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studio setup, please help

updated thu 20 jul 00

 

Juliet Johnston on wed 19 jul 00


Hi,

I work part-time with the art collection of a very small private college in Jackson, Mississippi, Tougaloo College. I am doing some volunteer work in trying to get a ceramics program set up there. We have taken an old unused basement and cleaned it out and are in the process of setting up a studio there that will be used for clay sculpture and ceramics. We can't get the art teacher interested, but have the full support of the college President. We will have workshops here until a teacher is hired, probally a year or so off.

My problem now is knowing what glaze chemicals to buy. Pat Hankins from Georgia State University is doing our August workshop on sawdust firing. She is traveling and unavailable until workshop time. I really need some help in deciding on some basic chemicals to purchase for the different workshops. I don't make my own glazes and so have no clue as to how to get started. Are there a few very basic things that every glaze room needs? or do you need some of everything? We have electric kilns that fire to cone 10 and a raku kiln. Please give me some help, I am totally lost here. Juliet


MLL7777@AOL.COM wrote:
juliet -
your studio sounds very interesting.... can you describe it alittle more?
where are you?

I am interested in opening a studio - learning center - clay classes for
kids/studio space... either coop or owned by a small group...
anyone out there have any ideas where I can find info or talk to someone who
has done this kind of thing? any places I can visit? I'm in
Virginia..........

Clayart is a miracle of modern technology - what could be better than
clay-lovers interacting? thanks to every one of you!
Mary Lou

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Marcia Selsor on wed 19 jul 00


Dear Julie,

I thibk you should pick a few raku glazes and buy just a few chemicals.
To invest in a whole range of chemicals without specific glazes in mind,
would be wasteful.
I would suggest some basic things though:
Clays for glazes :
Ball clay 50 lbs
Nehp. syn 50
Silica 50
Talc 50
Feldspars /fluxes
Custer feldspar (potash base) 50
F-4 Feldspar (soda base) 50
whiting 50
Dolomite 50
zinc 25

Gerstley Borate (if you can find some) 50
or Frits 3195 25 lbs
Frit 3110 25
Frit 3134 25

Oxides:
tin ox (5 lbs) or zircopax (cheaper) 10 lbs
cobalt carb 5lbs
copper carb 5 lbs.
rutile 5 lbs
red iron oxide 5

This should be enough basic stuff for mixing raku glazes and some
stoneware. There are many other things to add like petalite, lithium.
etc. but these would be for more specific glazes.

Best wishes,
Marcia



Juliet Johnston wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I work part-time with the art collection of a very small private college in Jackson, Mississippi, Tougaloo College. I am doing some volunteer work in trying to get a ceramics program set up there. We have taken an old unused basement and cleaned it out and are in the process of setting up a studio there that will be used for clay sculpture and ceramics. We can't get the art teacher interested, but have the full support of the college President. We will have workshops here until a teacher is hired, probally a year or so off.
>
> My problem now is knowing what glaze chemicals to buy. Pat Hankins from Georgia State University is doing our August workshop on sawdust firing. She is traveling and unavailable until workshop time. I really need some help in deciding on some basic chemicals to purchase for the different workshops. I don't make my own glazes and so have no clue as to how to get started. Are there a few very basic things that every glaze room needs? or do you need some of everything? We have electric kilns that fire to cone 10 and a raku kiln. Please give me some help, I am totally lost here. Juliet
>
> MLL7777@AOL.COM wrote:
> juliet -
> your studio sounds very interesting.... can you describe it alittle more?
> where are you?
>
> I am interested in opening a studio - learning center - clay classes for
> kids/studio space... either coop or owned by a small group...
> anyone out there have any ideas where I can find info or talk to someone who
> has done this kind of thing? any places I can visit? I'm in
> Virginia..........
>
> Clayart is a miracle of modern technology - what could be better than
> clay-lovers interacting? thanks to every one of you!
> Mary Lou
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.

--
Marcia Selsor
selsor@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/spain99.html
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/selsor/welcome.html

Peg Landham on wed 19 jul 00


I'm a newly subscribing lurker, not in a position to instruct anyone on how
to set up a studio. Some of the advice I got when I started was to stick
with frits (50-100 pounds) and a few oxides, (1-5 pound quantities) but of
course, I didn't. What artist worth her silica is not a rebel? It might be
simpler for you, though, until you get a teacher who knows what he/she wants
to work with. On the other hand, I know when you've got backing is the time
to stock up. If you're going to be doing stoneware, and it sounds like you
are, check out some glaze books so you can get a basic idea of the
proportions you'll go through, mixing glazes. In the meantime, contact the
workshop instructors coming up after Pat and see what they're going to want.

I know that Pat Hankins uses Gerstley Borate and Nepheline Syenite (4 to 1)
for her raku glazing, but for sawdust firing that shouldn't be necessary.
Surely someone else, perhaps from an educational institution, will jump in
here and come to your aid, if nothing else, to thrash my misinformation.

The Pat Hankins workshop you're hosting is actually what caught my
attention. I would like to attend, if possible. If it's still open, will you
please send me info on cost and dates? Did you already post them? Sorry if I
missed that.

Thanks, and good luck with your project.
Peggy Landham, cooking in Birmingham
plandham@charter.net


----- Original Message -----
From: Juliet Johnston
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2000 7:02 AM
Subject: Re: Studio setup, Please Help


> Hi,
>
> I work part-time with the art collection of a very small private college
in Jackson, Mississippi, Tougaloo College. I am doing some volunteer work in
trying to get a ceramics program set up there. We have taken an old unused
basement and cleaned it out and are in the process of setting up a studio
there that will be used for clay sculpture and ceramics. We can't get the
art teacher interested, but have the full support of the college President.
We will have workshops here until a teacher is hired, probally a year or so
off.
>
> My problem now is knowing what glaze chemicals to buy. Pat Hankins from
Georgia State University is doing our August workshop on sawdust firing. She
is traveling and unavailable until workshop time. I really need some help in
deciding on some basic chemicals to purchase for the different workshops. I
don't make my own glazes and so have no clue as to how to get started. Are
there a few very basic things that every glaze room needs? or do you need
some of everything? We have electric kilns that fire to cone 10 and a raku
kiln. Please give me some help, I am totally lost here. Juliet
>
>
> MLL7777@AOL.COM wrote:
> juliet -
> your studio sounds very interesting.... can you describe it alittle more?
> where are you?
>
> I am interested in opening a studio - learning center - clay classes for
> kids/studio space... either coop or owned by a small group...
> anyone out there have any ideas where I can find info or talk to someone
who
> has done this kind of thing? any places I can visit? I'm in
> Virginia..........
>
> Clayart is a miracle of modern technology - what could be better than
> clay-lovers interacting? thanks to every one of you!
> Mary Lou
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.