MATERIAL GUY - PART FOUR

FRIDAY, MARCH 2ND, 2012


FLASHBACK - FAST FORWARD!

I WANTED TO USE THE PORCELAIN CLAY SURFACE

 FOR GLAZE PAINTINGS 

HUMMINGBIRD PLATE - 1977 - PORCELAIN - GLAZE + SANDBLASTING,

BONE-FUMING AND BRUSHWORK - GAS-FIRED IN REDUCTION AT CONE 10 

PORCELAIN PLATE - 1978 - METCHOSIN MISTS SERIES - MULTIPLE

GLAZE APPLICATION - REDUCTION FIRED AT CONE 10

CERAMIC CALCULATION PROGRAMS HAVE SOME GOOD POINTS. FOR ME, HOWEVER, THEIR SHORTCOMINGS ARE FAR GREATER THAN THEIR BENEFITS. THE REASONS THAT I DON'T NORMALLY USE ANY FORM OF CHEMICAL CALCULATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MY GLAZES ARE THAT THEY DON'T TELL ME WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW. WITH GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF MATERIALS, THE PROCESS OF GLAZE AND COLOR DEVELOPMENT IS ALMOST INTUITIVE. USING GLAZE CALCULATION REALLY NEEDS GOOD MATERIAL UNDERSTANDING FOR OPTIMUM EFFECTIVENESS.

B'ORIBE PLATE - 2004 - PORCELAIN WITH MULTIPLE GLAZES

FIRED AT CONE 10 IN REDUCTION

CALCULATION TELLS US THE FOLLOWING:

1.    CALCULATION CAN PROVIDE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLES OF  MINERAL FUSION THROUGH A RELATIVELY SIMPLE CALCULATION PROCESS.

2.    IT ESTABLISHES THE RATIOS OF CHEMICAL MOLECULES  TO DEVELOP A GLAZE AT A GIVEN TEMPERATURE.

3.  THROUGH THE USE OF LIMIT FORMULAE, CALCULATION ESTABLISHES THE NORMAL EXTENTS OF VOLUME IN CHEMICAL USE FOR A GIVEN TEMPERATURE RANGE, I.E. BETWEEN 0 AND 1.0.

4.    CALCULATION MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO EASILY COMPARE FORMULAE.

5.  CALCULATION MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO READ AND USE INFORMATION IN TECHNICAL CERAMIC BOOKS AND JOURNALS.

6.     IT CAN BE USEFUL IN PINPOINTING THE CAUSE OF GLAZE PROBLEMS.

7.  CALCULATION MAKES REPLACEMENT OF CHANGED OR DISCONTINUED MATERIALS A FAIRLY EASY OPERATION.

B'Oribe PLATE - 1978 - BORROWED FROM ORIBE - PORCELAIN

FIRED IN REDUCTION AT CONE 10

WHAT CALCULATION DOESN'T TELL US.

1.   CALCULATION DOESN'T ACCURATELY PREDICT THE QUALITY OF SURFACE; GLASSY, GLOSSY, SATIN, VELLUM, MATT, CRYSTALLINE OR DRY - HOW IT WILL LOOK AND FEEL.

2.    CALCULATION WON'T TELL WHICH RAW MATERIALS TO USE IN A GLAZE TO OBTAIN A SPECIFIC COLOR OR COLOR RANGE, AND WHAT TO ADD TO ANY COLORANT TO WIDEN ITS SCOPE.

3.    NOR WILL IT INDICATE HOW COLORANTS OR OPACIFIERS WILL BEHAVE IN A GIVEN GLAZE - SOME BEHAVE AS FLUXES AND MAKE THE GLAZE RUNNY, OR SOME, AS REFRACTORIES DRY OUT THE GLAZE SURFACE.

4.    CALCULATION CAN'T FORECAST HOW THE GLAZE WILL VARY IN DIFFERENT KILNS AND FIRING CONDITIONS.

IF IT DOESN'T ANSWER THESE FOUR QUESTIONS FOR ME, IT ELIMINATES THE POTENTIAL OF GLAZE AND COLOR DEVELOPMENT FROM AN INTUITIVE, EXPERIENTIAL AND VISUAL VIEWPOINT - THE VERY CORE OF THE WAYS THAT ARTISTS THINK AND WORK.

PORCELAIN PLATE - 1978 - NIGHT FOREST SERIES

MULTIPLE GLAZE APPLICATION, FIRED IN REDUCTION AT CONE 10

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE QUALITIES AND COLORS OF CERAMIC SURFACES ARE WHAT WE FIND MOST APPEALING. THEREFORE, A CALCULATION METHOD WHICH, ALTHOUGH UNDENIABLY VALUABLE IN CERTAIN AREAS, FALLS FAR SHORT IN THE VERY PLACES THAT ARE OUR GREATEST CONCERN HAS EXTREMELY LIMITED USE FOR THE ARTIST.  ALL THE GLAZES THAT I HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS HAVE COME FROM EMPIRICAL UNDERSTANDING GAINED FROM TESTING AND OBSERVATION.  OTHER THAN OCCASIONALLY NARROWING THE FIELD THROUGH LIMIT FORMULAE, I WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE MATERIALS THAT OVER THE YEARS I HAVE COME TO KNOW AND TRUST.  I PERSONALLY FEEL MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE WORKING INTUITIVELY LIKE THIS.

 PARABOLIC BOTTLE - PORCELAIN  - 1978 - NIGHT FOREST SERIES

MULTIPLE GLAZE APPLICATION, FIRED IN REDUCTION AT CONE 10

I HAD DEVELOPED GOOD DRAWING, RESEARCH AND OBSERVATION SKILLS BETWEEN AGES FIVE AND FIFTEEN. SO, AS I CAME TO THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL, I MOVED ON TO ART SCHOOL. FIRST IT WAS IN PAINTING, DRAWING AND PRINTMAKING, FOLLOWED BY CERAMICS AND LITHOGRAPHY.  IT WAS A PERFECT MATCH FOR ME.  SINCE BOTH THE POTTERY AND LITHOGRAPHY STUDIOS WERE SMALL, WITH FEW STUDENTS, I COULD MOVE FORWARD RAPIDLY IN TEACHING MYSELF WHAT I FELT I NEEDED TO KNOW TO DO WHAT I HOPED I WOULD BE CAPABLE OF.  I SET THE SCENE IN SUCH A WAY THAT AS SOON AS I COULD MAKE ENOUGH INCOME AND HAVE ENOUGH COLLATERAL FROM THEATER AND EUROPEAN TRAVEL GUIDING TO BUY AND RENOVATE MY FIRST HOUSE IN LONDON. FOR THOSE WHO MAY BE NEW TO READING THIS BLOG, THE WAY I ARRIVED AT THIS POINT IS THE SAGA THAT STARTS WITH THE FIRST POSTING ON DECEMBER  31ST, 2011 - NEW YEAR'S EVE. IT REPRESENTED A NEW STAGE OF ACTIVITY IN MY LIFE.

THROUGHOUT TEENAGE, ADOLESCENCE, AND EARLY ADULTHOOD. I SPENT A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME IN VARIOUS MUSEUMS THROUGHOUT EUROPE.  IT SEEMED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT DIDN'T CATCH MY ATTENTION, EXCEPT SPORTS.  HUMAN HISTORY AND THE ARTIFACTS, PARTICULARLY CLAY OBJECTS, THAT HAVE BEEN MADE GLOBALLY OVER THE LAST 10,000 YEARS HAVE BEEN A MAJOR SOURCE OF INTEREST. BUT THEN SO HAVE  TRAVEL, ARCHITECTURE OF ALL TIMES, GARDENS AND PLANTS, ANIMALS AND BIRDS, THEATER AND ITS MAGIC AND THE EXCITING AREAS OF  GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY, CERAMICS, GLAZE AND COLOR. IT WASN'T UNTIL I STARTED MY FIRST STUDIO, THAT I REALIZED THAT ART SCHOOL HADN'T PROVIDED ME WITH ANY REAL UNDERSTANDING OF GLAZE AND COLOR OTHER THAN A FEW GLAZE RECIPES. I HAD TO FIND OUT WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW BY TRIAL AND ERROR. I STARTED MY RESEARCH  IN ENGLAND AND FINISHED IN CANADA SOME  25 YEARS LATER.

PORCELAIN SLAB BOTTLE - 1976 - SNOW LANDSCAPE SERIES

MULTIPLE GLAZE APPLICATION, FIRED IN REDUCTION ST CONE 10

WHEN I MOVED TO CANADA, I TAUGHT FOR FIVE YEARS AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL BUT REALLY DISLIKED THE AMOUNT OF ADMINISTRIVIA THAT WAS REQUIRED. I KNEW THAT, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I WANTED TO BE A STUDIO ARTIST. I ALSO KNEW THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO WORK IN SOMEONE ELSE'S STUDIO, AS I AM TOO SELF-PROTECTIVE. THESE WERE TWO VERY IMPORTANT LESSONS. THEY MADE ME MUCH MORE SELF-RELIANT. IF I  NEEDED TO LEARN SOMETHING IT WAS ALWAYS A PERSONAL RESEARCH SITUATION. 


THINGS THAT YOU FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF REMAIN IN THE MIND AND MEMORY MUCH LONGER THAN THINGS TAUGHT TO YOU BY SOMEONE ELSE. BEING A TAURUS (LUCKIEST BIRTH SIGN IN THE ZODIAC), BORN IN THE CHINESE CALENDAR YEAR OF THE RABBIT (LUCKIEST SIGN IN THAT CALENDAR), I HAD EVERYTHING GOING FOR ME. 






STARTING NEXT MONDAY, I WILL  START LOOKING AT WHAT INDIVIDUAL COLORANTS WILL DO