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ALCHEMY OF CLAY: Art and life connect! Dragons have been my interest lately, hope no real ones come along!

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Friday, August 10, 2012

Changes happening

I just got new sketch book...the old one was used up going first one way, then coming back the other.  I tend to write mainly on one side.  There are sometimes exceptions.




I keep track of my glaze tests, my pots that are glazed with whatever...by sketching each with just it's basic shape and what glaze was applied where, and how.  Notes then say whether it worked or not.


I used to re-glaze things that had problems that could be fixed with a re-glaze.

But yesterday someone else's bowl blew up all over the kiln, including over most of my wares...thus they are all scattered with glazed-on shards.  Of course her bowl was a total loss as well.  Unfortunately a lot of things that I was really counting on were ruined.  So I remade them, and am rushing to get them finished.


And the result of this is that our studio manager has said he won't 'refire' any more things.  So I've got one piece that's been waiting 2 weeks to refire, and I guess it's just trash now.

I hope I get enough of these pieces out without problems.  I have gifts that are to be given in a week.  I will really feel badly if I don't have enough finished.

There's nothing to do but try.  I can't blame anyone for this happening.  We've been really lucky that most of the problems with new potters or children haven't been close to our own work, up till now.

The reason it blew up?  Nobody knows.  The pieces have evidence of bloated clay under the glaze that remains.  I've only had bloated clay on refired pieces with a clay called P-5.  This might have been the same clay body.  Have you heard of this, or experienced it yourself?







6 comments:

  1. Your illustrations are wonderful!!! I find my sketch book gets all mucked up from my sticky clay fingers, because I'm always referring back to the sketches I do of my Jarheads while I'm making them. I need to figure out a way to prevent that! Love the large plates!

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    1. Thanks Brenda...I guess i just do notes either before or after I make things. And mostly on days I'm just glazing, and I wash the glaze off my hands frequently, or wear a latex glove on the hand that gets in the glaze. I can see having a problem with clay on hands if you have to look back at your sketches.

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  2. That is too bad about the wrecked pieces, Barbara. I enjoyed seeing your drawings and your journal. I also enjoyed the posts below.

    Kathy M.

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  3. Beautiful sketches! And I loved the post on water as well as the one about the Anatolian site. Riches!

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    1. Thanks Vicki...good to know you had a chance to browse some of my older postings.

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Thanks for your comments...