own particular way, showed they had missed me. The stuff I'd glazed before leaving is OK, although Cooper's 319 blue iron oxide bone ash glaze is flaking off as usual (have to attend to that with CMC syrup tomorrow morning!). Have to wedge up another batch of clay tomorrow, too, but haven't the faintest idea what I'll work on next... B.A. was not as inspiring as I had hoped.
Love you all... Keep going, Peggy, P&M is a worthy cause, and I'm sure I'm not alone in my appreciation of the good job you're doing.
Be well, see clear!
Thanks, Art, etc.
First I want to thank the people who kindly replied to my posting announcing my joyful return to the workshop. It's great to know there are folks out there who Understand!
Secondly, I am delighted to find I stirred up a sort of hornet's nest with my reply to Peggy's posting about the woman who lives on her 'cute' fast-selling pottery. Perhaps I was insufficiently clear in expressing my opinion that people who live on the production of easy-to-sell kitsch but also occasionally dedicate time and effort to one-of-a-kind, beautiful and/or meaningful pieces, are no less artists than those who starve on the exclusive production of Art, those who make a living from something unrelated to art, or the fortunate few who can live entirely on their artistic production.
But I do object very strongly to calling 'artist' anyone who plays with, dabbles or even makes a living employing the materials of art, but whose work does not live up to the Collins Dictionary definition I quoted in my previous posting. I do not deny that an industrial engineer who makes the original designs for mass-produced products may well be an artist; but I cannot accept that any object of this mass production should be referred to as art, any more than I would call a good reproduction of a Van Dyke a work of art. These things are craft, or in the case of mass production, industry.
Secondly, I am delighted to find I stirred up a sort of hornet's nest with my reply to Peggy's posting about the woman who lives on her 'cute' fast-selling pottery. Perhaps I was insufficiently clear in expressing my opinion that people who live on the production of easy-to-sell kitsch but also occasionally dedicate time and effort to one-of-a-kind, beautiful and/or meaningful pieces, are no less artists than those who starve on the exclusive production of Art, those who make a living from something unrelated to art, or the fortunate few who can live entirely on their artistic production.
But I do object very strongly to calling 'artist' anyone who plays with, dabbles or even makes a living employing the materials of art, but whose work does not live up to the Collins Dictionary definition I quoted in my previous posting. I do not deny that an industrial engineer who makes the original designs for mass-produced products may well be an artist; but I cannot accept that any object of this mass production should be referred to as art, any more than I would call a good reproduction of a Van Dyke a work of art. These things are craft, or in the case of mass production, industry.
JOY!!!
My forearms and wrists ache, my back aches, my neck is killing me, I'm sweaty, muddy, and happy: Wedged some 70 lb of clay between yesterday and today, and did the preliminary work on a large oval dish which is to have two dancing Knossos dolphins inside. Also rolled a cylinder to pat into a rectangular prism when it stiffens up a bit tomorrow, the first of a series of lamp bases.
Now I have to get inspired to make a series of not-too-kitschy, easy to sell small decorative pieces that can be put together in a few minutes. But I intend to give myself a whole week of doing only what I feel like and enjoy doing, a sort of overdose of pleasure to get me into a more serious working mood.
It hasn't turned cold yet, but definitely feels like Autumn. The mulberry tree is casting its leaves into the goosepond, the hawthorn bushes are loaded with bright berries, the thrushes are beginning to arrive and there's that special feeling in the air that says summer has departed. This evening I'm filled with the contentment of a bountiful Fall and overflowing with joy,
SO I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY SPRING!
Now I have to get inspired to make a series of not-too-kitschy, easy to sell small decorative pieces that can be put together in a few minutes. But I intend to give myself a whole week of doing only what I feel like and enjoy doing, a sort of overdose of pleasure to get me into a more serious working mood.
It hasn't turned cold yet, but definitely feels like Autumn. The mulberry tree is casting its leaves into the goosepond, the hawthorn bushes are loaded with bright berries, the thrushes are beginning to arrive and there's that special feeling in the air that says summer has departed. This evening I'm filled with the contentment of a bountiful Fall and overflowing with joy,
SO I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY SPRING!
Horsehair, cold, et al.
Thanks, Playsn' for the detailed description of the horsehair procedure. Some day, when I have a top loading kiln - or perhaps a small pit in the garden - I'll certainly give it a try! I do like waxed terracotta, and I think the horsehair on red clay might be very lovely.
Have been reading about the terrible cold spell in the Midwest and northeast - and my mother in Indiana has also complained that she's being kept in by the cold. And have remembered one of my early ceramics lessons at Indiana University, with Carl Marx at the head of the department. I had made a rather nice, large wheel-thrown pot, and, the weather being dry and sunny, decided to speed up drying in one of the courtyards. I left it in the sun for about and hour, and when I got back to it, it was completely covered with beautiful iceflakes, sticking out perpendicularly to the pot's walls. The whole thing collapsed when I took it inside. There were a few giggles from my fellow students, but in general they were sympathetic for this ignorant South American. Somebody told me that afternoon that it's not a good idea to lick a telephone post in that sort of weather, and I still wonder today why anybody would want to do that in any sort of weather...!
Anyhow, hope all of you who live in those climes are well bundled up and not feeling the cold. Hope nobody has to wedge freezing clay!
Have been reading about the terrible cold spell in the Midwest and northeast - and my mother in Indiana has also complained that she's being kept in by the cold. And have remembered one of my early ceramics lessons at Indiana University, with Carl Marx at the head of the department. I had made a rather nice, large wheel-thrown pot, and, the weather being dry and sunny, decided to speed up drying in one of the courtyards. I left it in the sun for about and hour, and when I got back to it, it was completely covered with beautiful iceflakes, sticking out perpendicularly to the pot's walls. The whole thing collapsed when I took it inside. There were a few giggles from my fellow students, but in general they were sympathetic for this ignorant South American. Somebody told me that afternoon that it's not a good idea to lick a telephone post in that sort of weather, and I still wonder today why anybody would want to do that in any sort of weather...!
Anyhow, hope all of you who live in those climes are well bundled up and not feeling the cold. Hope nobody has to wedge freezing clay!
Horsehair
This is a technique I first came across only a couple of years ago, and I've never tried out from sheer ignorance. Do you actually use real horshair? And does it work at all temperatures? How do you do it? Do you pack the pot in horsehair inside a sagar? Do you just tie a bunch of horsehair on with string? I'd be most grateful for a description of the process!
Thanks
Dear Friends,
On Friday I finally collected the provincial subsidy that will get my workshop going again sometime next month. So I've written up a bit of a blog in my eons site. But if you can't be bothered going to see it (perfectly understandable!), I want to express my gratitude to the contributors of Potters & Muses for all the direct and indirect moral support the Group has given me in this second mudless year: a year in which, without the Group's stimulus, I might very well have succumbed to the unholy belief that I was karmically destined to be a frustrated artist.
Thank you, ALL. Especially Peggy, Linda, Gary and Ian.
Monica
On Friday I finally collected the provincial subsidy that will get my workshop going again sometime next month. So I've written up a bit of a blog in my eons site. But if you can't be bothered going to see it (perfectly understandable!), I want to express my gratitude to the contributors of Potters & Muses for all the direct and indirect moral support the Group has given me in this second mudless year: a year in which, without the Group's stimulus, I might very well have succumbed to the unholy belief that I was karmically destined to be a frustrated artist.
Thank you, ALL. Especially Peggy, Linda, Gary and Ian.
Monica
Greek pots
I apologize for the sideways pictures, though you could turn them easily. Shall post them straight when I have time (it's such a slow process!)
Yes, I find the craftmanship in these pieces absolutely humbling. But then, of course, if it's any consolation, those Greek potters, like the Sung and later potters in China, Persian potters, and others in the ancient world, had their living assured just doing what they did. They spent their entire time making and decorating pots practically from the cradle to the grave, and were supported - decently, I hope - by the local rulers and wealthy Maecenas. Would that we had some of those around today!
Yes, I find the craftmanship in these pieces absolutely humbling. But then, of course, if it's any consolation, those Greek potters, like the Sung and later potters in China, Persian potters, and others in the ancient world, had their living assured just doing what they did. They spent their entire time making and decorating pots practically from the cradle to the grave, and were supported - decently, I hope - by the local rulers and wealthy Maecenas. Would that we had some of those around today!
