Wash Results

The results of the wash experiments are rather blah.
For example: here is a bowl fired a couple of days ago. It should have been a bloody red on the outside! Used Red Art Clay, Red Iron Oxide and Frit 3110 under a transparent glaze.

On the inside i expected lavender and gold.
The lavender sorta worked; the gold is brown. Used a Manganese + water wash and a Rutile + Frit 3134 Wash respectively.
On this piece used a glaze high in Dolomite and Talc trying for a lavender/purple. Discovered that when high amounts of either are used a stony matte results. And only

vague splotches of lavenders!

See post below for more of the wash results.

Wash Results Continued

Coated one-half of this one with a Potassium Nitrate Wash before applying glaze. Coated the other half with a Rutile/Frit 3134 Wash. Also drew vertical stripes using a Red Iron Oxide wash; applied more stripes using a Red Art, Red Iron Oxide + Frit 3110 Wash.

None of this is visible in the finished cup !!!

Used a simple Lead Bisilicate/Wollastonite/Custer/Potassium Bichromate glaze over the washes which works great at temps of 1750 and 1832 degrees F.

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On the outside applied one layer of glaze base (without the potassium bichromate) then brushstroked a heavy layer of Rutile/Frit 3134 Wash on one side and Barium Sulfate/Frit3124 Wash on the other side.

Close up of the colors:

While these are not total disasters, i'm not dancin' a jig over them either. Need to learn a lot more about "washes". It just seems like such a long learning process !!!

Yesterday's "red" wash turned out green. So! It's being refired today. More about that tomorrow . . . .

Great and Happy Wash Days to y'all

Chae

Trying Washes

You'd be surprized at how relatively little info about washes there is in most of the pottery books currently being marketed.
For instance: (1) How does one mix the proportions of water to oxide in a wash? (2) Does one apply thick or thin? (3) Which oxides in a wash will color the overlaying covering glaze what colors? (4) How many washes can be used on top of each other and what will the results be? (5) Can oxides be used in combination in a wash?
Waded through the index's of ten different popular books. No "washes" in the "W's". Tried "Decoration" and Underglaze Colors from the contents. No information on washes. Turned to the "W's" in Frank + Janet Hamer's: Potter's Dictionary. No wash information.
Soooooooo frustrating.
Next turned to the Internet. Which isn't the best source for technical data when it comes to pottery.
However - did find June Perry's site: http://shambhalapottery.com/oxidewashes.html
And Bless June Perry !!!
Her information helped tremendously.
Before discovering her site, had found tidbits here and there that mentioned when forming washes, use a third each of a frit, a kaolin and an oxide. But they, as is June, are firing to cones 04-10.
Which still left me guessing on how to formulate these for a temperature range of 1750 -1832 degrees F.
No one - but no one - mentions how to use the sulfates and chlorides in washes.

Today mixed up several "washes". Am not sure, mind you, that they are indeed -- washes.
Tomorrow will fire this experiment. See what happens.
Am not optimistic at all but perhaps the kiln elves will surprize me pleasantly.
And if they pull some elfish tricks?
We'll start a new pottery maxim. The old one is: Test. Test. Test.
The new one? Refire. Refire. Refire.

Ah sure now
An' if it isn't the anticipation of colorful wash days ahead
Chae

Don't Give Up

For those of you who are new to pottery; who see some of your pieces come out of the kiln as a glazing disaster -- the bowl, cup, plate, whatever is whole, mind you -- it's just such an ugly color that you'd like to pitch it across the length of a football field; don't give up.

When i first started creating pottery there was no one to tell me that these pieces could be refired.
So! I hid them behind a bunch of stuff, out of sight -- but not quite out of mind. At the time, i thought they were totally unredeemable.

However, the premise that these pieces are doomed to the reject heap is entirely false. Recently, i discovered that pieces can be refired 6 times.
No, make that 7 times.
Well, actually the piece below was refired 8 times before it finally decided to co-operate with me.




x
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Now i am really pleased with it.
So! xx Don't give up !!!
Now if i could just manage my photography skills to adequately display how things appear in "real life", i'd be quite tickled! The bottom of the bowl is mostly brown with red adventurine sparkles underneath the glaze . . . . however . . . . rainbow irisdescent colors rest atop of the glaze. So! Depending upon how the bowl is held in the sunlight determines what the eye actually sees !!!
Fascinating.
And to think -- this one was in my "to x-x throwaway - but i just can't part with it yet" pile . . . .
Happy glazing days folks
Chae

More Iridescence

Here are a few more photos of recent work showing iridescence (darn that word is hard to spell !!!)


This one was done a few weeks ago. The camera didn't pick up the shimmering colors interplaying on the outside surface but the colors do gleam in the sunshine beguiling the eye with their magical changeability.


These are the inside surfaces of the cups shown yesterday. It intrigues me that the same glazes and same chems applied in post firing reduction will flash primarily either gold or silver depending on the cup.

This bowl is most intriguing. Wish the photo had come out a little better. When held in one direction, a Samurai warrior is clearly visible. Yet when the bowl is turned slightly silvers and golds visually overpower the warrior. Hmmm . . . wonder if that applies to real life?
Here's to great and glorious days
Chae

Coupl'a Photos

OK Folks

Here's some pix of these weeks' work. Have a few more which will be posted in the near future however have to download Photoshop onto this computer so it may take them a day or two to appear. Or who knows, they may appear sooner than i think.

So here we go . . . .

This is pretty much what the bowl looks like. When it's turned this-a-way-and-that, the rouge color displays the luminous energy of pearlized colors. In the next pix, i darkened it just a little bit trying to show the irisdescence a wee bit better.

Discovered today, it's really tricky to photograph "irisdescence"!!!

In real life, the gold really shimmers.

Was delighted with this photo as the glimmering colors show well

Seen from a different perspective, the top of the handle glitters gold !!!

Here you can see the silver,

gold and iridescence.

Have discovered that these pieces are best viewed in bright sunlight where if they are turned one way they shine golden. Held differently, they shimmer silver. Tilted "just right" -- and all the irisdescence plays upon the light rays.

Awesome!

Hopin' y'all are enjoying the happy irisdescent days of summer

Chae

Chems

Have been exploring nitrates, sulfates and chlorides recently.
Fascinating stuff.
A Copper Sulfate wash: [3 Tbsp copper sulfate to 1/2 cup water] over a white crackle glaze gives wondrous colors in post-fire reduction.
Enjoyed this experiment.
Didn't have such good luck with the Potassium Chloride wash prepared the same way. Nor with the Stannous Chloride wash.
The PC wash showed nary a bit of color; the SC wash turned a miserable black.
This experiment was extremely frustrating.

Have also been trying to locate text books: subject - lusters and fuming techniques. This endeavor is as frustrating as failed glazes !!!
Apparently . . . .
There are three, and only three, which explore these techniques in depth. All three are out of print. Not available.

Additionally: Finding suppliers who handle non-traditional chlorides and nitrates seems to be a challenge. How in the world did Arne Ase find stuff like strontium nitrate, uranyl nitrate and barium chloride?

When the techniques work the results are not only wondrous - they are magical.
So magical that one just knows they could produce an awesome body of work if frustration doesn't "kill" 'em first.
Ah well . . . .
Happy fuming folks!
Chae