New year

The new year has me invigorated. Lots of energy for new and old projects.
This blog is one of the old projects that has fallen by the wayside and needs my attention.

I have actually been making pots since the last post. Here are some pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29665788@N04/sets/72157610906937840/

I have continued my experiments with glaze on glaze. I have been using several combinations and here are my favorites.

Mashiko kaki fake / wax resist / Temple white

Kaki
kona f4 spar (soda) 31.2
talc 5.2
wollastonite 6.5
bone ash 0.5
epk 11.4
om4 11.4
silica 26.8
red iron oxide 6.4
titanium 0.5
manganese 0.2

I leave the manganese out. I found this glaze posted on clayart and it was attributed to John Reeve.

Temple white
custer feldspar 35.7
whiting 2.5
dolomite 19.1
epk 23.5
silica 19.1

This glaze is a favorite of mine. It tends to mute over and under glaze decoration due to the large clay portion. I love this effect on under glaze decoration especially with cobalt.
I have been using hot paraffin wax mixed with about 15% ULTRA PURE paraffin oil to do my resist patterns between coats of glaze. Works well but it tends to dictate the type of patterns you can create. This is both liberating and limiting at the same time. I bought some Aftosa brand cold resist to try on some patterns that I just can't do with hot wax.

I have also been using oxide washes over various glazes. In this case it is Temple white / wax / iron oxide.


Notice on the rim that the banding gets a little thin. Temple white takes a lot more oxide than lower clay glazes. This effect could be used to great advantage with painted on scenes and decorations. If only I could paint.

Another combo I like is 4321 celadon / wax / iron oxide

4321 is a Bernard Leach glaze
potash feldspar 40
silica 30
whiting 20
epk kaolin 10

This glaze has lots of flux and lots of silica and is very fluid when it melts. Wax resist patterns move a lot and fine details tend to bleed together. This dictates what patterns will look good which is limiting but it also forces you to try out new patterns and when working with the hot wax it makes you move quickly and get things right the first try. I'll be interested to see if the Aftosa cold resist will allow for some different styles of patterns or if the glaze will be more of a deciding factor.