Kelly Dudley/Kathy Roberts on fri 9 jan 98
Hi Ron,
The Malibu Potteries made extensive use of the cuerda seca technique on
tiles in the 1920s and 30s. The idea was to draw the design on the tile
with the manganese/oil mixture. The outline drawing would then deep the
glazes separate during the firing. In the book "Ceramic Art of the
Malibu Potteries," (ISBN 0-295-97372-2) the method is described thusly:
"The manganese and oil mixture was a finely pulverized manganese oxide
mixed with a medium viscosity mineral oil. The oil in the lines
resisted the flow of the wet glaze placed in the spaces between the
lines of the pattern in the design, leaving a dry line visible as the
glazes dried on the surface of the tile. This process is known as the
'cuerda seca' method meaning 'dry cord' or 'dry line,' originally used
by the Spanish and the Moors who used animal fats and grease instead of
a mineral oil misture. During the firing the oil burned off at a
relatively low temperature; at a higher temperature, the manganese oxide
fused and bubbled to form a charred dry line separating the glazes which
were fired up to approximately 1900F."
The book also describes a different technique:
"Another process of design called the 'cuenca' (meaning 'tub') method
featured a design impressed into the surface of the wet clay tile with
ridges serving as lines separating the glazes, thus forming tub-like
areas where the glaze could be inlaid."
Kelly Dudley in Arizona - A big fan of Malibu tiles
teco@getnet.com
the Gallagher's on mon 12 jan 98
This brings up a question I had regarding the toxic nature of the materials.
Manganese, from what I understand, can have an extremely damaging effect on
the nervous system, or at least damage of nerve endings in any area of the
body coming into repeated contact.
I have tried to create a sort of "faux" cuerda seca using a painted line of
black stain and then waxing over the top. The precision is not as great, as
the lines tend to miss each other in places, but my real concern is that the
chemical used in black stain is basically the same, ie; manganese.
Can anyone out there reasure me that it's really something safe, or do I still
need to be wearing my gloves?
Michelle
In Oregon, where it's FREEZING!
Paul Lewing on tue 13 jan 98
Michelle,
There's a new product on the market for doing cuerda seca decoration
called Glazeline. It's black and resists real well. I used some in
Atlanta when I was teaching a workshop there, and the students were
all real impressed with it. We didn't have time to try silk-screening
it, but I think it would work well for that. I have no idea what's in
it to make it black.
Here's another idea for a real "faux" cuerda seca. A friend of mine
makes tiles that have a black resist line separating areas of color,
just like this. She screens a clear wax resist, fills in the color,
fires, then dips the tiles in a bucket of India ink. From the front,
they look just like cuerda seca, but they are black on the back, too.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
the Gallagher's on wed 14 jan 98
Paul,
That is a very interesting idea, I may try that!
I wonder how the ink holds up over the long term?
BTW, I'm looking forward to your workshop next weekend. Will you be sharing
that idea with examples?
See you there.
Michelle
In Oregon, where the ice is slowly melting.
Laura Conley on thu 15 jan 98
Another idea for a black resist is to mix the ingredients for a black glaze,
but instead adding water, use cold wax. I have never tried this idea, not
do I know anyone who has, but the glaze guru at OCC pottery in Royal Oak,
Michigan once mentioned this as an idea...
Laura Conley
Boulder, CO
Paul Lewing wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Michelle,
> There's a new product on the market for doing cuerda seca decoration
> called Glazeline. It's black and resists real well. I used some in
> Atlanta when I was teaching a workshop there, and the students were
> all real impressed with it. We didn't have time to try silk-screening
> it, but I think it would work well for that. I have no idea what's in
> it to make it black.
>
> Here's another idea for a real "faux" cuerda seca. A friend of mine
> makes tiles that have a black resist line separating areas of color,
> just like this. She screens a clear wax resist, fills in the color,
> fires, then dips the tiles in a bucket of India ink. From the front,
> they look just like cuerda seca, but they are black on the back, too.
>
> Paul Lewing, Seattle
DIANA PANCIOLI, ASSOC. PROF. on sun 25 jan 98
Dear Gallaghers:
We have been exploring cuerda seca in our university studio for a year or
so. We started out mixing various dark metal oxides (singly) with
frit and cold wax. Some worked better than others: Iron Chromate gave a
nice line, Managanese was a bit bumpy, Cobalt affected the glaze around
it with blue haloes, copper with green.
BUT although I kept the cuerda seca mixture in small glass
bottles (pill bottle sized) to keep the wax from thickening, the materials
would settle out badly. If students didn't stir the materials well
each time, the result would be that the colorant would powder off after
firing, probably because not enough frit had been stirred back into the
mix.
The best solution we found and the one we use now is to mix a teaspoon of
shiny black glaze (Nancy's Black) with a teaspoon of cold wax, use it, and
discard what is leftover. This way the mixture is freshly made, freshly
stirred and we don't get any dangerous oxides powdering off. The glaze
gives a not-too--shiny black line because it isn't applied heavily
enough to shine. Hope this helps.
Diana at EMU
On Mon, 12 Jan 1998, the Gallagher's
wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> This brings up a question I had regarding the toxic nature of the materials.
> Manganese, from what I understand, can have an extremely damaging effect on
> the nervous system, or at least damage of nerve endings in any area of the
> body coming into repeated contact.
> I have tried to create a sort of "faux" cuerda seca using a painted line of
> black stain and then waxing over the top. The precision is not as great, as
> the lines tend to miss each other in places, but my real concern is that the
> chemical used in black stain is basically the same, ie; manganese.
>
> Can anyone out there reasure me that it's really something safe, or do I still
> need to be wearing my gloves?
>
> Michelle
> In Oregon, where it's FREEZING!
>
Pam Easley on mon 2 apr 01
Hi Cindy.
How in the world did you get this job? Is it hard to do? Do you have to
check your computer every fifteen seconds, or what? I’ll bet, to send your
own post, you just do it the regular way, and you will receive it just like
the rest of ours…….
These folks who did the demonstration fire at cone 10, I think, but you can
do it at any temperature. The oil line just separates the glaze
applications, and it looks pretty much like mosaic. Very cool. And easy to
do. One neat trick they had was their application brushes: they just took an
inexpensive watercolor brush and trimmed off all the hairs but about 10 in
the very center (depending on how thick you want your line, more hairs left,
the thicker the line). The short part is the reservoir for the lining
fluid – the thing was trimmed about half way down. Wish I could draw a
picture of this for you, but you probably get the idea.
What they did was, drew a scheme of the design they wanted on the tile or
pot in pencil. Then they went over that with this secret oil mixture. If
they goofed, they scraped it off with an exacto knife. They said they
thinned the mixture with turpentine – it was like water almost. Then they
filled in the sections with whatever glaze color they wanted. The glaze was
quite thin, and applied with an ear syringe that had a little plastic thing
stuck in the top. They used the tubing from a ball point pen, cut at an
angle. The oil keeps the glazes from one another and the end result is quite
stunning. But, the secret part is ludicrous – the technique was invented a
million years ago, and there is a commercial pottery that uses it, too. I
think it’s called Malibu Pottery. I’ll pass the word on when I find out
more.
Pam
Richard Mahaffey on tue 3 apr 01
I read that Picasso used oil paint for Cuerda Seca and it worked as long
as the pigment was Manganese. Oil medium is traditionally linseed oil.
Try it out if you have some oils lying around. latex paint often uses
ceramics pigments for pigments as well. colored resists...Hmmmmm.
Think about it and maybe give it a try.
Rick Mahaffey
Tacoma Community College
Tacoma, Washington, USA
Farrero, Charley on tue 3 apr 01
At the college here we use treated (boiled ) linseed oil and manganese for
cuerda seca decoration.
Charley Farrero
farrero@siast.sk.ca
Ceramics dept. WOODLAND CAMPUS
BOX 3003- PRINCE ALBERT.SK.
S6V 6G1 CANADA
ph:(306) 9537064 fax:(306) 9537099
http://www.siast.sk.ca/~woodland/dos/community/ceramic/
studio: Box 145 Meacham S0K 2V0 306-3762221
cfjj@sk.sympatico.ca
http://www.saskterra.sk.ca/profile.htm
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/handwave/hcharley.html
> ----------
> From: Pam Easley[SMTP:peasley@QWEST.NET]
> Reply To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 10:51 AM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Cuerda Seca
>
> Hi Cindy.
>
> How in the world did you get this job? Is it hard to do? Do you have to
> check your computer every fifteen seconds, or what? I'll bet, to send your
> own post, you just do it the regular way, and you will receive it just
> like
> the rest of ours.......
>
> These folks who did the demonstration fire at cone 10, I think, but you
> can
> do it at any temperature. The oil line just separates the glaze
> applications, and it looks pretty much like mosaic. Very cool. And easy to
> do. One neat trick they had was their application brushes: they just took
> an
> inexpensive watercolor brush and trimmed off all the hairs but about 10 in
> the very center (depending on how thick you want your line, more hairs
> left,
> the thicker the line). The short part is the reservoir for the lining
> fluid - the thing was trimmed about half way down. Wish I could draw a
> picture of this for you, but you probably get the idea.
>
> What they did was, drew a scheme of the design they wanted on the tile or
> pot in pencil. Then they went over that with this secret oil mixture. If
> they goofed, they scraped it off with an exacto knife. They said they
> thinned the mixture with turpentine - it was like water almost. Then they
> filled in the sections with whatever glaze color they wanted. The glaze
> was
> quite thin, and applied with an ear syringe that had a little plastic
> thing
> stuck in the top. They used the tubing from a ball point pen, cut at an
> angle. The oil keeps the glazes from one another and the end result is
> quite
> stunning. But, the secret part is ludicrous - the technique was invented a
> million years ago, and there is a commercial pottery that uses it, too. I
> think it's called Malibu Pottery. I'll pass the word on when I find out
> more.
>
> Pam
>
> __________________________________________________________________________
> ____
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>
Pancioli on tue 3 apr 01
I read that Cuerda Seca was originally Manganese and Mutton Fat!
So we tried Manganese and Wax Resist. It dusted off even after the
glaze firing (Cone 04). And knowing the dangers of Manganese I
redesigned the Cuerda Seca mixture.
Because the mixture needed some glass to make it stick, I added Frit--so
the mix was Mn, wax, and frit. But it settled out badly and a lack of
stirring could still cause it to powder off.
The final solution for us is a teaspoon of our favorite black glaze and
a teaspoon of wax resist mixed fresh each time we want to use it.
Diana
Joseph Herbert on thu 5 apr 01
Rick Mahaffey wrote: …
latex paint often uses ceramics pigments for pigments as well. colored
resists...Hmmmmm. Think about it and maybe give it a try.
I once heard Don Reitz state (at NCECA, Minn.?) he had applied latex house
paint to his works in all stages from just thrown to bisque. I don’t recall
if he was pleased or even satisfied with the result. He gave the impression
that he did it more than once. So…
The major pigment in white house paint is Titanium Dioxide, an obvious
ceramic material.
If he were wood firing at the time, the residue from the latex paint then is
just part of a multi-component glaze whereas some “non-additive” firing
method might produce unacceptable results.
Joseph Herbert
Andi Bauer on thu 20 feb 03
One correction to Stephani's post -- Eleanor's shop is on La Jolla Blvd in
the Bird Rock area rather than highway 101; the name of the gallery is
Sunstone.
Andi in San Diego
>LaJolla , California potter Eleanor Murphy uses a wax resist technique
>to impart a cuerda seca look to her stoneware pottery.
>Her gallery is in the Birdrock area of S. La Jolla, on Hwy. 101. Her
>work is quite wonderful . If you are attending NCECA, you will enjoy a
>visit to her pottery and gallery.
>See photos and info at her website http://sandiego-online.com/sunstone/
>Stephani Stephenson
>steph@alchemiestudio.com
Andi Bauer
619-543-3758
email: mailto:acody@ucsd.edu
Pat Rogers on thu 20 feb 03
I will be on vacation from Thursday, February 20 and Friday February
21st. Please contact Lilla Tune @ 8433 or Stuart Almond @ 6335 if you
have questions or need assistance.
Thank you.
Pat
Judy Kanigel on sun 13 apr 03
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Hi all,
Although I live on the east coast,I recently visited the Adamson House
in Malibu,CA which was once the home of Malibu Potteries. The tile work
on this beautiful estate was made using a method of decorating called
Cuerda Seca, which is still being done in individual studios in the
area. I saw it demonstrated and would like to try it. Which brings me
to my question:
Does anyone have the recipe?
Judy in Cambridge, MA, where it still feels like winter.
Judy Kanigel on sun 13 apr 03
Hi all,
Although I live on the east coast,I recently visited the Adamson House
in Malibu,CA which was once the home of Malibu Potteries. The tile work
on this beautiful estate was made using a method of decorating called
Cuerda Seca, which is still being done in individual studios in the
area. I saw it demonstrated and would like to try it. Which brings me
to my question: Does anyone have the recipe?
Judy in Cambridge, MA, where it still feels like winter.
Linda R Hughes on fri 5 dec 03
Hi All,
For those interested in looking at some sites concerning the historical =
aspects of Cuerda Seca:=20
www.art-arena.com/hpart.html
www.lacma.org/islamic_art/lma.htm
www.artsofislam.org/Tile/WebPages/Topics4.htm
www.creationsbyportcamel.com/about_mirrors.html
The last on is not historic, but does give some good examples. And yes =
these came from a Google search. The trick is to find a good sight and =
then keep following the links.=20
This is the kind of work I do, but do not have the two dimensional =
skills to really do it justice. For those of you who do have those =
skills, it is great fun. The trick is (if you want to take it to the =
third dimension, instead of just tile work) is in the glazes. They have =
to be stable enough to stay within the desired space. You also need a =
colorful palate to make it interesting. Just another challenge to face =
and deal with. Just great fun to be had by those interested enough to =
take the time and trouble.=20
Enjoy, and post any other sites you find.=20
Linda
Linda R. Hughes
mamahug@comcast.net
Linda R Hughes on fri 5 dec 03
Hi Again,
Before I get my head chewed off..............Should have tried some of =
the sites I recommended before I submitted them, some are not working at =
the moment, had them bookmarked on my old computer. Here are some =
others I just tried. Hope they work for you.
www.simoray.com/ceramics02-lge.htm
www.byegm.gov.tr/YAYINLARIMIZ/newspot/2001/mar_apr/n14.htm
www.art-arena.com/zandqajar4.htm
www.lacma.org/islamic_art/lia.htm
www.trianaimports.com/out.htm
homepages.bw.edu/~wwwhis/safavid.html
islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/
Hope these work for you. There are a lot more if you read Spanish.
Enjoy, Linda
Linda R. Hughes
mamahug@comcast.net
Millie Carpenter on sat 6 dec 03
cuerda seca links that have more pictures than words, Except for the
1st one.
It was really interesting to see the progression from sacred Islam to
sacred Jewish to sacred Christianity to contemporary culture. thank
you to whomever brought this topic up.
http://isfahan.anglia.ac.uk/glossary/texture/tilework/cuerda1.html
http://isfahan.anglia.ac.uk/glossary/texture/tilework/cuerda1.html
http://www.casadejacob.com/es/dept_521.html
http://www.arttileswest.com/styles_mo.htm
http://www.spongobongo.com/her9655.htm
http://isfahan.apu.ac.uk/papers/manuni/cuerda2a.htm
http://isfahan.apu.ac.uk/papers/manuni/cuerda2c.htm
http://www.geocities.com/jajlg/reievescuerdaseca.htm
http://www.geocities.com/jajlg/cuerdaseca.htm
Millie warm and cozy in snowy Maryland.
GO NAVY BEAT ARMY
Guillermo Sequeiros on mon 10 oct 05
Hi everybody,
I have heard and read a lot of times that for the cuerda seca technique
should be use a mix of manganese bioxiside and a RESIST WAX.
Which can of WAX should be used??, oil, parafine liquid ? Can you help
me please, and in which proportions? Another question which is the tool
used to apply this mix?
Do you know any web page that can helpme?
Best regards,
John Britt on thu 2 feb 06
Hello all,
I am just wondering if anyone knows the English name for "Cuerda Seca" or
Dry Rope technique. It uses oil or wax mixed with a coloring oxide to make
resist lines on tiles or pots. After firing there is a black line
seperating the glaze.
Axner sells a "Waxline" pen /syringe.
Thanks in advance,
John Britt
www.johnbrittpottery.com
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