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human bone ash glaze recipes

updated sun 14 sep 08

 

Karin Givon on thu 11 sep 08


Gee, Phil. WHAT was that can (and I use the term 'can' loosely) of
ashes that really seemed like ashes to me, a little lumpy, a few
larger bits, that I throw, tossed really, over the Mendocino
Headlands???? Good Bye Dad!
No? then what the hail was it? You said nothing would "suspend, or
be carried upwards by air currents"...but these non-ashes of my dad,
God love him, certainly floated down, and some back UP AT ME! No
wonder I heard voices....
I don't really understand that part of what you were saying. I was
neither drunk nor stoned when I said Good Bye. He floated. The non
ashes floated. (It was a good movie. I cried.)
Kinda rough ashes, but ashes they seemed to be, nontheless. A variety
pack of ashes and lumpies. Gray. Varying grays.
Should I sue the crematorium?
Should we try to 'calcine' the so-called ashes of our --no, wait a
minit! that 's MY, future, to-be ashes as part of the ' making a
glaze outta Karin ' process?
I'm not making fun of this idea, I really do like it. I'd like to
find out, if you have any idea, what would need to be done to make it
work.
Whaddaya think? too much copper for celadon? Reduction red, then?
I'm giggling and laughing but I'm serious as hell!
Karin
DancingDragonPottery.net
Nevada City, CA.


On Sep 11, 2008, at 4:01 PM, pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:

Hi Karin,



The term 'ash' when applied to the refractory human or other Animal
Skeletal
remains subsequent to Cremation...is a figurative term.


It is not 'ash' in any way at all.


It is Bones and Teeth...which get run through a course Grinding-breaking
process by the Crematory Establishment, and washed to remove any
incidental
dusts or actual Ash that had resulted from flesh or
viscera...resulting in a
sort of gravel-size
and or finer material, 'dustless', prior to being handed to the
consignee.


Bones, of course are constructions made primarily of Metals - Calcium,
Magnesium, Phosphorous, Boron, and others.


With the Collagen and Proteins and Fats cooked-off or vaporized by
heat...the Bones then are
brittle and frangible, approximately as very old weathered bones
would be if
found in a Desert.


Generally, when hearing of someone's "Ashes", people imagine Wood
Ashes...but
there is no similarity whatever.


If one threw a handfull of human Crematory remains into the
Air...nothing
would be carried on a Breeze...nothing would remain suspended or be
carried
upward by Air currents.


In 'movies', yes...


Lol...


But no where else...unless the Crematory had not 'washed' them, or,
unless
the refractory remains were to be very, very, very finely
pulverized...and I
doubt any places do that, unless maybe as an expensive option.






Phil
lv




----- Original Message -----
From: "Karin Givon"


> Bizarre! Wonderful! I love it. I'm going to tell my kids to put me in
> a glaze
> ( and preferably a beautiful one....) and I'm going to start asking
> potter friends who are younger than I am (and most are) if they'd be
> willing to sift me into a gorgeous red or a celadon, or something.
> I'd prefer not to be a lichen, since my skin in trying to do that
> anyway....
> I would imagine, if sifted, that bone ash is bone ash, whether from
> mammals like cows or mammals like Karin. I wish I'd thought of this
> for my dad. He'd have LOL! Altho, when I drifted him over the cliffs
> in Mendocino he Did say "Very fine". (I heard him.)
> Onwards and upwards!
> Karin
> DancingDragonPottery.net
> Nevada City
>
> On Sep 11, 2008, at 8:11 AM, Sylvia Rios wrote:
>
> Hello clay friends,
> Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels
> safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone
> ash glazes for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to
> have her ashes used to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens and
> turquoise. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find successful
> glaze recipes and modify them.
> Any help, suggestions, recipes or wisdom you would be willing
> to share would be sincerely appreciated.
> Thank you so much,
> Sylvia Rios
> sylviarios.com
> Cabrillo College, Aptos CA
>

Sylvia Rios on thu 11 sep 08


Hello clay friends,
=A0=A0=A0 Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels =
safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone ash glaz=
es for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to have her ashes u=
sed to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens and turquoise. Rather tha=
n reinvent the wheel I'd like to find successful glaze recipes and modify t=
hem.=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0 Any help, suggestions, recipes or=A0wisdom you would be willin=
g to share would be sincerely appreciated.
=A0=A0=A0=A0 Thank you so much,
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Sylvia Rios
=A0=A0=A0=A0 sylviarios.com
=A0=A0=A0=A0 Cabrillo College, Aptos CA=0A=0A=0A

Tony Ferguson on thu 11 sep 08


Sylvia,

There is not much to learn:

Substitute the bone ash for the bone ash (if the glaze has some). You can also throw it in a clear and it will either melt (depending the nature of the glaze and temp) or be suspended. I wouldn't worry about the amount of bone ash, so even a pinch in a glaze may be sufficient to have made a glaze with said person's ash.
Cow bone ash is very consistent in terms of what cow's eat. Human ash, depending on the minerals in the food that person ate, may offer variance from glaze to glaze, but really, probably not even worth mentioning.

Tony Ferguson





Sylvia Rios wrote: Hello clay friends,
Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone ash glazes for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to have her ashes used to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens and turquoise. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find successful glaze recipes and modify them.
Any help, suggestions, recipes or wisdom you would be willing to share would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Sylvia Rios
sylviarios.com
Cabrillo College, Aptos CA






Take Care,



Tony Ferguson


...where the sky meets the lake...

http://www.tonyferguson.net

Karin Givon on thu 11 sep 08


Bizarre! Wonderful! I love it. I'm going to tell my kids to put me in
a glaze
( and preferably a beautiful one....) and I'm going to start asking
potter friends who are younger than I am (and most are) if they'd be
willing to sift me into a gorgeous red or a celadon, or something.
I'd prefer not to be a lichen, since my skin in trying to do that
anyway....
I would imagine, if sifted, that bone ash is bone ash, whether from
mammals like cows or mammals like Karin. I wish I'd thought of this
for my dad. He'd have LOL! Altho, when I drifted him over the cliffs
in Mendocino he Did say "Very fine". (I heard him.)
Onwards and upwards!
Karin
DancingDragonPottery.net
Nevada City

On Sep 11, 2008, at 8:11 AM, Sylvia Rios wrote:

Hello clay friends,
Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels
safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone
ash glazes for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to
have her ashes used to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens and
turquoise. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find successful
glaze recipes and modify them.
Any help, suggestions, recipes or wisdom you would be willing
to share would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Sylvia Rios
sylviarios.com
Cabrillo College, Aptos CA

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on thu 11 sep 08


Hi Karin,



The term 'ash' when applied to the refractory human or other Animal Skeletal
remains subsequent to Cremation...is a figurative term.


It is not 'ash' in any way at all.


It is Bones and Teeth...which get run through a course Grinding-breaking
process by the Crematory Establishment, and washed to remove any incidental
dusts or actual Ash that had resulted from flesh or viscera...resulting in a
sort of gravel-size
and or finer material, 'dustless', prior to being handed to the consignee.


Bones, of course are constructions made primarily of Metals - Calcium,
Magnesium, Phosphorous, Boron, and others.


With the Collagen and Proteins and Fats cooked-off or vaporized by
heat...the Bones then are
brittle and frangible, approximately as very old weathered bones would be if
found in a Desert.


Generally, when hearing of someone's "Ashes", people imagine Wood
Ashes...but
there is no similarity whatever.


If one threw a handfull of human Crematory remains into the Air...nothing
would be carried on a Breeze...nothing would remain suspended or be carried
upward by Air currents.


In 'movies', yes...


Lol...


But no where else...unless the Crematory had not 'washed' them, or, unless
the refractory remains were to be very, very, very finely pulverized...and I
doubt any places do that, unless maybe as an expensive option.






Phil
lv




----- Original Message -----
From: "Karin Givon"


> Bizarre! Wonderful! I love it. I'm going to tell my kids to put me in
> a glaze
> ( and preferably a beautiful one....) and I'm going to start asking
> potter friends who are younger than I am (and most are) if they'd be
> willing to sift me into a gorgeous red or a celadon, or something.
> I'd prefer not to be a lichen, since my skin in trying to do that
> anyway....
> I would imagine, if sifted, that bone ash is bone ash, whether from
> mammals like cows or mammals like Karin. I wish I'd thought of this
> for my dad. He'd have LOL! Altho, when I drifted him over the cliffs
> in Mendocino he Did say "Very fine". (I heard him.)
> Onwards and upwards!
> Karin
> DancingDragonPottery.net
> Nevada City
>
> On Sep 11, 2008, at 8:11 AM, Sylvia Rios wrote:
>
> Hello clay friends,
> Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels
> safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone
> ash glazes for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to
> have her ashes used to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens and
> turquoise. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find successful
> glaze recipes and modify them.
> Any help, suggestions, recipes or wisdom you would be willing
> to share would be sincerely appreciated.
> Thank you so much,
> Sylvia Rios
> sylviarios.com
> Cabrillo College, Aptos CA
>

Lee Love on thu 11 sep 08


This comes up every couple years. If you look in the archives, you
can find several recipes. Below is from when I Googled a couple
years ago:

Lee Love on sun 26 nov 06


I looked in the archives for you:

Audra Loyal on fri 17 nov 00


I just finished reading the book _What Every Potter Should Know_, by =
Jeff Zamek. One of the chapters is entitled "Black Friday" in which he =
gives a recipe for a glaze he made using bone ash from his beloved black =
Labrador Retriever. His dog was a beautiful blue-ish black color, and =
the glaze tries to come as close to that color as possible.=20
I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting the glaze recipe here:

Black Friday Glaze Con 6/ox

Nepheline syenite 270x 20
Whiting 15
EPK 18
Ferro frit #3124 20
Flint 325x 17
Bone ash (Friday) 10
Mason black stain #6600 12
CMC 1%

Audra Loyal
Eugene OR

SU STANDING BEAR ^6 OX. (Bill Edwards)
-------------------------------------------------------
Wollastonite10.00
Silica 15.00
EPK Kaolin 20.00
G-200 Potash Feldspar 20.00
Ferro 3134 30.00
Bone Ash (Human) 5.00


--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellst
--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://heartclay.blogspot.com/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." --Rumi

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on fri 12 sep 08


Hi Hank,





Yes, your further consideration of the actual 'phosphate' component is
correct and I had neglected that, forgetting it would be significant in any
Glaze Chemistry context.



Thanks for the far better render..!



I think is especially fascinating that the primary elements of Animal Bones
are in fact Alkaline and other Metals....if of course occasioning as
Molecules with other non-Metal Elements.



'Exoskeletons' are fascinating also, if being differently composed of
course.


Invertebrates such as the Octopus or the Shark, have managed very nicely,
and with advantage, if Aquatically, while possessing neither.



Golly...endless interesting things..!


Anyway, people who have been long at hard physical Work will have far denser
and heavier Bones than those people who were relatively sedentary.


This will show in their Skeletons, and, show in the physical integrity and
relative strength and completeness of the Skeleton when Crematory Oven's
have completed their routine.




Phil
l v




----- Original Message -----
From: "Hank Murrow"

> On Sep 12, 2008, at 2:45 PM, pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:
>>
>>
>> Regardless...just consider the remains to be roughly 'Calcium' and not
>> 'Silica'...as for
>> their behavior in a Glaze.
>>
>> "Ashes" as such, when from Plants, are approximately Silica (ie:
>> Silica with
>> secondary elements ).
>>
>>
>> Human or Animal refractory Crematory remains are approximately
>> Calcium ( ie:
>> Calcium
>> with secondary elements ) and are not 'Ashes' in anything like the
>> sense of
>> Wood or 'Plant' ashes or Bar-B-Que-Pit Ashes.
>>
>
> Dear Phil;
>
> I have had some luck in making glazes with human remains and I am
> reluctant to suggest a correction to your statement. Yet, human and
> animal remains are simply bone ash, or Calcium Phosphate. the
> Phosphate does create a second glass former in any glaze, and can
> contribute interesting effects...... iron blues, rich reds from iron,
> and opalescence in high Silica glazes. Bone ash and specifically
> phosphorus has become one of my favorite studies in recent years,
> though finding insoluble sources is not easy.
>
> Cheers, Hank in Eugene

Jennifer Boyer on fri 12 sep 08


I've put the ashes of 3 family members into my urns over the years,
and my experience is that human ash from a crematorium is not really
ready to be a glaze material. It's very gritty and coarse. You'll need
to grind it, or ball mill it to get a powder that will incorporate
into a glaze mix.
Just FYI
Jennifer
On Sep 11, 2008, at 11:11 AM, Sylvia Rios wrote:

> Hello clay friends,
> Even if I don't know all of you so well, this tender topic feels
> safe to discuss with you. I have offered to learn about human bone
> ash glazes for a friend whose mother was a potter who requested to
> have her ashes used to create a beautiful glaze. She loved greens
> and turquoise. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find
> successful glaze recipes and modify them.
> Any help, suggestions, recipes or wisdom you would be willing
> to share would be sincerely appreciated.
> Thank you so much,
> Sylvia Rios
> sylviarios.com
> Cabrillo College, Aptos CA
>
>
>

***************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
http://jboyerdesign.com
http://artisanshand.com
***************************

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on fri 12 sep 08


Hi Karen,




None of he Crematory remains I ever saw or 'tossed' would...( make lingering
clouds of
dust in the Air as Wood Ash does...)


So I dunno...


Given that the Crematory personnel I talked with, mentioned that they wash
away any incidental dusts or other particles prior to drying and packaging,
as well as sieving out any fines...I had supposed some
places might not, and I did say so...so, possibly the remains you had were
not sieved and
washed...and possibly not all Crematorys have the same Standards or
practices.


I think one would calcine the remains...then they pulverize/powder-ize
easier...if intending to use them in a Glaze.


Regardless...just consider the remains to be roughly 'Calcium' and not
'Silica'...as for
their behavior in a Glaze.


"Ashes" as such, when from Plants, are approximately Silica (ie: Silica with
secondary elements ).


Human or Animal refractory Crematory remains are approximately Calcium ( ie:
Calcium
with secondary elements ) and are not 'Ashes' in anything like the sense of
Wood or 'Plant' ashes or Bar-B-Que-Pit Ashes.


An 'Ash' Glaze is made with Plant Ashes. These are fairly simple to make,
invite endless variation, and can be very beautiful
Glazes. The Ash often being the primary ingredient...or even the sole
ingredient.


As far as I have understood it, a Glaze which contains human or animal
refractory remains, does so as a
incidental, just to say it has done so for sentiment reasons, with
absolutely nothing resulting which distinguishes it from any other common
Glaze...


Or, possibly, electing the animal-refractory ingredient for those Glazes
which employ Calcium and related elements as fluxes...and not because the
remains can be used alone, or are a
useful Glaze ingredient as true 'Ash' can be...or reveal themselves in any
way in the result, as actual 'Ash' glazes would do.


Possibly, refractory animal/people remains once calcined and pulverized,
could be added to
an actual Ash Glaze...but it might be very 'runny' if one added very much.



Probably, a good experiment would be to add varying ( small ) amounts of
calcined, pulverized, refractory
human/animal remains to a Clay Body...rather than to a Glaze...to see what
that does, just to have that option...just to be able to say it is 'in'
there.




Phil
l v


----- Original Message -----
From: "Karin Givon"


> Gee, Phil. WHAT was that can (and I use the term 'can' loosely) of
> ashes that really seemed like ashes to me, a little lumpy, a few
> larger bits, that I throw, tossed really, over the Mendocino
> Headlands???? Good Bye Dad!
> No? then what the hail was it? You said nothing would "suspend, or
> be carried upwards by air currents"...but these non-ashes of my dad,
> God love him, certainly floated down, and some back UP AT ME! No
> wonder I heard voices....
> I don't really understand that part of what you were saying. I was
> neither drunk nor stoned when I said Good Bye. He floated. The non
> ashes floated. (It was a good movie. I cried.)
> Kinda rough ashes, but ashes they seemed to be, nontheless. A variety
> pack of ashes and lumpies. Gray. Varying grays.
> Should I sue the crematorium?
> Should we try to 'calcine' the so-called ashes of our --no, wait a
> minit! that 's MY, future, to-be ashes as part of the ' making a
> glaze outta Karin ' process?
> I'm not making fun of this idea, I really do like it. I'd like to
> find out, if you have any idea, what would need to be done to make it
> work.
> Whaddaya think? too much copper for celadon? Reduction red, then?
> I'm giggling and laughing but I'm serious as hell!
> Karin
> DancingDragonPottery.net
> Nevada City, CA.

Donald Burroughs on fri 12 sep 08


Hello Sylvia The human ash glaze seems like the ultimate way of some how co=
ntributing to a glaze aesthetic. Unfortunately there is a myth that is perp=
etuated by the funeral home industry that calls incinerated human remains "=
ashes". In fact=2C the temperature used by the industry is only hot enough =
to burn the flesh and internal organs to ashes which only makes up maybe a =
third of what is perceived as ashes. The rest is ground skeletal remains. C=
onsequently=2C you will have remains high in calcium=2C phosphorus and othe=
r alkalis . I remember a potter who wrote into ceramics Monthly and spoke o=
f his son's dying wish that his ashes be used in a glaze. He described the =
glaze as being horrible. If you found data that would breakdown the oxide c=
ontent of human "ashes" then you could proceed more cautiously in creating =
a successful and more sacred result. Good luck.
=20
PS If you do proceed please do share the results (at least with me=2C other=
s might find this all too morbid a topic.)
=20
Regards=2C Don Burroughs=20
_________________________________________________________________

Des & Jan Howard on fri 12 sep 08


Sylvia
Tichane Jun
^11 reduction
potash feldspar 48
silica 31
limestone 20
bone ash 1
+ red iron oxide 1

Fry Jun mod
^10 reduction
potash feldspar 45
silica 25
limestone 17
kaolin (any) 9
bone ash 2
dolomite 2
+ red iron oxide 1

Tichane/Fry blend
^10+ to ^11-
potash feldspar 45
silica 34
limestone 17
kaolin (any) 2.25
bone ash 1.25
dolomite 0.5
+ red iron oxide 1

If these aren't strong enough colours, try:
1/8% green chrome oxide
or
1/8% cobalt carbonate

Des

Sylvia Rios wrote:
I have offered to learn about human bone ash glazes for a
friend whose mother was a potter who requested to have her
ashes used to create a beautiful glaze.
She loved greens and turquoise.
Rather than reinvent the wheel I'd like to find
successful glaze recipes and modify them.

--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
Lue NSW
Australia
2850

02 6373 6419
www.luepottery.hwy.com.au

Lee Love on fri 12 sep 08


On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 6:07 PM, Donald Burroughs wrote:
> Hello Sylvia The human ash glaze seems like the ultimate way of some how
>contributing to a glaze aesthetic. Unfortunately there is a myth that is
> perpetuated by the funeral home industry that calls incinerated human remains >"ashes".

I think ashes, in this instance is the residue left after the body is burnt.

In many States in America, remains are by law ground to a certain mesh size.

In the case of my late teacher Dainin Katagir Roshi, students
helped grind the bones. They are intact, but very soft. I imagine
it is similar to how bone ash is processed.

With my late teacher Tatsuzo Shimaoka Sensei, I took part in the
removal of the bones from the cremation kiln, which was a car kiln
with a fiber blanket on the bet of the car. The skeleton was pretty
visible, with ash that was swept away by the caretaker before
participants came up to do the removal of the bones ritual.

You use long chopsticks (ohashi) and pick up bones and hand them
to the person beside you and they put them in a container. I went up
with my friend Euan and picked the top of the femur because I didn't
want to chance dropping a small piece handing it to Euan.

In Japan, only pieces big enough to pick up with ohashi are put in the urn.

I know it sounds a little morbid, but is really is a good way to
come to grips with the fact that someone has really died. Very
concrete closure. They do death better there than in our culture.

I decided to become a potter at Katagiri Roshi's funeral in 1990.
My goal has been to make cremation urns.

--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://heartclay.blogspot.com/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." --Rumi

Lee Love on fri 12 sep 08


I should add: in Japan, because they don't grind the bones, the
opening to the cremation urns has to be larger to accommodate
the bones.
--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://heartclay.blogspot.com/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." --Rumi

Karin Givon on fri 12 sep 08


Thanks for your thoughts, Phil. I'll tell my future glazers to
calcine my ashes / bone fragments and then maybe ball mill....I doubt
if anyone would do all that, so maybe I'll just wish to be strewn
here and there. I probably won't care where this pore body goes by
then. ;>} I STILL like the idea, tho.
Karin
Nevada City, CA



On Sep 12, 2008, at 2:45 PM, pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:

Hi Karen,




None of he Crematory remains I ever saw or 'tossed' would...( make
lingering
clouds of
dust in the Air as Wood Ash does...)


So I dunno...


Given that the Crematory personnel I talked with, mentioned that they
wash
away any incidental dusts or other particles prior to drying and
packaging,
as well as sieving out any fines...I had supposed some
places might not, and I did say so...so, possibly the remains you had
were
not sieved and
washed...and possibly not all Crematorys have the same Standards or
practices.


I think one would calcine the remains...then they pulverize/powder-ize
easier...if intending to use them in a Glaze.


Regardless...just consider the remains to be roughly 'Calcium' and not
'Silica'...as for
their behavior in a Glaze.


"Ashes" as such, when from Plants, are approximately Silica (ie:
Silica with
secondary elements ).


Human or Animal refractory Crematory remains are approximately
Calcium ( ie:
Calcium
with secondary elements ) and are not 'Ashes' in anything like the
sense of
Wood or 'Plant' ashes or Bar-B-Que-Pit Ashes.


An 'Ash' Glaze is made with Plant Ashes. These are fairly simple to
make,
invite endless variation, and can be very beautiful
Glazes. The Ash often being the primary ingredient...or even the sole
ingredient.


As far as I have understood it, a Glaze which contains human or animal
refractory remains, does so as a
incidental, just to say it has done so for sentiment reasons, with
absolutely nothing resulting which distinguishes it from any other
common
Glaze...


Or, possibly, electing the animal-refractory ingredient for those Glazes
which employ Calcium and related elements as fluxes...and not because
the
remains can be used alone, or are a
useful Glaze ingredient as true 'Ash' can be...or reveal themselves
in any
way in the result, as actual 'Ash' glazes would do.


Possibly, refractory animal/people remains once calcined and pulverized,
could be added to
an actual Ash Glaze...but it might be very 'runny' if one added very
much.



Probably, a good experiment would be to add varying ( small )
amounts of
calcined, pulverized, refractory
human/animal remains to a Clay Body...rather than to a Glaze...to see
what
that does, just to have that option...just to be able to say it is 'in'
there.




Phil
l v


----- Original Message -----
From: "Karin Givon"


> Gee, Phil. WHAT was that can (and I use the term 'can' loosely) of
> ashes that really seemed like ashes to me, a little lumpy, a few
> larger bits, that I throw, tossed really, over the Mendocino
> Headlands???? Good Bye Dad!
> No? then what the hail was it? You said nothing would "suspend, or
> be carried upwards by air currents"...but these non-ashes of my dad,
> God love him, certainly floated down, and some back UP AT ME! No
> wonder I heard voices....
> I don't really understand that part of what you were saying. I was
> neither drunk nor stoned when I said Good Bye. He floated. The non
> ashes floated. (It was a good movie. I cried.)
> Kinda rough ashes, but ashes they seemed to be, nontheless. A variety
> pack of ashes and lumpies. Gray. Varying grays.
> Should I sue the crematorium?
> Should we try to 'calcine' the so-called ashes of our --no, wait a
> minit! that 's MY, future, to-be ashes as part of the ' making a
> glaze outta Karin ' process?
> I'm not making fun of this idea, I really do like it. I'd like to
> find out, if you have any idea, what would need to be done to make it
> work.
> Whaddaya think? too much copper for celadon? Reduction red, then?
> I'm giggling and laughing but I'm serious as hell!
> Karin
> DancingDragonPottery.net
> Nevada City, CA.

Hank Murrow on fri 12 sep 08


On Sep 12, 2008, at 2:45 PM, pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:
>
>
> Regardless...just consider the remains to be roughly 'Calcium' and not
> 'Silica'...as for
> their behavior in a Glaze.
>
> "Ashes" as such, when from Plants, are approximately Silica (ie:
> Silica with
> secondary elements ).
>
>
> Human or Animal refractory Crematory remains are approximately
> Calcium ( ie:
> Calcium
> with secondary elements ) and are not 'Ashes' in anything like the
> sense of
> Wood or 'Plant' ashes or Bar-B-Que-Pit Ashes.
>

Dear Phil;

I have had some luck in making glazes with human remains and I am
reluctant to suggest a correction to your statement. Yet, human and
animal remains are simply bone ash, or Calcium Phosphate. the
Phosphate does create a second glass former in any glaze, and can
contribute interesting effects...... iron blues, rich reds from iron,
and opalescence in high Silica glazes. Bone ash and specifically
phosphorus has become one of my favorite studies in recent years,
though finding insoluble sources is not easy.

Cheers, Hank in Eugene

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on sat 13 sep 08


Hi Karen,




I have never done it, but my understanding is that one would do best to
Calcine the post-Crematory refractory animal ( or people ) remains first,
then render into a fine powder by whatever method ( regular Kitchen Blender
or 'mini-electric-coffee-grinder', or the finest setting of any Grocery
Store Coffee Grinder, would probably work well even, or at least get things
'close' )...for adding to either a Glaze or Claybody.


I can just see the next person who ground their Beans at-the-store, next
morning, sort of smacking their lips slowly...with the first Cup o' the day,
thinking vaguely..."Hmmmm...tastes kinda 'chaulky'..."



Lol...



Phil
l v



----- Original Message -----
From: "Karin Givon"


> Thanks for your thoughts, Phil. I'll tell my future glazers to
> calcine my ashes / bone fragments and then maybe ball mill....I doubt
> if anyone would do all that, so maybe I'll just wish to be strewn
> here and there. I probably won't care where this pore body goes by
> then. ;>} I STILL like the idea, tho.
> Karin
> Nevada City, CA

Donald Burroughs on sat 13 sep 08


Hello Hank
=20
So what did you come up with regarding a glaze formula incorporating human =
"ashes"?
You can email me off list if you feel the topic to be uncomfortable for the=
list discussion.
=20
Regards=2C Don Burroughs
_________________________________________________________________

Lee Love on sat 13 sep 08


On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 9:53 PM, Hank Murrow wrote:
> On Sep 12, 2008, at 2:45 PM, pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:
ary elements ) and are not 'Ashes' in anything like the
>> sense of
>> Wood or 'Plant' ashes or Bar-B-Que-Pit Ashes.
>>
>
> Dear Phil;
>
> I have had some luck in making glazes with human remains and I am
> reluctant to suggest a correction to your statement.

There are all sorts of non-wood ash: bone ash, volcanic ash, soda ash.

ash 1 (sh)
n.
1. The grayish-white to black powdery residue left when something is burned=
.
2. Geology Pulverized particulate matter ejected by volcanic eruption.
3. The mineral residue of incinerated organic matter, used as an
additive in pet foods.
4. ashes Ruins: the ashes of a lost culture.
5. ashes Bodily remains, especially after cremation or decay.
tr.v. ashed, ash=B7ing, ash=B7es
To reduce or convert to ash: ash a tissue sample for analysis.

--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://heartclay.blogspot.com/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." --Rumi