Test kiln was turned on 5:30 this morning and now I'm dealing with
computer related woes (won't bore you with details). I will say that at
some point today I'll be sending Jim out to buy me the biggest capacity
stand alone hard drive he can fine.
Yesterday after a morning of garden work, and then, after lunch, finishing the last test tile, I bit the bullet and found a few minutes to decorate a couple of pots before dinner. After a bit of research, I learned that I could apply the lug and velvet under glazes on bone dry, slipped pots, so I timidly decorated a couple. It's the first time I've used these under glazes on anything but test tiles. It's guesswork about how thick these should be. I'm also having to take time to decide which colors to use since I'm not yet familiar with the fired results, so I have to keep going back to the test bars.
Since almost all of the current batch of test pots have stark white aka toilet bowl white, slip, they really need some color. I combined sgraffito, some brushwork and stamping using the under glazes on some and other will just be white slip background with underglazes. Hopefully as time goes by I'll feel more comfortable with this than I did yesterday.
I'm finding this type of decoration daunting. Soda pots were a lot easier - relying more on form and flashing slip with either no other decoration or a minimal bit of colored decor on some. Silly me threw some of the forms that were part of my soda/salt firing body of work and now I'm looking at them and wondering how I can make them look anything but silly with these under glazes. I guess there's always the option of a solid colored glaze and I may just use that as a way out for those. There is a lovely tealish blue test that will be a good option if I decide to take the cowards way out.
Part of my continuing testings of slips has been the hope of finding a few warmer, yet subtle slip colors using oxides rather than expensive stains. After I unload these latest tests tomorrow, that's going to be it for testing for a while. I'm sick of it and want to move forward and make a few small workable batches of basic black, a warm yellow, and a soft, green to use as background color, even if it means having to use stains for one or two of them.
Time to get on with it.
Yesterday after a morning of garden work, and then, after lunch, finishing the last test tile, I bit the bullet and found a few minutes to decorate a couple of pots before dinner. After a bit of research, I learned that I could apply the lug and velvet under glazes on bone dry, slipped pots, so I timidly decorated a couple. It's the first time I've used these under glazes on anything but test tiles. It's guesswork about how thick these should be. I'm also having to take time to decide which colors to use since I'm not yet familiar with the fired results, so I have to keep going back to the test bars.
Since almost all of the current batch of test pots have stark white aka toilet bowl white, slip, they really need some color. I combined sgraffito, some brushwork and stamping using the under glazes on some and other will just be white slip background with underglazes. Hopefully as time goes by I'll feel more comfortable with this than I did yesterday.
I'm finding this type of decoration daunting. Soda pots were a lot easier - relying more on form and flashing slip with either no other decoration or a minimal bit of colored decor on some. Silly me threw some of the forms that were part of my soda/salt firing body of work and now I'm looking at them and wondering how I can make them look anything but silly with these under glazes. I guess there's always the option of a solid colored glaze and I may just use that as a way out for those. There is a lovely tealish blue test that will be a good option if I decide to take the cowards way out.
Part of my continuing testings of slips has been the hope of finding a few warmer, yet subtle slip colors using oxides rather than expensive stains. After I unload these latest tests tomorrow, that's going to be it for testing for a while. I'm sick of it and want to move forward and make a few small workable batches of basic black, a warm yellow, and a soft, green to use as background color, even if it means having to use stains for one or two of them.
Time to get on with it.
I got a new computer this week. The 6000 pictures I saved from the old ones transferred ok but now they are all in one folder! I thought of you as soon as it happened.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry - didn't think it would be catchy!
ReplyDelete