Studio Projects

This is some of the stuff I'm currently working on and trying to finish up. The bottle and vase forms need to be burnished. I want to barrel these, Christmas gifts I hope. I'm also glazing the round and rectangular platers. Both the platters were made out of red earthenware clay and formed in wooden molds that I made. The black platter I've already discussed. The round platter is glazed with commercially bought turquoise, which will be fired to cone 05. I'm still cleaning up the lines on the 2 sculptures. Not sure how I'll fire these. The little one is porcelain and the larger one is stoneware.

Yesterday with a lot of help from my friend Darrel we did a lot of kiln maintenance. Not too long ago I bought a used Cress electric kiln from my old ceramics professor. It was firing-up real good last weekend when the weld securing all the kiln bricks broke. Thank goodness Darrel was standing in front of it when it happened. All the bricks on the bottom portion of the kiln shifted. Quick thinking Darrel grabbed some banding wire and we quickly wrapped it around the kiln in a few places and tightened it up real tight. It worked and shortly there after the kiln shut down. Total firing time to cone 05 was 8 hours. Anyway Darrel did the welding and we managed to get the thing back together. We also made a new level base for the kiln, that was a problem too. Now it is set up on a layer of hard fire brick covered with a layer of 1-inch 8-pound density fiber. Yeah, yeah, yeah......... Its always something.

Might as well post a couple more Raku Glaze Recipes. I've never tried this one but I like the way it sounds--Antifreeze Boil Raku Glaze. Lithium Carbonate 60, EPK 23, Frit 3124 20, Chrome Oxide 0.25

Another Raku Glaze Recipe that just sounds good is Bad @ss Alligator Raku Glaze. Gerstley Borate 8 cups, Bone Ash 2 cups, Copper Carbonate 0.5 cup, Cobalt Carbonate 0.25 cup, Cobalt Oxide 2%

Bears In The Night

I figured I might as well title this piece something, so "Bears In The Night" sounded good to me. I used a wooden form to create the shape of this platter and then used a church key (can opener) to impress all the diamond-shaped points around the edges. The platter is made out of red earthenware clay and once it was bisque fired I painted several coats of white underglaze in the center of the platter. Over that I painted 3 coats of black underglaze. Then I used a sharp pin tool and etched the bears through the black underglaze. To finish this piece I'll brush 3 coats of clear over the platter and fire it to cone 05. Although the black underglaze looks gray in this picture, once it is fired it will be a glossy jet black. The outlines of the bears will be a bright glossy white.

Newest Potter In The Coulee Region

Natalie is my little studio Buddy. This weekend she painted underglazes on one of the bowls she made, glazed a couple of my bisqued tea bowls, and glazed a few porcelain pendants I had on the shelves.

She is quite the little artist but pottery is her new medium of choice. Not only is she taking clay home to make things, she is also creating stuff at school.

I'll be posting photos of some of her finished works real soon.

Raku Glaze Recipes

I was searching through my sight meter and realized that a couple people were searching for a specific raku glaze recipe. One was for a White Crackle Raku Glaze and the other was for a clear so I thought I'd post what I have.

White Crackle Raku Glaze Recipes
#1 Frit 3134 85%
Kaolin 15%

#2 Colemanite 64%
Custer Feldspar 12%
Flint 12%
Ball Clay 6%
Zinc 6%

#3 Gerstley Borate 80%
Nepheline Syenite 20%
Add: Zircopax 10%

Clear Raku Glaze Recipes

#1 Called 1 2 3 Clear
Gerstley Borate 50
EPK 33.33
Silica 16.67

#2 Called 3110 Clear
Frit 3110 100
Tin Oxide 3
Bentonite 3

Nude IV In Progress

I have really been enjoying this sculpting stuff. This is where I am after a couple days of carving on my latest project. It is somewhat what I envisioned when I started but every time I take a bit off here or a bit off there the form starts to change and morph into its own being. Hopefully I can finish this up today and start on another.

I've added a few potter's blogs to my page. These artists post frequently and I really like their work. I still have many more to add but will get them added as soon as I can.

I want to fire-up my electric kiln this Saturday but I still have a large bottle form and a vase that I need to burnish. I plan on barrel firing those two pieces. If not Saturday, I'll fire it up on Sunday.

A couple more Raku Glaze Recipes.

Alligator Crawl Raku Glaze Recipe. Gerstley Borate 250, Bone Ash 125, Nepheline Syenite 62.5, Copper Carbonate 62.5, Tin Oxide 53.5

Green Lichen Raku Glaze Recipe. Gerstley Borate 70%, Frit 3134 30%, Add: Zircopax 10%, Add: Cobalt Carbonate 4%, Add: Chrome Oxide 2%, Add: Manganese Dioxide 3%

Sculpture Step One

Step one for my latest sculpture. I started this last Friday. Basically I just wedged up about 7 pounds of clay and then sketched out a rough drawing of what I wanted to sculpt. I started carving away with a wire cheese cutter and some old kitchen paring knives. It has come a long way since Friday and I hope to finish it up today.

Good news is that my friend Darrel finally finished all the wiring for my kiln. He ran a 240V line into the area of the basement where the kiln is located and then he connected all the wiring for the elements. I don't have a full load to fire but will fire it up 1/2 full this coming Saturday just to test it out and see how it fires.

Raku Glaze Recipes Of The Day

White Pink Raku Glaze Recipe

Frit 3134 90% EPK 10% Add: Tin Oxide 10%

Turquoise Crackle Raku Glaze

Gerstley Borate 80% Nepheline Syenite 20% Add: Zircopax 10% Add: Copper Carbonate 2%

Greenfield Village Kiln

Is this cool or what? Thanks to Kerri for thinking of me and taking this pic when she was visiting Greenfield Village in Detroit, MI. I think this twisting chimney is a work of art in itself. Man! I'd love to have a chimney like this when I build my kiln. I don't know much more than it was built in 2004. I "googled" it and found some more photos, not nearly as nice as this one, but thats about all.

I'm still sculpting. I finished Nude III yesterday, started another, and will get two more going this weekend.

I've neglected posting raku recipes. I know that there are some people looking at the recipes. I'm really just documenting them for myself but I love sharing so here are a couple more.

Deep Blue Ash Raku Glaze Recipe

Gerstley Borate 40%

Nepheline Syenite 10%

Wood Ash 50%

Add: Cobalt Carbonate 1.5%

Flaming Moondrops Raku Glaze Recipe

Lithium Carbonate 20

Magnesium Carbonate 40

Gerstley Borate 70

Chrome Oxide 0.3

Nude III

This is my latest sculpture, Nude III. Porcelain clay body, leather-hard state, approximately 8 inches tall.

My original plans for this sculpture was to have smooth curving lines throughout the form but as I was "getting into" the piece I realized that I loved the hard angular cubist form that was slowly developing. I kept the round curved line of the belly and decided to create hard angular lines for the rest of the form. I think its awsome and am going to try another similar sculpture but make it much larger.

Not sure how I'm going to fire this piece yet but will post a photo when it is finally completed.

Nude # 2

This is the piece that I accidently knocked over last week.
It broke right at the knees and it also knocked the head off. The piece was pretty much bone dry but I decided to try to salvage it since the breaks were so clean. I slipped and scored the hell out of the knee break hoping that if it worked I'd fix the head as well. It appeared to have worked quite well and I decided that I liked the form better without the head and I decided to leave the break mark "as is." Anyway, I really like the lines and I'm going to try a few more of these abstracted forms but make them larger.

I can't remember if I mentioned that I am also writing for another blog at work called "Coulee Region Art." Here is the link if anyone is interested. http://art.blogs.wkbt.com/
I really enjoy what little writing I do for that blog because each week it forces me to search out what is happening in art in the area in which I live. I didn't know there was so much happening in this little part of the Mid-West.

I still haven't gotten my potter's wheel built yet and I'm still waiting to get my electric kiln wired up. I'm waiting for a friend to run some 240 to the area where I have set the kiln up. But, that hasn't stopped me from getting muddy. This weekend the weather is supposed to be absolutely beautiful so I think I'll sit in my studio and start on a few more projects like the one above.

For the people that are visiting my blog, I'd like to say thanks. When I started this blog it was really for the sole purpose of creating a diary of what I'm doing and documenting things for future reference. It was also nice to be able to share what I'm doing with friends and family whom I see too little of. But thanks again to the readers. I really appreciate the emails you send.

Might as well post a couple more Raku Glaze Recipes. I still have some more Soldner glazes so here they are.

Soldner's Runny Iron Yellow Raku Glaze.
Gerstley Borate 50%
Borax 50%
Add: Red Iron Oxide 10%
Add: Rutile 3%

Soldner's White Raku Glaze.
Gerstley Borate 80%
Zircopax 20%

Bad Week In Clay

I have been working on an abstract sculpted nude for the past three weeks. It was looking good and I was only about five minutes away from sanding the last imperfection out of it. I get the Dumb Butt award for accidently knocking it over. In its leather hard stage the head broke off and the body was broken at the knees. Arrrg! Both were clean breaks. I actually tried to mend the lower half by slipping and scoring, but I'm not sure if the surgery will be a success. The head broke right at the neck and actually looks pretty good with no head and the clean break. I'll check it out tomorrow and see if it can be salvaged. If not I'll start it all over again.

Just getting back to Linda's comment about my nude torso--I started making the piece by rolling out a coil of clay that was slightly larger than the size of the torso I wanted to sculpt. I let that dry to a point where it was inflexible but still soft enough to use some carving/trimming tools to start sculpting out the form. It is a solid piece of clay but I did use a 3/4 inch drill bit to hollow out some from the bottom of the base. I drilled upward into the middle of the form approximately 3 inches. I did this because I was going to display it utilizing the dowel and a small marble base.

For those of you following my raku posts, I received a good article about Diana Pittis' raku fish sculptures. She describes her methods and also gives out a couple of the raku glazes she uses. The link is below.

http://www.ceramicartsdaily.org/feature/featuredetail/2008-10/gonefishingparttwo.aspx

Better get going.

Torso Sculpture

My first attempt at the female form. This torso is about 8 or 9 inches tall. The end result is that the form is much more abstract than originally intended, but I'm pretty happy with it. I think it would be easier to work larger. I'll have to try it again and see what I come up with. This piece isn't even bone dry yet and will be bisqued as soon as I get 240 wired to my kiln.

I haven't posted any raku glaze recipes for a while so here are a couple more.

Blue Copper Luster Raku Glaze
Gerstley Borate 82
Cornwall Stone 18
Cobalt Oxide 0.03
Copper Oxide 2.1



Buck's Revised Red Luster Raku Glaze
Borax 50
Gerstley Borate 50
Silica 17
Nepheline Syenite 15
Red Copper Oxide 10
Red Iron Oxide 10

I actually haven't done anything at the studio for the past few days because I had a couple friends visiting from Chicago. Always fun to see them but I left another sculpture project unfinished. I'll have to get back at it today.

First Plaster Cast

This is my first attempt at plaster casting. I bought a couple rolls of plaster bandages at the local hobby store, smeared vasaline all over my face, stuck some straws in my nose and applied the bandages to my face. I think it only took about 20 minutes. I can say that it would have been a lot easier if I had had some help.

I actually made the the plaster cast quite a few months ago but just got around to using it this past weekend.

I rolled out some porcelain with a rolling pin and then pressed the flat sheets into the mold. The porcelain dried overnight and then I carefully removed the mask from the plaster form. It looked pretty rough. The porcelain picked up every little detail from the goss banages so I just used some fine sandpaper to remove the unwanted texture.

I haven't bisque-fired this yet but will try to raku fire it with a clear crackle glaze when I have. One thing I forgot to think about was how I was going to display the mask once it is fired. My immediate thought was that I'd just hang it on the wall, but I hadn't planned ahead and did not put any fastening device on the back side of the mask. Oh well, next time. Can't wait to start casting some other forms.

Soldner's Copper Luster Correction

Thanks Anna from Aussie for pointing out my mistake. The corrected recipe for Soldner's Copper Luster Raku Glaze is:
Gerstley Borate 80%
Nepheline Syenite 20%
Add: Copper Oxide 2%
Add: Cobalt Oxide 1%
Add: Yellow Ochre 8%

I haven't done any firing lately but I have been trying my hand at sculpting. I decided to try taking on the human form, the torso to be more precise. I've actually made 3 small torsos this past week. Two were absolutely terrible and thrown into the slop bucket, but the third one isn't too bad. I'll have to post a photo of the one I kept tomorrow.

I don't have much raku clay left so I wedged up a bunch of porcelain. I haven't had too much luck throwing porcelain on the wheel but I'm anxious to try sculpting with it. We'll see what happens.

Thanks again to Anna for pointing out my glaze mistake.

More Raku Glaze Recipes

I know I haven't posted anything of great interest for a while. I am going to post a couple more Soldner Raku Glaze recipes. I can't believe I have so many. Anyway, here are a couple more.

Soldner's Copper Luster Raku Glaze
Gerstley Borate 80%
Nepheline Syenite 20%
Add: Copper Oxide 2%
Add: Cobalt Oxide 1%
Add: Copper Oxide 3%

Soldner's Runny Green Raku Glaze
Gerstley Borate 50%
Borax 50%
Add: Cobalt Carbonate 1%
Add: Red Iron Oxide 5%
Add: Rutile 5%

I did fire up my cast iron kiln yesterday. I used wood and then finished it off with gas. Not much in it, just a few tea bowls. I did line the inside chamber with hard fire brick and that really helped with the firing process. This past weekend while searching the internet I also learned of a homemade refractory goo made up of furnace cement and perlite. The materials are cheap and the furnace cement is rated to 2700F. Its so cheap that I'm going to mix some up and experiment with it.

I'll also try to get some photos of my latest firing posted in the next couple days.

Clay Mixer

Hey Hey Hey!

Check this out. My buddy Darrel had this Mortar Mixer parked out in the weeds somewhere on his property and kind of told me "this will mix some clay, huh?" before I could say boo he had it moved into the basement. Well, of course it went through the flood and the gas motor is toast but Darrel is going to get rid of the gas motor and hook up an electric one. And, of course, I have a lot of cleaning to do. Actually the interior is pretty clean, a bit rusty, but pretty clean. The mixing padles will take some work and maybe a modification or two but pretty soon this puppy will be mixing some clay.

The basement is looking better each day. We've got half of it pretty much done and have even started moving stuff back into it. Not only the clay mixer but even have the electric kiln moved into place and ready to be wired up.

Due to this massive cleanup project I haven't thrown any pots or made anything out of clay in months. Hopefully this weekend I can at least fire some pots and maybe soon I can get muddy again. Better get going, too much to do and never enough time to do it all.

More Shoveling

Mud, Mud, and more Mud, and still more mud to shovel. This is what I shoveled yesterday after work. This stall is where I plan on putting my electric kiln once it dries up and I do a little more cleaning. Hopefully I'll get it moved in this weekend and have it wired up and ready to fire by the following weekend. So....if people have been wondering why I haven't been making pots, this is why.

Some other notes, thoughts...
The Viroqua Empty Bowls Project is coming up in about a month. I'll post more info when I get it. Hopefully I'll be able to work in someone elses' studio to crank out some bowls. Must get on that right away.

Another upcoming project will be a new blog, in addition to this one. I have been asked to start blogging about "Arts In The Coulee" (the coulee region where I live). I was thinking about featuring an artist or exhibit each week and post artworthy news and events as they pop up. Still getting all the details but stay tuned for the launch.

The only other thing to say is that I must try firing a small brick kiln this weekend that a little girl named Natalie stacked up. I'll have a post dedicated to that pretty quick. I'm pretty excited about getting my bisque kiln into operation. Other than that I'll just keep shoveling.

More Raku Glaze Recipes

Just a few more Raku glaze recipes.

Soldner's Flat Black Raku Glaze
Gerstley Borate 50%
Borax 50%
Add: Cobalt Carbonate 2%
Add: Red Iron Oxide 10%
Add: Rutile 10%

Soldner's Glass Red Raku Glaze
Gerstley Borate 50%
Borax 50%
Add: Red Iron Oxide 10%
Add: Copper Carbonate 5%

Soldner's Lava Raku Glaze
EPK 30%
Silica 20%
Soda Ash 50%

Its going to be another nice weekend so I'm planning on doing another wood firing. Last week when I was reading Clayart one of the topics was hillside kilns. I had remembered somebody telling me about a "coffin kiln." I think I'm going to try building one of these, a small kiln to fire some raku teabowls. Not sure how I'm going to build it yet. Will just have to dive into the project and get the fire lit. Will post photos next week.

Cast Iron Kiln

Well, here she is in action--My cast iron wood burning kiln.

Looks good, but unfortunately the kiln did not reach temperature. Not a failure though. I learned lots.

First thing and perhaps the most important for me is that if I'm stoking the fire, I'm not doing it on my knees or bending over. I'm going to add another layer of cinder block to the base of this foundation and raise it up.

Another thing is that this kiln is too tight. By that I mean it didn't have enough air or draft. First of all I need to take a piece off the back of my door. The damper works great but there is a piece of metal that restricts airflow. With the back piece removed you'll be able to see right through the four holes and right into the fire box.

Perhaps most important of all I need to figure out how to put a mouse hole into the firebox floor. I needed air hitting the ember pile during this firing.

I only fired 4 teabowls in this test run. They were placed on a round kiln shelf supported by three fire brick. This really reduced the size of my firebox. There was one inch of clearance between the tops of the tea bowls and my fiber board roof. I also used a couple firebrick as a grate system to hlod the wood up off the floor.

When I rebuild this kiln I am putting the ware chamber above the whole firebox. I am thinking about making a small fiber-lined chamber and setting that over the round portion of the firebox. I am also going to stack brick around the exterior of the cast iron firebox because it puts out way too much heat. Looking for some suggestions. Help Wanted.

New Kiln Project

Check this out. All kinds of new stuff for my wood burning kiln building project. One of my friends gave me a piece to an old coal burning furnace. Its cast iron, pretty thick and has a nice door. I am going to use this piece as it sits now. It is actually upside down from its original design but it looked to me to be a perfect fit for a small beehive type updraft kiln.

Plans are to use a layer of fine grog on top of the cinder block, level it out and then place a layer of medium duty hard fire brick on top of that for the floor of the kiln.

Next is to place the cast iron fire box on top of that. Not sure how I'll proceed after that. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants with excitement. I'm sure the cast iron will radiate a lot of painful heat so I'll probably layer up some red common brick around the exterior.

Not sure How I'll stack up the kiln ware chamber yet but I'll probably use a roof made of fiber.

My buddy also found some stainless steel pipe that will probably make good chimney material but I won't be using this big piece on this project. Better get to building. Weather is great today. Hope to fire tomorrow or Monday. Gotta run.

Soldner's Copper Red Luster Raku Glaze

Soldner's Copper Red Luster Raku Glaze

Gerstley Borate 80%
Nepheline Syenite 20%
Add: Cobalt Oxide 1%
Add: Copper Oxide 3%