mel jacobson on tue 20 oct 09
there is no way i am saying that commercial clay is not well mixed.
it is.
but the old methods used massive amounts of water, and that is
not the case any longer...and the age of blunged clay is very
impressive.
clay goes from dry to the plasitc bag in minutes now.
the machines do a great job of mixing...and most
tumble mix the dry ingredients. and that is very important.
and, screening is really important.
we are lucky to have great clay at our finger tips.
but, the old method was damn fine.
and as clayarters will tell you...it is not that hard to make in
your own studio. and, you don't always have to have a pug
mill, but it helps.
as you age, the pug mill becomes your greatest friend.
i made, re/cycled and added tim's stoneware to about 1000 lbs
on friday.
set it all out, and fired my kiln, the weather changed and the entire
1000 lbs got too firm. spray with water, run through the pug mill again.
perfect. took about an hour. and, i will re/pug as i need it.
that makes four passes through mr. walker.
i keep that pile in one mass. let it age a few more days.
ready to go.
mel
admission:
i had scattered reduction in my last firing.
about a third of the shelves were cool and gray.
will just refire.
colleen had almost all of her pots in the bad zone.
but, maybe it was a kiln god teaching her that you
earn the great pots with time.
well thrown, too much glaze, and a bad spot in a poor
firing...and the `god's of hell struck`.
learning to glaze is the most difficult process in ceramics.
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
| |
|
