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inked crackle pot

updated mon 24 dec 07

 

mel jacobson on sun 23 dec 07


i have photographed a good example of india ink/sumi ink
painted on a hot plate...just from the kiln.
clayart page/click below...bottom of page.

you will note that the crackle is very large..much like a perfect
raku reduced piece. the key is:
get the pot right from the kiln.
use hot ink. let the ink soak in for a few
hours...then scrub clean when the pot is
at room temperature.

if you soak a pot in tea/coffee or ink....it will fill all
the little cracks as the pot cools.

this is not a fake antique process. it is a real technique
to show large crackle effects. my pots done this way are
clearly marked with my own stamp. i am pretty sure that i used
one of those old sung recipes...in that book about `ancient chinese
glazes`.
there is one that crackles like mad.

i have not done this process for many years.
it was a fun project. i was determined to get the
same affect that i had been getting with white raku/
giant crackle...of course that came from adding the hot
pot into a saw dust pile. the key to that process was
using pure white glaze...and a non-iron bearing raku clay.
any clay body with iron will turn the white glaze pink.
( i do remember using a porcelain body with lots of grog to
get the really deep black.)
i just love white and jet black raku. it just seems right to me.
and, it always seemed interesting that the whiter the clay body, the
blacker it reduced.
\mel

from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/

Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html

Marta Matray on sun 23 dec 07


mel jacobson wrote:
> i just love white and jet black raku. it just seems right to me.
>and, it always seemed interesting that the whiter the clay body, the
>blacker it reduced.

thanks for this xmas present, mel!
next time i fire raku pots i'll get
real jet black and white!!! yeah!
why didnt you tell this sooner :) ???
happy holidays everyone!

marta

http://martamatray.blogspot.com/