ART IS

ART IS  (In 12 Steps)

1. All art is personal, both for the artist of individual constructs and as an avenue for those who approach individual pieces.  

2. All art originates from and extends toward a sense of place and time.  Time and place are parts of our art as much as materials, technique, and misunderstanding. There has never been a sentence written or spoken, a painting painted or a dance performed that didn’t have at it’s core, specific information about time and place, delivered in a personal way by the artist. 

     (Hindoo Basin Old Growth, looking south)

3.  Materials define the boundaries of any art form.  If we don’t work toward understanding and respecting those materials (their character, limitations, manufacture and essence) we are destined, as artists, to fail. 

4. Freud was right: The elemental urge of the human spirit is to return to those assumptions we formed as children. That past, however we view it, is our ethos and the fiber of the artistic content in any expression and the point of departure in all things us.

Toltec Warrior

5. Art is who we are, anything less is imitation.  We don’t create from time to time, we create every minute of every day or our creations will be lacking in proportion

6. Art is cultural and therefore expressed as traditional content and rebellious challenge within the dictates of human actions and ethos.

7. The forms of art are related both by contrast and by similarity. We learn from each form of expression more about the others.  An artist must participate in many forms of expression to understand any single artistic experience or product.  The challenge for the artist is expanding context and embellishing counterpoint

8. Each artist must define their own art while defining art for themselves.   Art is our biography, it tells us who we are, it locates us in the universe, and from it we derive the only meaning possible There is no universal marker within the definition of art just as there are no two trees with the same given name. 

9. The market for each artist is unique and integral with the artist’s experience.  Artists are molded over time by their art and their statement resulting from that shift toward oblivion requires a platform defining those differences.  Art’s place in the public market is not necessarily relevant to the expression of individual pieces; only an artist can judge their own construct.  It is to others to feed back to the artist the connections and limits of their appreciation.

11. Humankind can only evolve individually or in groups when they recognize and nurture the artist within.  We grow when we recognize that everyone is an artist and our art is our charted course of self discovery.  The act of returning home servs to establish the topography of self and helps us understand from where we really have come.  Thus all art is self portraiture, and the mirror we approach as we abandon the past. . 

12.  The language of an artistic form is how we accept the challenge  suggested in interpreting form.  There is no good or bad art, only the intensity that the artist imparts to the personal experience of extracting expression.  We must understand the language and accept the challenge inherent in the promise of unexplored form. This is the metaphor of chord and discord, harmony and dissonance,  acceptance and rebellion, duality and duality. 

(Stone tablet in the Hindoo Basin,,, what does it say? not sure, I don't read farsi)

AND, as if that weren’t enough:

13. The most important construct of the artist is crafting a body of work.  Dedication to the building blocks is more important than a personal vision of the body of their work or a fascination with individual pieces

14. Honesty (the absence of illusion) is the most overrated virtue of artistic creation and has little meaning to the individual artist.  The challenge is simply to drop the illusion that we create anything or are able to “know” what it is that we are up to. If you purge illusion and nothing remains, grow potatoes/mh. 

Class update #6, October 28

I've been so busy earning extra credit that I really haven't completed much in the past week, what with the blog, the Pottery sale, and other time consuming activities such as eating, taking a shower, and sleeping.  I did finish with the Kleiber porcelain I was working with and the second group of cups/etc should come out of the bisque kiln early next week.  The first set went in the glaze kiln and I'm also expecting to see them by early in the week. 

This week I started working with "JG" white earthenware clay.  To do that I completed (and put away) all traces of Kleiber porcelain so the two won't get mixed up.  I've made several bowls and have started some cups and a t-pot.  I've also completed a bisque temperature glaze test with low fire glazes I bought at Clay Art last summer.  I see that it will be extremely challenging to match low fire glazes to my strange pottery, where as, the stoneware, highfire glazes seemed to fit my clay crteatins pretty well.   For example: 

Did I mention that all of the pots in this post will (hopefully) be in the spring Larson show titled "From the Ground Up".   Watch for it about March, or visit the Larson Gallery website, or just call Denise or Debbie at Larson and chat with them, or stop Jean Crawford on the street and ask her what's going on.   I say "hopefully", that is if I don't break them on the way to the show or if Cheryl accidentally discovers that I really don't make these pots but instead find them under stumps (and in hollow logs) and such after they were made and hidden by gnomes (and such) and hidden there, easter egg style.  Opps, the cat is out of the bag!!

Well, one more pot and I'm off for a hike up the Rim Trail over the south end of Umptanum Ridge.  Hope I don't get lost. 

Stay tuned for other blog updates including "Oddsey of a big tree", "Walking sticks for friend and foe", and "building a insulating stool for a fire lookout", and "new pots".  Sure hope the FBI isn't running computer searches for references to "pot"..... 

CERAMIC WATER JARS: Variety within the limits of sameness

WATER JARS

 A number of years ago, while Kristin and I were strolling through Santa Fe we stumbled across a “jar shop” which was little more than a salesman on the sidewalk, a storage room of jars behind him, and a few large hand built, native jars scattered around on the sidewalk.  I was fascinated by what I saw,  and by the variety of the quality of the jars displayed, so we ask the salesman if we could look in the storage room.  He was agreeable and what we found was a large number of jars, hastily constructed and without artifice, much like the jars on the sidewalk. In among this mass of tourist quality jars one particular jar stood out as having been carefully crafted and finished, probably by a child.  The superior workmanship and surface detail (hours of burnishing and attention to detail) were immediately apparent but it was a mystery how this one piece of art had become stacked with so many inferior but similar objects.  It was the same price as the un-artistic jars and we walked away with it as if we had discovered a Picasso at a small art stall in Paris.  The salesman also sold wrought iron jar stands for a few bucks and we purchased one (I should have bought a dozen for the price).  This jar has been a part of our lives since and I hoped someday I’d find time to construct one similar to it (see below).

Mexican water jars are round bottom, bisque (earthenware) fired containers, generally suspended with a chord or leather thong in the open air.  When filled with water it seeps through the porous bisque surface and evaporates, cooling the jar and water.  Other earthenware jars are used for dried beans, seeds, etc.  The lids can be sealed with all kinds of natural objects and sealers.  Examples of these jars in various forms are common throughout the world where ever native craftspeople  are meeting the demands of native agrarian societies. 

Here is a jar I constructed with red clay and covered with a red iron oxide slip, then burnished.  You can see the red (brown) clay color on the inside. 

Storage jars are typically a bit large to throw in a pottery wheel and the round bottom adds complications to this technique.  Native potters generally use coil construction methods for the larger examples but smaller coil jars are not uncommon.  I build two jar halves on identical round throwing batts, let them dry to where I can handle them, and then attach the halves carefully.  From that point a jar requires extensive shaping and surface finish. The round bottoms aren’t a problem as these jars generally self balance (don’t fall over more than a few degrees) and from an artistic perspective look better displayed at a slight angle.

Here is a modern form of the earthenware jar with a slab top, smoke fired pattern, and burnished surface.  This pot may roll around some but it generally sets upright by itself.  No, it doesn't have memory, gravity does. 

Surface treatment follows the shaping of the pot to a smooth and pleasing  surface.  I start this shaping as soon as the halves are mated using bisque jar forms and large bowls to support the jar during development.  It may take a week to process the jar from the joining step to the final stain or burnishing step, and an additional week to bring the surface to a point where I start to slowly dry the jar for initial low temperature (bisque) firing.

A construction accident resulted in the coils of this pot separating.  I re-glued the pot with cone 06 glaze and re-fired it for the "archaeological find" look.  Seems like I also put a dark 06 glaze inside for added structure. Some have commented they like this broken side of the pot best, but for me, its a reminder of poor construction technique.

Once the jar shape is defined and the surface has been established, I choose to either burnish the surface and/or treat it with an oxide stain.  These jars are not symmetrical and I leave characteristic surface marks.  In the tradition of Mexican water jars, I try to avoid a formal signature, choosing instead marks or images which are not characteristic of signatures but which allow me to tag the jar for my records. 

I like a dark smoke fire finish but the "subtle" smoke firing of the jar below is very mystical.  The colors in this pot are illusive, and the dark glazed interior offer contrast.  This jar will be in the March, 2012 Larson Gallery  (Yakima) Show titled "From The Ground Up".  

Although Bisque earthenware is porous there are solutions to this characteristic for table ware.  Naturally, a low fire glaze seals the surface and this treatment is common in Mexican plates, cups, and bowls.  Another way to seal the surface is to burnish the leather hard clay with a smooth object.  Burnishing simply means rubbing, polishing and smoothing the surface by rubbing it, often repeatedly.  While this technique shines the surface it also compacts it and acts as a type of glaze without additional chemicals.  Seen in cross section, a burnished surface does appear to be glazed.  This is an example of a glaze not influenced by fluxes or chemicals.  It is more integral with the clay surface, but is not completely fluxed and retains some porosity.  A burnished surface, created with care and resulting from multiple “over” burnishing, creates a beautiful and compelling finish. 

Here is a smoke fired jar that illustrates the patterns this finishing technique can accomplish.  If I leave this jar out in the winter and it is rained on, followed by freezing, it can be destroyed.  These jars need to be under cover and protected from  combinations of moisture and freezing.  The jars can be frozen when dry or rained on when the weather is warm, but the two elements of weather are lethal to porous bisque ware.  

The burnishing technique is possible with any smooth object but a spoon or smooth stone seems to be the most popular burnishing tools.  Repeated burnishings enhance the finish and there are master burnishers, demonstrated by our “Santa Fe” jar.  I use an old spoon.  I have used any number of spoons for this job and, for no reason at all, only one has proven satisfactory for the job.  Other ceramics artists who burnish tell me they have encountered the same phenomena. 

This jar is presently in Oak Hollow Gallery (in Yakima).  It has an interior dark glaze and darker smoke fire surface which was treated with bee's wax, then polished.  The rim is subtle and I display it on a small, clear plastic ring which is essentially unnoticeable but makes the jar more stable in a public area.  

The key to burnishing, besides using a favorite tool, is to bring (and keep) the clay surface at the ideal moisture content.  Multiple burnishing requires repeated misting with a water sprayer and letting it the clay surface settle back to a good consistency.  Some potters use oil on the surface to produce the slick finish.  Burnishing is one of those techniques that you see someone doing and assume you can grab a spoon and achieve their success, but perfect burnishing requires a lot of practice and some potters just seem to have the knack for it.  Although rubbing a clay surface with a spoon might seem a bit boring, in fact, it is a satisfying technique and achieving the perfect finish is thrilling.

This jar shows the slight un-symetrical shape and streaked, smoke fire surface characteristic of  this technique.  This jar was misplaced and I have no idea what happened to it, perhaps some Oxen bean farmer needed it for a storage jar.  With the interior glaze it should serve him well. 

Bisque firing a water jar is as easy as finding a kiln large enough to hold it and setting the kiln setter, with a few exceptions.  Jars should never be fired upside down as any remaining moisture (and latent moisture) will steam out and become trapped in the top (bottom) of the jar where it will be absorbed in a circular pattern and then shatter the pot bottom in that shape.  I always candle before firing and fire large jars open end up before running the temp on up to 1835 degrees F.

This a a "blem" that is unsuitable for sale but I like it anyway.  It sets on the wrought iron  stand that came with my original native jar. It is in all aspects (blemish included) typical of native jars .  

Many of my pots have been “finished” at bisque, but my objective is to smoke fire most of those I don’t turn into drums.  Smoke fire is similar to Raku: You cover the pot with organic material in an iron barrel and light it off for a slow burn.  The fire must remain active but is controlled to keep it from over (or under) firing.  Smoky work ares can be a consideration, but the fire can also be extinguished if too tightly controlled.  Kiln shelves (set on top of metal 55 gallon drum) control the temperature and wadded clay at the holes also helps with fire control. A perfect firing is when all of the organic material in and around the pot is consumed.

This "red" drum shows that a drum is little more than a jar with a hole and a head, proving that we are little more than jars ourselves.  For an experiment, this drum is surprisingly playable but it is a bit slick and heavy for animated performances.

I try to fire several pots in each firing and occasionally put other bisque clay objects around the pots for similar treatment. A smoke fired bisque object can become blacker than well reduced Raku ware.  After burning for several hours, I close the top and let the barrel burn out and cool for a day or two before pulling out the ware. I wash them, dry them, and occasionally rub with bee’s wax for a more appealing finish.   A well burnished post, successfully smoke fired, and rubbed with bee’s wax can be shined to a finish similar to a waxed car finish. 

This drum is unique in that I tipped the head 15 degrees at leather hard by cutting the top off on one side  This feature bounces the vibrations from the head directly into a reflecting  (non-mathematically perfect) parabola.  The sound hole extension works well for bounce and this is my most successful drum design.  The surface decoration around the top is not evident in this photo?

Drums:  Read on down to a previous posting for a discussion of ceramic drums.  Ceramic drums are constructed very much like water jars but need a glued head AND a sound hole.  At some point I have to dedicate the form to becoming a drum particularly if I intend to attach a unique sound hole or other special feature.   Carrying strap holes, microphone and electronic cables holes, or multiple heads all require pre-planning before the leather hard stage.  In some cases I complete the final drum head surface or add features at the leather hard stage.   Drum head attachment requires that the opening is absolutely flat and suitable for gluing and drum hardware taken into account.  Creating the drum head surface means working with the opening when the piece is bone dry. 

And that's my "jar" post, hope you enjoyed it.  Stay tuned for future postings on hand split red cedar walking sticks (MyStick Cedar), smoke fire techniques, and discussions on big trees, pika colonies, portraits, etc. I dedicate the following image to the Anasazi Nation: 

FAVORITE ARTISTS (Assignment # 5)

FAVORITE ARTISTS 

I don’t focus on any individual ceramic artist for primary inspiration.  The only artist I pay close attention to is Gabriel Koch who makes large earthenware jars in a variety of forms.  I suppose my jars are as much like hers as anyones, other than unnamed native potters.

Here is a very old native dish. The design has almost faded out and the burnished finished is worn from use.

 I do like the forms of Marina Martinez and I like the primitiveness of her technique.  I look at native pieces when I encounter them and always get ideas.  

This is a pot I constructed from red clay and painted with a slip of Iron oxide and B-mix clay. 

As far as “day to day” influence, the other ceramics students at YVCC offer me more challenges and solutions than all of the well known artists I encounter in Ceramics books and magazines.  The beginners in Rachel’s  (Professor Dorn?) class have a certain direct approach that is often fascinating, inspiring, and baffling.  I look at the pieces on the glaze shelves and watch the student work when it comes out of the kiln.  An example of this influence is Katlin’s lettering and surface direction, Jo’s ability to work with larger pieces, and the technical thought that goes into Les’s work.  Other beginning and advanced students who have helped me define my work or offered criticism and solutions are too numerous to mention. 

This is a large earthenware jar I smoke fired.  The inside is glazed with a low fire iron oxide glaze to help it hold liquids.  This jar is presently at Oak Hollow Gallery.

I’d never really considered studying any individual ceramic artist.  I get more from the immediate interaction with artists, and Rachel has offered too many suggestions and ideas to count (or even enumerate on).  I do watch a Taos artist’s blog regularly (Soul Speaks or http://www.katecartwright.com/kate_blog/) and read the shop issue of  “Ceramics” monthly magazine, all with interest.  I generally find inspiration in other artistic forms I encounter in the YVCC art department, and the art shows in Larson Gallery are a great place to see what forms, techniques, and materials students are using.  The art shows at Allied Art and Oak Hollow are always interesting, and individual artists, such as mixed media artist Wendy Warren, Lee Ann Reis and Jen Dadagan are always helpful.  All of those influences make up my immediate art community and it’s about all I can handle.

Stay tuned for a posting on "Earthenware jars". 

Ceramic Signs

Ceramic Signs, A solution to brass theft,  ugly signs, and the ravages of time

I work in Yakima with a local Historical Council to identify and maintain local historical land marks and markers.  Because brass thieves have stolen many of the old brass markers, and because there is little interest in maintaining these sites, they are typically destroyed or in poor repair.  While looking for materials to replace older text plaques we considered Lexan, wood, and other sign materials.  As an interim sign, to be used while we identified a suitable material and procured funds for it, I volunteered to try and make a low fired bisque clay tablet sign with hand lettering.

My idea was to work with a clay slab 18” X 24” and about ¾” thick.  The technical challenges of making this sign are well known to tile makers, who can easily make a green clay tile but have difficulty in drying it so it remains flat.  The lettering of this type of sign is relatively easy as long as you work on the damp clay slab surface before it dries. 

I first made about a half dozen sample signs over a twelve month period.  I found I could dry 12” X 12” slabs suitably, but larger slabs required constructing a “Tile press/drier frame” which I call a “sandwich drying frame” (or sandwich). 

The drier is constructed from two pieces of ¾” plywood, cut to the same size.  I then made a sandwich using these two plywood plates on the out sides (the bread) and layers of drying material between (to which the moisture away from the two sides of the slab equally to keep the slab flat), in this order: ¾” plywood, thin sheet (or two) of packing batt (the cushion) the same size, piece of plastic sheet, piece of burlap with an inch of overlap on all sides, and (next to the clay) a piece of cotton canvas the size of the frame.  Next comes the clay slab.  Over the clay slab, the sandwich layers are laid in the reverse of the other side.  You can handle these slabs by grabbing the whole sandwich, with clay slab inserted but for larger pieces, the weight of the wet clay, plus the sandwich is relatively heavy.  To solve this problem I have two belts which I wrap around the whole thing, both ways, and I can then move or transport the loaded sandwich,  flip it, or work with it. 

Once the sandwich dryer pieces are cut, lay the bottom plywood, foam, plastic, burlap, and canvas on a table, roll the clay slab and Lay it on top of the canvas.  Then finish the sandwich.  Grab it and see if you can turn it over.  If so, you are ready to make the sign.  By the way, this is also a good way to make smaller signs and large clay tiles.  A 12” X 12” press would be simple to handle, but a 36” X 36” is approaching the weight where it is hard to handle (and requires a larger slab roller).  The larger the piece the thicker the slab must be and the longer it will take to dry.  The challenge of creating larger signs increases exponentially with size.

I roll my slabs out on a North Star slab roller which only goes out to an extreme of 24” X 22”.   In my opinion, because the completed slabs will be exposed to some stress in a public setting,  I make them about ¾” thick.  Thicker slabs increase in weight quickly but thinner slabs become too fragile. A bone dry slab must be handled very carefully but it is possible to work with it on the foam layers.  Never move the slab without the sandwich support boards and padding.

It can take up to 6 weeks to dry a large slab so it remains flat (with this method), depending on size, as follows:  

1.    Don’t waste the back of your sign.  Look at both sides of your wet clay slab and choose the front, or work both sides and choose the finished one you like best.   I choose the best clay surface for my finished piece and perform shrinkage measurements and draft wording and draft lettering and designs on the back.  No point in wasting a perfectly good surface.

2.    I usually let the clay dry in the sandwich frame a day or two before starting lettering.  Clay slabs seem to “set up” in the first day or two of storage and it doesn’t hurt to start this slab drying slowly.

3.    Your sandwich should allow the clay to dry the same on both sides to discourage warping, but I “encourage” the drying by laying the sandwich flat on a table, and removing the layers down to the clay on one side, letting it dry an hour, then reassemble the sandwich turn it over, and let the other side dry an hour, then reassemble the sandwich and let the moisture content stabilize for 24 hours.  The sandwich allows the slab to dry uniformly (read “flat”) over time, but the attention you give it can speed up this process.   Understand that all handling exposes the slab to irreparable  accidents. 

4.    I often put a bit of weight on the sandwich during drying times.  The slab can remain in the sandwich for long periods of time without attention.  Though technically it is drying outward from the center, complements of the canvas wicking the clay moisture outward, the slab should dry the same on both sides and thus remain flat.  The secret of drying a large slab perfectly flat is (in the absence of complicated machinery) taking your time.  Consider at least a month (or more) necessary for drying a large, flat slab in this manner.   If the dried slab has a bit of wobble, don’t stress it in any way as it may break.  A few mm off perfectly flat is suitable if the slab is cared for and then glued to a plywood back when finished.

5.    Specifically designed and constructed drying frames with fans and turners will probably speed up drying, but I like this method because it is easy, cheap, and effective.  However, it is not fast.   If I’m busy I can leave the frame unattended for a week and not worry that it is creating warps.  I have several frames and work at drying several slabs at once.  Work ahead of your projects. 

6.     I have successfully stored dried slabs on their sides when strapped in the sandwich.  If you try to store them without support, expect some loss.  You can fire a bunch of signs in one kiln, horizontally but protect them while they are waiting to be fired.

7.    If this drying sandwich has an engineering flaw it is that it could make a slab dry with a crown, as it will, during the drying progress, be wetter in the middle than on the sides.  The two burlap wicks on both sides should stabilize this crown and you should, if you take time and care, end up with a very flat tile.  However, these dry slabs do have some wobble on a flat surface, so get it glued to a piece of plywood as soon after it comes out of the bisque kiln as possible. 

8.    Consider fiber filler to add strength to the bone dry ceramic plate.  The fiber may be pressed into the back of the sign to allow the sign surface to retain it’s workable nature on the front.  The fiber will burn out in bisque and is primarlly for strength in the green clay phase. 

9.    I haven’t experimented with multiple slabs drying in one sandwich but there is no reason it won’t work if canvas wicks are laid evenly between clay slabs.  However, this would add weight and make individual slabs harder to work with.

Bisque firing and sign mounting

When the slab is leather hard, it is nearing the pint where it is stable and will not buckle with uneven drying.  I take the slab all the way to bone dry before I remove it from the sandwich.  I continue to dry both sides to open air for an hour or so a day (depending on my schedule, no big deal either way) until the bone dry stage is reached. 

The next step is finishing the dry slab.  You can work on it with sand paper and clean it up some, but it is very fragile now and any handling requires the utmost care.  I transfer it to a shelf and then carry the shelf to the prepared kiln. 

When you are ready to move the sign to the kiln, lay it on a flat plywood batt and carry it to the kiln.  Prepare the shelf so there are no shelf overlaps under it in the kiln.  If there are, use stilts to support the shelf directly below the slab.  Don’t build slabs which,  when dry, are larger than your kiln. 

Once the sign is bisque fired I epoxy it to a piece of plywood for instillation strength.  I also seal the edges of the installed bisque tile with silicone and treat the surface with Thompson water seal or other ceramic/concrete weather treatment.  If water is absorbed into the bisque sign surface and frozen (not far fetched occurrence for outside monuments) the frozen water in the sign will break out and leave a surface picket in your sign.  THIS IS NOT GOOD.  Try to install it where rain, snow, and wind do not reach it, such as under a hood or eve.  I also suggest periodic weather treatments to outside signs. Clear glazes will also address this problem, but experiment with test signs to avoid destroying weeks of labor.

One mounting that I was satisfied with was to epoxy a sign to a finish piece of plywood several inches larger then the sign, sealing the edges, drilling holes in the protruding plywood, and then screwing the plywood to a bulletin board.  You can also glue a bisque sign to a prepared stone or concrete surface.

Except for the practical detail of better lettering, I am satisfied with this type of sign as a permanent placement.  Avoid trying to mount the sign with screws through sign face holes.  Expansion and contraction will soon overstress the holes and your sign will break.  When epoxied to plywood and sealed it should survive vandalism, weather, and time.  For a historical marker, it has a burnished leather look, and can be very effective for historical themes.

Here are other ideas for “tile signs” uses

1. Markers on historic homes and buildings (12” X 12”)
2. Trail markers, using oxides to enhance lettering
3. Land boundary markers with text
4. Memorials
5. Landscape directions for workers, for example: an irrigation pipe map, directions for servicing drainage lines, etc.
6. An effective award can be made from a large bisque plate. 
7.  Garden signs.

 Working with and firing large bisque slabs offers interesting challenges to the studio ceramics artist.   Successfully drying large , flat slabs brings the student closer to the constraints of drying other clay projects and helps them understand the practical fragility of  clay sheets and tile.  Slabs can be incorporated into all kinds of artistic forms and expressions and understanding and mastering large slabs, particularly in an outdoor application, brings the ceramics artist closer to an understanding and appreciation for the constraints of fired clay plates.  And the rewards of mastering this challenging form are skills any ceramics artist will appreciate having in their “clay bag”/mh. 

I wish to thank J. N. Miles for his kind suggestions and valuable historical perspective with this project.  

Assignment #4, process

Assignment #4: Materials, process, and technique

Although I construct a number of very dissimilar clay forms, I use a central process and technique  for all of them.  The forms include portrait sculpture, large clay jars (and drum bodies), table ware consisting of cups and bowls of various sizes, and Drop spindle whorls (weights).  I have also made stringed ceramic musical instruments,  abstract sculpture, rattles and whistles.  sometimes I utilize  the "pinch pot" method to construct cup bottoms, t-pot parts, or just to amuse myself. 

I generally use Dakota red clay for water jars and drum bodies as it works well in large constructions, fires to a strong bisque finish, accepts stains, and responds well to the smoke fire process.  I also use this clay for portrait sculpture.  Dakota is ideal for a variety of  constructed forms.

I use various high fire porcelain clay bodies for table ware, occasional sculpture, t-pots, and drop spindle whorls.  I have used a number of porcelain clay bodies and continue to experiment with any porcelain I find on the market.  Presently I am using “Kleiber” porcelain.

This quarter I am testing a very dense earthenware clay (JG) supplied by Tacoma Clay Arts.  My experiments with white earthenware clays in the past have not been particularly productive.

 

The similarity that runs throughout my clay forms is that I generally start with clay slabs.  I use the YVCC ceramic shop North Star clay roller.  It will roll a slab of clay 22  X24” and to any practical thickness.  I use (minus four layers of canvas) ½ minus for porcelain table ware and ¾” slabs (also minus four canvas layers) for large jars and drum bodies.  From time to time I will run a batch of thinner porcleain for a run of cups or a batch of thicker Dakota red clay for larger water jars that may need additional structural support.

I always roll a number of clay slabs at one time and let them “cure” for a day or so before using them.  I spray each layer and the separating newspaper and I store them in cafeteria tray containers (top and bottom).  Generally I will run enough slabs to make one jar at a time. I use plastic bags to store the slabs.  These slabs will stay moist and workable for several weeks without any extra precautions. 

I start a “run”  of around 10 porcelain forms by first preparing a list of intended pieces.  Once I approach this number I take the forms to bone dry/bisque kiln ready before starting a new “set” of pieces.  It takes about two weeks per run and I generally finish approximately 40 pieces a quarter including the time it takes to finish individual pieces, apply glaze, help in the firing, and clean up. 

SLAB CONSTRUCDTION.  Working with clay slabs is elementary.  I keep a bottle of suitable slip in a screw-top jar and a brush dedicated to that clay body slip mix.  I seldom score porcelain edges, but always score handles and other fixtures.  Earthenware jars go together much like coil pots, by laying cut, strips of the ¾” clay in layers, joining with slip and scoring, and filling in the final hole with a round slab.  I construct sculpture a layer at a time.

STAINS: I use iron oxide stains for relief with porcelain, applied on textured bisque surfaces and mix an iron oxide slip to treat the surface of Dakota red jars.  I find that black iron oxide works best to bring out surface textures on porcelain but red iron oxide is best for Dakota/earthenware stain.

GLAZES:  I find that the most compatible glazes for my pieces is a combination of two or three shop glazes.  I take great care to pick compatible glazes, clean the edges well, and highlight texture.  I do a lot of test glazing.

I find that burnishing jars is a form of low fired glaze.  The compacting process  of burnishing compacts the surface and offers some further protection. I also find burnishing to be a very compelling finish. 

UNEXPLORED OPTIONS: There are several techniques I’d like to pursue including porcelain surface treatments, green clay lettering, stain finishes, and drum features.  I want to further perfect my spindle whorls so they are more perfectly balanced and easier to produce, and work with sculpture on a broader scale.  Most of all, I’d like to improve my finished glaze patterns and results.

Here is an example of a sculpture made from clay slabs in the "coil method", using strips or rolled clay.  This piece is porcelain, very light, probably holds water if turned upside down.  I like the way these sculptures develop, much like rolling on bandages over  imagination. 

I occasionally use the "pinch pot" method of construction cup bottoms, t-pot parts, or sculpture.  I'll post a "pinch pot" blog in a few weeks/mh