Playing with Color & Dreaming
I spent a good part of last weekend in the studio. It was cleaner than it had been in ages, thanks to the tidying I did before the arrival of my new kiln, and the temperature was pleasant making frost bitten fingers a thing of the past (at least temporarily – it is still March afterall).
On Sunday, I loaded the Paragon kiln full of kid’s work for my Monday and Tuesday after school clay classes and then debated what I wanted to make. I stood there and looked at my clay – but I didn’t really want to make any one particular thing. I remembered all the slip that I had stored in my studio and my intention to do a little murrini (most often associated with glass or polymer clay) work with colored porcelain.
Bascially, I added mason stains to porcelain slip in the range of about 10- 15% depending on color. Some are more intense than others. I started each batch out with 1000 grams of slip and then added between 100 and 150 grams of mason stain. At this point, I have a robin’s blue, yellow, and French green. I already have some black, cobalt blue and green slip made up. I intend to make some patterned loaves which I will cut paper thin to apply to wheel thrown work. I may also make some smaller ones to use for jewelry. To mix the slip, I used an immersion blender – and the results look just a bit like a thick creamy milkshake. 
The last image shows the new robin’s egg blue slip drying on plaster. Once the plaster has sucked enough water from the slip, I can wedge the clay up and use.
Meanwhile, I had the most vivid dream ever the other night. I think I must be feeling some anxiety – I have a show coming up in mid-April and I’m participating in the guild’s sale taking place on the first weekend in May. I haven’t been terribly productive lately and am slowly slipping into panic mode. Anyway, the other night, I dreamed that I was making the most wonderful ceramic piece unlike anything I’ve made before – I wonder if I should attempt to make it?
If successful, it will be shown at the:
“Fine Art of Craft: Artists Invite Artists” Invitational
Center for the Arts Evergreen
April 25 – May 23, 2008
Opening is April 25, 2008 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm
I’d better get on it! That’s it for today,
~Cynthia
New Kiln – Finally!
I experienced a few delays after ordering my new kiln from Mile Hi Ceramics last December – but am happy to report that my new Skutt 1027 with Envirovent was delivered Friday afternoon. Thank you Mike! The Skutt 1027 has a 7 cu. ft. interior – which is almost triple the size of my old Paragon kiln you see pictured next to my new kiln. For the time, I’m keeping my Paragon – it will come in handy firing student work. Plus, I need to have an electrician over to add a new plug receptacle and to up the breaker size from 50 to 60. My husband also needs to drill a large hole for the vent somewhere near the kiln. I could do it, but there might be more than one hole to the outside. Best to leave the power tools to him. So, for now, I just have to content myself by admiring its gleaming newness when I’m in the studio.Speaking of the studio, It’s getting warmer with an average high in the 40′s – 50′s here in Denver which means I need to make some work because of a couple of upcoming shows and some news I just received last week.
I was accepted into wholesalecrafts.com! What does that mean? I need to build my page on wholesalecrafts.com so that buyers can start ordering my work to be carried in shops and galleries. So, I definitely need to wean myself off my addiction to the computer. I’m going to institute a new policy of no computer for me between the hours of 8am – 5pm (prime studio hours for me). I will still have time in the am to login – I get up around 5:30am whether I like it or not and then again after dinner. Should be enough time, don’t you think?
I’m also going to take Lisa Call’s advice and start an account with Bloglines and start subscribing to my favorite blogs. That should save time seeing who has fresh posts.
Well, I’m heading out for some Dim Sum,
~Cynthia
First Gas Kiln Firing
There are several firing methods in ceramics: electric, gas, vapor, pit, wood, and a few others. In the very recent past, I’ve fired in an electric kiln because this is the equipment that I own and operate in my home studio. I have had my work fired in a gas kiln while I was in college, but never actually operated the kiln myself. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a gas kiln firing at the Colorado Potter’s Guild where I am a new member. The guild acquired a new 25 cu. ft. Cooperworks gas car kiln last summer and many of the members are hesitant to fire it. Let’s face it, we’re all creatures of habit – myself included.
I showed up for the workshop because I want to be able to learn how to fire it myself without having to depend on others to fire my work for me – though I’ll be hard pressed to fill a 25 cu’ kiln myself at the rate I produce work. If the firing isn’t quite as expected, I will have no one to blame but myself. Not knowing a ton about gas firing, I’ve decided to learn all I can about this method of firing. Yep – the same geek who was hell bent on hosting my own blog and setting up my own website also wants to KNOW how to use the gas kiln successfully.
For those of you who are not ceramic people, gas firing is desirable because you can get different effects from a reduction environment. When I say reduction – I’m referring to an atmosphere that is deprived of oxygen (though gas kilns can also be fired in oxidation). Electric kilns have an oxygen atmosphere, hence the term “firing in oxidation”. What does this mean? Each firing method produces different results. For example copper can turn red in a gas firing – whereas, it will turn green in an electric kiln.
This past weekend, we fired the “Coop” to ^10 and experimented with different reduction times and temperatures. For those of you unfamiliar with the symbol ^ or the term cones – it refers to the temperature to which the kiln is fired. ^10 is approximately 2340° F. Want to see the cone chart? Click here. When I fire my electric kiln, I fire to ^6 or approximately 2232° F. 100+ ° F doesn’t seem like a lot, but it affects how a glaze melts – so when ceramic people are searching for glaze recipes, they’re also looking at the ^ of a recipe in order to achieve successful results. Firing at a lower temperature is also more economical. On a side note, potters are taking note of our consumption of natural resources – there are groups who are firing their kilns using geo-thermal energy and I am eventually going to try going solar for my electric kiln in my own studio.
So what am I currently reading? The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes by John Britt and a classic, Kilns: Design, Construction, and Operation by Daniel Rhodes.
I only added 3 pots to the guild firing and was rather unimpressed with the results. Not being familiar with the guild’s glazes, I used my usual application method and dipping time. Turns out, I need to dip the pots longer than my usual 3 second dip time according to one of the other members – my application was too thin. Now I know – but will share my results nonetheless:
The first 2 images are the same bowl – glazed with a tenmoku glaze. The 3rd and 4th images are the same bowl – glazed with ohata khaki (a gorgeous iron red). The interior is beautiful – but the exterior crawled terribly. I washed my original glaze choice off the bowl the same day as the firing and didn’t allow enough time to dry completely before glazing again. The 5th image is a celadon, which should be more green/blue. The bowl had too thin of an application of glaze and the result is a pale olive green glaze. It also had some kiln shelf debris that fell into it. Good thing the glaze turned out so poorly.
Even mistakes are good learning opportunities. I signed up to fire the kiln in late April with 2 other potters, so hopefully, I’ll have a little more success the next time. In the meantime, it’s a beautiful day – so I’m heading out to the studio as soon as I’ve signed off.
Have a great weekend,
~Cynthia
Stirrup Cups Re-Post
In an effort to bring a little art history to my kid’s clay class, I found a great project in Ceramics for Kids by Mary Ellis (which sadly is no longer in print) to share with my kids. The project is based on ancient Peruvian Stirrup Cups which are basically big sippy cups. Of course my kids thought this would be a blast – sippies for 2nd – 5th graders – what could be better?
Unfortunately, we spent so much time assembling our mobiles last week that we ran out of time for this project. I’ll save it for the next Clay + Imagination = Art session starting after Spring Break. The cups are generally closed at the top and contain a hollow handle with a mouth piece for drinking. I wasn’t sure about the cleaning aspect of it and left the top open on mine. My daughter loved it and claimed it for her own. My husband, well, let’s just say the first thing that came to his brain upon seeing it was this response, “Did you just make a bong?â€
Try explaining that to a 10 year old with more questions than anyone else I know and who does not take lightly to subject changing when she wants to know something. She’s relentless, not unlike her mom I might add.
Meanwhile, Blogging with Moxie by Joelle Reeder and Katherine Scoleri is sitting on my nightstand for some easy and quick reading. Although I understand blogging – it’s been a good refresher course.
I normally sign my blog with my name – but read a bit in either this book or WordPress for Dummies that signing one’s blog is a sign of an amateur blogger. Well, darn it, I’m not new – but like signing it like a letter because it makes it just a little more personal.
So, with no further ado I bid you adieu for today,
~Cynthia
P.S. I hope my blog is running more smoothly for you – please let me know if you encounter any problems.
