PENULIMATE EXPOSURE!

WINDING DOWN or WEARING OUT!

RH Practicing for The Paradise Jazzband on his B-Flat Walking Cane
for aging trumpet players! Full of HOT AIR as usual!

I have some bad news for the regular readers of my blog. I have again been advised to quit by my doctors, to conserve energy and eliminate further health problems. I have found it increasingly difficult do do the postings for a number or reasons, loss of memory for one and diminishing hand skills for another. I will post my final blog in early November. 

It will primarily be photographic,  showing the colors and textures of fall in our garden at 'Chosin Pottery, just outside Victoria, B.C. Canada, on beautiful Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest.

It will be posting #114.  
 Thanks for looking and listening. 
 Best wishes to you all. Sincerely, Robin.

# 3 NERIKOMI: CLAY VENEER: ZOUGAN

WORKING WITH LAMINATED and 

COLORED CLAYS - Part 3

NERIKOMI is the Japanese name for the process of making patterned blocks of colored clays by variations of cutting and layering. It is a very effective method of creating images that go through the complete block of clay. Nerikomi veneers are often made by taking very thin slices from prepared colored clay blocks and attaching them to a thicker white clay sheet with either water or thin white or colored slip.

CUTTING SLICES FROM SINGLE COLORED CLAY BLOCK

LAYERING THE SLICES FROM THREE COLORED CLAY BLOCKS

MOVING THE COLORED SLICES ONTO OTHER SLICES
CREATING CHEQUERBOARD PATTERN

PUSHING A RULER THROUGH A SIMPLE LAYERED BLOCK
TO CREATE BRACKET PATTERN

PUSHING RULER IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION

AFTER THE  BLOCK IS PATTERNED IT IS BEATEN TO ELIMINATE SMALL
 AIR POCKETS THAT OFTEN OCCUR IN PATTERN FORMING.

Laminated colored clays with a thin black slip applied at the time of lamination.
the work is fired in a wood firing kiln with a very low ash deposit, just a sheen really, on the ware.

COMPLEX PICTORIAL BLOCK-MAKING BY

SUSY SIEGELE AND MICHAEL HALEY OF ARKANSAS

They have been working with colored clay laminating processes for many years, producing a stunning array of functional wares, one of a kind artworks, tiles and murals. 

Colored clays are best made as white clays, followed by the addition of coloring oxides  and thorough blending to eliminate specks of color

The following sequence of images shows the careful attention to detail built into a large tapering block. When the consistency of the clay is suitable, the tapering block is cut vertically across the pattern to produce 8 each of 3 sizes of plate, saucers, bowls and other items down to a salt and pepper cruet at the final end of the block.  These are truly one of a kind dinnerware sets.

Completed, wood sheen fired, slab-built mug by Susy Siegele and Michael Haley.
The through-clay image can be clearly seen on the interior of the mug where it has been coated with a clear glaze and fired at cone 9.

ZOUGAN

The final three images in this posting are 3 views of  a piece 

by Les Manning of Alberta, Canada, titled Rocky Mountain Vase. 

It is made by an unusual Japanese process called ZOUGAN, where clays of different colors and radically different textures 

are stacked and either thrown, as shown here,  or carved into the desired form. Les uses clays from as fine as porcelain to heavily grogged stoneware to suggest the different strata of rocks from foreground to background. The porcelain suggests snowdrifts and mountain mists. To further enhance these qualities, the piece is covered with a light blue/green celadon glaze fired in reduction.

There is much tension from the diverse shrinkages of the contrasting clays and cracking on the seams between clay.  While undergoing some dental work, he noticed that dental amalgam looked like silver. Silver veins between rock strata was the perfect solution to a very annoying problem! A final, light sandblasting 

of the surface softens the visual quality of the glaze to eliminate 

highlights.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Going Nuts!

#2 Working with colored clays: AGATEWARE - NERIAGE

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS OF WORKING WITH COLORED CLAYS: WHEEL-THROWN AND HAND BUILT.

THIS POSTING DEALS WITH A FEW OBSERVATIONS COMMON TO BOTH.

MARBLED EARTHENWARE WARE BOWL - TANG DYNASTY CHINA - 660AD - 920AD

THE ABOVE BOWL IS FROM THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF MARBLED WARE MADE BY THE POTTERS OF THE TANG DYNASTY. THE PATTERNING WAS MADE BY    LAMINATING DIFFERENT NATURAL CLAYS, THEN  TWISTING,  FLATTENING AND PRESSING INTO A MOLD THAT HAS PROBABLY BEEN FIRED TO A LOW TEMPERATURE TO STRENGTHEN IT

CLAYS:  

MAY BE NATURAL CLAYS OF DIFFERENT COLORS, OR THEY MAY BE LIGHT COLORED CLAYS THAT HAVE BEEN TINTED  WITH COLORANTS TO CREATE A WIDER RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES.

18TH CENTURY ENGLISH MARBLED  EARTHENWARE 

LAMINATING COLORED CLAYS FOR AGATEWARE AND NERIAGE - SAME PROCESS, DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. AGATEWARE IS THE ENGLISH TERM AND NERIAGE IS THE JAPANESE TERM.

DIFFERENT COLORED CLAYS ARE CUT INTO SLICES AND SLAPPED TOGETHER TO ELIMINATE TRAPPED AIR. DEPENDING ON HOW THE DIRECTION OF THE LAMINATES ARE PRESSED TOGETHER THE PATTERN WILL BE CONTROLLED. IF THE LAMINATIONS ARE PLACED  VERTICALLY ON THE WHEEL THE PATTERNS WILL LIKELY BE FINE AND LACY. IF PLACED HORIZONTALLY, THEY WILL LIKELY BE BOLD. PATTERNS MADE THIS WAY WILL ALWAYS BE RANDOM.                                   

LIDDED JAR BY THE AUTHOR, WHITE, BLUE AND BLACK PORCELAINS LAMINATED AND PLACED ON THE WHEEL VERTICALLY AND FACETTED

PORCELAIN AGATEWARE BOWL BY THE AUTHOR, WITH LIGHT BLUE, DARK BLUE AND WHITE CLAYS LAMINATED AND PLACED ON THE WHEEL DIAGONALLY. FLUTED WHEN LEATHER HARD. ELECTRIC FIRED TO CONE 8

BLACK AND WHITE AGATE WARE VASE BY AUTHOR - SALT GLAZED 

BLACK AND WHITE AGATEWARE VASE BY THE AUTHOR - WOOD-FIRED

THE ABOVE IMAGES REPRESENT A FEW OF THE DIRECTIONS THAT I HAVE WORKED WITH IN AGATEWARE/NERIAGE. THE NERI PART OF NERIAGE MEANS "MIXED". AS A COMBINATION PAINTER/GRAPHIC ARTIST AND POTTER WITH A LOVE OF BOTH GEOLOGY AND HISTORICAL PRECEDENT IN CERAMICS, THE PROCESS SUITS ME PERFECTLY.

SEARCHING FOR THE IDEAL, PERSONAL MEANS OF EXPRESSION IN THIS MEDIUM IS DEMANDING AND TAKES TIME. I HAVE SPEN'T YEARS IN MUSEUMS AROUND THE WORLD LOOKING FOR IDEAL SOLUTIONS THAT I CAN FURTHER RESEARCH AND CLAIM SOME PERSONAL OWNERSHIP OVER. ONCE I'VE UNDERSTOOD THE ORIGINAL OBJECTS AND PROCESSES, I'M HAPPY TO PASS THEM ON TO OTHERS, KNOWING WELL THAT NO TWO PEOPLE WILL EVER INTERPRET THE INSPIRATION IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY.

MY NEXT POSTING WILL CONCLUDE THIS SECTION ON WORKING WITH COLORED CLAYS, INCLUDING  NERIKOMI, HANDBUILDING PROCESSES FOR CREATING PATTERNED VENEERS AND THROUGH-BODY PATTERN MAKING AS WELL AS ZOUGAN.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

#1 AGATEWARE - NERIAGE - NERIKOMI - ZOUGAN

WORKING WITH LAMINATED and 

COLORED CLAYS

THE INQUISITIVE EYES, EARS AND HANDS OF GUY JUNIOR! 
I think it is a young Rhesus Monkey but I'm not 100% sure! 
Could be a Capuchin Monkey, but I've never seen one at that age.

I Thought those big eyes might get your attention!

CORE SAMPLES - MINERAL SAMPLES TAKIN WITH A HOLLOW DRILL
TO DETERMINE THE MINERAL CONTENT  

I've never quite understood why Ceramics isn't classified as an offshoot of Geology, since it is almost entirely made up from ground-up or decomposed ROCKS and MINERALS. The more one understands geology, the easier it is to understand ceramic glazes and their diverse behaviour.  

AGATE - A SLICE FROM A GEODE - A COOLING BALL OF MAGMA THAT HAS BEEN THROWN OUT OF AN ERUPTING VOLCANO - QUICK COOLING OF THE CONGEALED EXTERIOR, SLOW COOLING OF THE INTERIOR

MALACHITE - BOILING, COPPER-COLOURED MAGMA IN A STATE OF ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT DUE TO VERY FAST COOLING

WULFENITE - EXTREMELY SLOW COOLING, THREE DIMENSIONAL CRYSTALS OF CHROMIUM

GOETHITE - ROPE-LIKE 3D CRYSTALS -  ALSO DUE TO VERY SLOW COOLING

ROCKS and MINERALS, with their multiple shapes and colors can also be a major generating point for ideas - hence the  development of Agateware and Crystalline glazes.

JAMIE KOWALSKI - CRYSTALLINE GLAZE ON  FLAT PC SUBSTRATE

GORDON HUTCHENS - ALMOST 2 DIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLINE GLAZE ON
FLAT PC SUBSTRATE
======================================================================

AGATEWARE  is the English term for vari-colored clay that have been layered or laminated like igneous rocks  from the fire of the volcano, or sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have formed through decomposition and compression.

It imitates the look of rocks by manipulating
the layered clays in various ways. You can either use natural colored clays, or mix a white clay with coloring oxides and carbonates or body stains. 

RH - SALT-GLAZED PORCELAIN
AGATEWARE
BUD VASE 

IT HELPS TO BE A BIT OF AN
ALCHEMIST

THIS IS GETTING TO BE A LONG POSTING SO I THINK I WILL STOP HERE FOR THE TIME BEING. 

THIS ONE HAS BEEN ABOUT THE IDEA OR CONCEPT OF LAMINATION. 

 THE NEXT POSTING WILL TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE PROCESS AND SEE SOME VARIED RESULTS.

WE HAVE MANY VISITORS THIS MONTH, SO PART #2 WILL PROBABLY TAKE A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO PREPARE.  

HAPPY READING AND THOUGHTFUL THINKING.

==============================================

GOIN NUTS - WEEK 2 - YEAR 29

Art Education in Paradise 

near VICTORIA on Southern Vancouver Island 

British Columbia, CANADA

MISSA (Metchosin International Summer 

School of the ARTS

July 2013

 RECENT MISSA TEE SHIRT  -  Design by Carol Rae 

The previous posting on this blog told the story of MISSA, an artist-conceived and run organization.

MISSA is generally in session annually during June and the first two weeks of July. 

The Southern tip of Vancouver island has a maritime, mediterranean climate, conducive to many outdoor activities in the arts. 

This posting shows activities during the second week of July 2013. 

Long-term Techies and Assistants - From Left - Betty Burroughs, Stephen Youngs and Peggy Elmes 

 INSTRUCTORS 2013 
SECOND WEEKEND AND WEEK TWO 

VINCENT MASSEY - THROWING THE ALTERED FORM 
SANDRA DOLPH - LANDSCAPES/SEASCAPES 
LARRY AGUILAR - RAKU: A NEW APPROACH 
LORNE LOOMER - BRUSH EXPLORATIONS 
CORRE ALICE - ABSTRACTION IN OILS 
HEATHER KEENAN - OIL STICKS 
JULIA LOWTHER - ADVANCED CHAIN JEWELRY 
SHARRON MILLSTEIN - PHOTOGRAPHY 
DALE ROBERTS - ENVIRONMENTAL ART
VINCE PITELKA - COLOURED CLAY VENEERS 
CATHERINE GILL - COLOUR AND DESIGN 
JANICE MASON STEVES - ABSTRACT PAINTING 
TONY BOUNSALL - MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE 
PETER WEST CAREY - TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY 
 SHANNON WARDROPER - TEXTILE COLLAGE 
 ALAIN COSTAZ - PLEIN AIR PRINTMAKING 
 NANCY MEGAN CORWIN - CHASING AND REPOUSSE

 I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE STORY OF MISSA BEFORE. 
MOST OT THIS POSTING IS IMAGES OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL, THE EXCITEMENT THAT TAKES PLACE THERE AND THE MANY COURSE VARIETIES THAT ARE OFFERED.  

ENVIRONMENTAL ART  WITH DALE ROBERTS 

LANDSCAPES/SEASCAPES WITH SANDRA DOLPH

SHANA WATSON

THROWING WORKSHOP WITH VINCENT MASSEY

FOOTWEDGE TANGO

RAKU WITH LARRY AGUILAR

BRUSH EXPLORATIONS WITH LORNE LOOMER

OIL STICKS WITH HEATHER KEENAN

COLOURED CLAY VENEER WITH VINCE PITELKA

REPOUSS´E WITH NANCY MEGAN CORWIN







TOBIAS TOMLINSON

HANDBUILDING WITH LANA WILSON




ABSTRACT PAINTING WITH COLD WAX AND OIL
WITH JANICE MASON STEVES

"CREATIVE MESS"

CRIT WITH TEACH

TEXTILE COLLAGE WITH SHANNON WARDROPER

ISABEL IN DEEP THOUGHT!

LISA

TALK WITH TEACH

EXPRESSIVE FIGURE DRAWING 

WITH BARBARA FUGATE

THE PENCIL CHARGE

MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE WITH TONY BOUNSALL

COLOUR AND DESIGN IN LANDSCAPE 

WITH CATHERINE GILL

GUMBO NIGHT AT THE CLAY STUDIO

PEDDER BAY MARINA FROM THE CLAY STUDIO

CELTIC MUSIC TO EAT SOUTHERN FOOD BY

KUMBIA - SALSA MUSIC FOR THE LAST NIGHT PARTY

GREY WHALE INSPIRATION

 THE END OF MISSA 29
AT THIS TIME OF YEAR WE HAVE MANY VISITORS TO  OUR GALLERY AND GARDEN ON BEAUTIFUL VANCOUVER ISLAND. THERE ARE ALSO MANY VISITS FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

AS PROMISED A COUPLE OF MONTHS BACK,  MY NEXT POSTING WILL BE ON AGATE WARE AND COLOURED CLAY WORKING METHODS. WITH ALL THE INTERRUPTIONS, I CAN'T POSSIBLY GIVE YOU A DATE FOR THIS POSTING. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, JUST KEEP CHECKING IN. THE ONE OAFTER THAT WILL LIKELY BE THE GARDEN IN LATE SUMMER.

ENJOY THE REST OF SUMMER. SEE YOU AGAIN SOON.