Glazing, Glazing, Glazing

At a wood firing workshop in graduate school, I remember discussing the division of potters into two groups: makers and pyromaniacs. The theory is that some people make pottery so they can fire it (play with fire) and for other potters the focus is building the work and firing is something that has to happen later. I put myself firmly in the latter category. 

first three coats of green underglaze and first coat of yellow on sprigs

I love to build work. I pretty much hate the process of glazing. That doesn't mean I don't care about glazing. My work would be completely different if I wood fired it without glaze or just poured or sprayed on any old glaze. Color and its controlled application are both important in my work. I just wish I could wish or command the colors into place instead of having to go through the tedious process of actually applying them.

first coat quickly applied to surface of sprigs

Oddly, I don't ever wish for shortcuts in building the forms. When building I feel like the process is creative and interesting and fun. The clay moves and I react and adjust my plans for the form. Other artists in a wide range of media (Dale Chihuly, Jeff Koons and Judy Chicago) outsource the fabrication of their work or hire assistants to help execute their designs. I wouldn't want other people throwing or forming my work, but I can certainly imagine hiring an assistant to do my glazing.

second coat of underglaze carefully added to edges of sprigs

Part of the problem is that my underglazes require three full coats of color to become opaque after firing. One or two coats generally look opaque when first applied, but I know from experience that skimping on the third (or fourth for some colors) coat of underglaze will result in colors that look streaky or blotchy after the final glaze firing.

yuck, looks like I needed at least another coat of yellow

In order to help myself keep track of how many coats of underglaze have already been applied, I often draw a pencil line on top of the dry underglaze so I can keep track. If I don't do this, I lose track of which sprigs or which sections have already had three coats of underglaze applied, since the dry, unfired underglaze looks the same with two or three coats. The pencil line burns off during firing but is covered by the freshly applied underglaze. If I can't see the line, I must have already added the second or third coat.

pencil line marking first coat of light colored underglaze on sprigs

It is important to me to make my pieces vibrantly colorful and to highlight the surfaces of my pieces with contrasting colors. Unfortunately, this means that a given piece might have three base colors (with three coats of each color) which are fired once to make them stable, and then three top colors which are applied and then sponged off the surface to highlight depressions in the surface texture. (The fired base coat doesn't wash away when I sponge off the unfired top coat.) Each of these color applications needs to come right up to a boundary edge but not drip or glop past the edge.

this piece has three base colors (blue, yellow and red) and will have at least two more colors applied after firing to highlight the sprigged surfaces

Sometimes, to save time, I apply the color on the largest surface of the piece quickly and it spreads onto the sprig surfaces. When this happens, I usually use a sponge to wipe off the raised sprig surfaces before applying a different color onto the sprigs. It is important to wipe the messy bits of base color off the sprigs because six layers of underglaze can begin to obscure the textures of the sprigs. Also, if the sprig color isn't applied in three full coats, the base color might still be visible underneath the sprig color.

messy red underglaze on sprigs before wiping

Usually you can't see through three coats of underglaze before firing, but the underlying color can show up after glazing and firing. At that point it is too late to fix the initial application. I have learned this the hard way, too many times.

a simulation of what it might look like after firing if I don't wipe away the excess red underglaze on the sprigs before adding the next color

What this all means is that taking a whole month of my sabbatical to apply underglaze is both tedious and essential. I need to be careful and thorough. I need to to paint right up to the edges with small brushes and a steady hand. I need to carefully wipe away drips, overlaps and spills. And I need to keep track of how many coats I have already applied. Unfortunately, I don't actually enjoy it much. Does anyone want to take over?

Glaze Leaching Tests

The big clay class project this quarter was an extensive leaching test on all our functional glazes. In January I read an article about liner glazes and testing functional glazes. The article, written by Deanna Ranlett, was in November/December 2012 Pottery Making Illustrated. I believe you need a subscription to read it online.

Sets of glazed bowls after setting up the test

I had my intermediate, advanced and most of my independent study students read the article, then we met as a group to discuss how we might implement testing of our glazes. Most of the current studio glazes were used at YVCC before I was hired, though we've added a few more over the years. The glazes are supposed to be food safe, but we are basing this assumption on historical use or on what the glaze recipes suggested when we first started mixing them for studio use. To my knowledge, we have never actually tested them ourselves.

A reduction copper glaze that has been in the studio for at least 7 years.

After reading the article, the students discussed what needed to happen and I was pleased to find that I didn't need to direct them much, mostly the students were able to determine how to divide the project between themselves. Each student make six bowls or plates for the project and each student was responsible for glazing their two sets of three pieces using the same coordinated glazing approach.

glazed bowls and plates with detergent and lemon

The students also worked together to set deadlines for their throwing, firing and glazing. One set needed to be re-glazed and was finally out of the kiln on Thursday, so we set up the actual glaze testing that morning. Each glaze was applied to three bowls, marked "control," "lemon," and "detergent." The control was left empty, a lemon was squeezed into "lemon" and left to sit, and a small amount of powdered dish detergent was poured into the third, then wet with a small amount of water and mixed lightly.

our glaze testing station

We left the whole set of bowls out on the counter, labeled, over the weekend. When we came back, we cleaned out each bowl, to get rid of the sticky lemon and bits of mold and the crusty line of dried detergent. Then we compared our results for each set of bowls, looking for signs of leaching.

new studio glazes. I expected the glaze on the right to leach

Glaze leaching was supposed to be shown by changes in the color or surface qualities (shininess) of the glaze. I anticipated that most of our long-time studio glazes would show no changes, but I guessed that some of the new, untested glazes would show signs of leaching. I was actually hoping that at least one glaze would leach, since 18 sets of unchanged pottery wouldn't prove a very interesting test.

Blue Matte glaze with leaching effects shown in middle bowl

The obvious flaw in our plan was the timeline, since students were using these glazes during the planning and execution of our tests. Any pots with glazes that leached should not be used for eating, serving or cooking and any functional pottery students making work, would likely expect the pots to be used for these very tasks. The article recommended that we use what are called liner glazes, to line the interior of funtional works. These liner glazes should not leach and, since they are generally white glazes, are cheaper to make than colorful glazes with a variety of expensive oxides and colorants added.

discoloration in Blue Matte glaze

The results of our test were unfortunate for a few students, but good overall. In our testing, almost none of the glazes leached. The newest glaze, just starting to be added to the studio options this quarter, was the only one with obvious discoloration with the lemon juice test. This new "Blue Matte" glaze contains lithium and copper carbonate, is a beautiful color, but obviously shouldn't be used functionally--who wants copper and lithium in their Cheerios?

Mary's Special (on bottom) with signs of texture change (center)

One other glaze, "Mary's Special" also appeared to have a change in surface sheen after a weekend's contact with dish detergent. I would consider this test result worrisome but inconclusive and I plan to re-test another set of bowls using this glaze while also urging students not to use the glaze functionally.

Stencils

I decided to bring home this piece to work on over the weekend so I could try a few techniques in my spare time. I rarely build sculpture at work, since the majority of my classes are throwing classes and sculpture takes significantly more time than thrown pieces. This quarter I am teaching a hand-building class and wanted to work on this piece while the students were coil building to show them some steps in the process. 

my coil built piece after the weekend work

After I built the piece, I wanted to finish it to an acceptable level, though I had run out of class time and had limited hours in the studio outside of class. I decided to experiment with a couple of stenciling processes to see if they would work on this scale and with a high level of detail. 

detail view with some paper stencils adhered to the surface

I had originally intended to buy some large stickers that had delicate lines and patterning but I was unable to find any. I searched Michael's and eventually found some decorative punches in the scrapbooking area. I bought a large daisy punch by Martha Stewart because it was on sale. The pattern it creates is delicate and visually interesting and If you line up the paper differently when starting to punch the second row, you can get a twisting design as opposed to sets of circles. 

daisy punch with twisting paper "stencil"

The punch is easy to use and cuts evenly on regular paper if you put enough pressure on it. My daughter had trouble getting the leverage to get it to punch through, though she may have fared better on a lower table. I punched some used copier paper, some junk mail and one of my daughter's sheets of construction paper to use as clay stencils. I then wet the surface of the clay slightly and pressed the paper on. The paper stencils stick to the surface best if they are wet and are then pressed on. I used a paintbrush at first to wet the clay and the paper, but the thin lines of the paper started to rip so I switched to using a damp sponge and pressing gently onto the paper instead of brushing or wiping with moving strokes. 

stencils on clay surface after wiping with a wet sponge

Once the paper was stuck to the surface, I used a damp sponge to wipe away the exposed surface of the clay. Wiping the clay with a wet sponge washes away the clay and leaves a rough surface. The sand or grog that gives our class clay its grit and texture stay while the clay is washed away. The clay under the paper should be protected from the wet sponge and not wipe away. I have used this technique many times in a class demonstration, but I usually use just one relatively small, thick stencil of paper. The paper stencil, when removed, leaves a raised smooth area of clay the size and shape of the paper stencil. 

wiping in progress

I had never tried the technique on a large scale or with such delicate stencils as these. I punched several strips of stencils out of the different papers and adhered them to the leather-hard clay surface with a sponge. Once wet and pressed into the clay, the stencil stuck to the clay so I was able to wipe the surface with a sponge and not risk the paper stencil moving.

the white stencil section has not been wiped yet

The technique seemed to work relatively well, but the thin paper tended to rip and it was difficult to know how much I needed to wash away the clay surface to leave a visible texture change. I ended up hedging my bets and applying white slip inside the daisy stencils before removing the paper. If the paper stencil does not function well to protect the surface from the sponge wash, at least there will be some surface decoration that comes from all the effort of cutting and applying the stencils.

white slip has been added inside some of the daisy stencils

I have not yet removed the paper stencils, but when I do I will be able to see both the white slip decoration and what is visible of the texture change from wiping the clay surface.

In an effort to try several things on this test piece, I bought a second paper punch this weekend and used the contrasting cutouts as white slip stencils on a second area of the sculpture. I bought the second paper punch at Craft Warehouse but it was a different brand. I was disappointed that it didn't punch all the way through the paper and I had to cut out the center section of each stencil. That's 12 small snips on each piece. It gets quite repetitive and annoying.

paper stencils adhered to the leather-hard clay

I punched the stencils from paper that was in our recycle bag. I used a SpaghettiOs label and some used copier paper. I placed the labels and used a damp sponge to press them onto the clay. Once they were adhered to the clay and as flat as I could get them, I brushed white slip onto the surface of the area, covering the stencils and the exposed clay.

paper stencils with initial layer of white slip

After the slip was dry enough to touch without smearing, I used a needle tool to peel away the paper. The copier paper ripped as I peeled it off, but I was able to get the slipped top layer off. The remaining paper should burn off during the firing  or I can pick at it as the clay dries. The shiny SpaghettiOs label peeled away in one piece, leaving a perfectly clear line. Both papers leaked a little, letting slip bleed over into the decoration. When this happened I scraped away the extra slip inside the lines of the stencil with a needle tool or small carving tool.

slipped area after removing stencils

I still have some more work to do the piece, but the going is slow. Once it is finished, I should be able to glaze both areas in such a way that the clay color difference and the surface texture both remain visible or are even highlighted and made more visible.

Mulberry Paper Day

Somehow I ended up with a Friday with nothing planned. With Christmas over, my extended family back in Wisconsin and New Hampshire and Seattle and my classwork prepared for the start of the quarter next week, I didn't NEED to do anything right away. My work is mostly installed for Yakima River Diaries at Central and I made plans to go up with more work on Saturday. Friday became a bonus day for me (shh, don't tell anyone). I decided to spend the day how I wanted to, finishing work from summers ago while watching a Bones marathon on Netflix.

I have a box in my studio that was completely ignored all summer and all year. I believe I packed it in 2012, but it may have been 2011. It has cobwebs on top. I can barely remember some of the work, like this piece below, and I don't remember when it was all made.

Progress on the pod piece after green paper was added but before purple. I don't appear to have a picture before the whole piece was started. I have no idea when the piece was originally built and fired

All the work was in the box because there was something wrong with it. The piece on top (which I didn't get to) was simply not finished. I had intended to add some parts after firing but never got around to it. The pieces on the next level were damaged, repaired or had glaze chipping problems. All the pieces in the box required either mulberry paper or epoxy additions. None of the pieces in the box were actually broken, though they may have had chips or may have had broken pieces repaired previously.

The underglaze application on this piece does not please me. As I covered more with mulberry paper, I wanted to alter even the colors on the interior pieces.

The pieces I chose to work on this time around were ones that I wanted to put mulberry paper on. The last was one I had always intended to put paper on. I made it this summer and was looking for the right paper (thanks Mom and Dad). Several pieces in the box had glaze flaws that I wanted to cover. The pod above one had an epoxy seam I wanted to cover as well as some sub-par glazing.

I think the mulberry paper adds an interesting textural contrast to the hard ceramic and shiny glaze, but I have only relatively recently begun planning its use while I build. Most of the work in the box predates my conscious incorporation of mulberry paper and other materials into the design from the beginning.

An additional motivating factor for doing mulberry paper today was that my parents got me some mulberry paper for Christmas. They got me quite a lot, actually, including some bags of scrap papers and some large sheets. It is a bit hard to find mulberry paper in Yakima, but my parents live right near NASCO's Arts and Craft store and its amazing catalog leftovers room.

I have organized the scraps by color groups in these boxes. It feels better than scraps wadded up in a shoe box.

One of the advantages of someone giving me paper is that I am forced to work with what I have. I knew that I wanted to cover the outside layer of this pod and the top bulbs or buds, but my limited choice in purple scraps forced me to consider making each bud a different shade or texture of purple. In the end, I think the variety is better than making each one identical in tone.

I used four different types of purple paper scraps from my Christmas gift.

Actually, I think part of the appeal of the applied mulberry paper is the variety that comes from the handmade paper. The paper is textured and has longer, thicker or different colored fibers visible within the paper. It would be terrible paper for writing evenly with in, but it is interesting to look at. It seems more natural in a way that, I think, highlights the almost-natural look of my forms.

The opposite is true, too. Not all the paper I have has as much variation. In one lidded box I covered entirely in light blue scraps, I am disappointed with how uniform the surface appears. The box suffers the triple problem of having more uniform paper, more transparent paper, and a large surface to cover. I ended up layering the mulberry two or three times but have lost most of the minimal fiber variation in the process. I am considering another approach to add some variation. My daughter has suggested I paint pink lines on the surface, but I may not take her advice in this instance.

These blue scraps are nice, but make the box look oddly like a fuzzy cloud. I'm not sure this piece is finished.

Third SRAM Bike Part Sculpture

The third of my major SRAM bike parts projects is nearing completion. This piece is the most complicated of the three I have done. I finished building the main form in early August. After vacation I threw some supports to hold the main form upright. In September I plan to finish glazing and attach the bike parts.

SRAM bike parts

I started with a general idea for the form, though I started building before I first sketched my plan. Early on I knew that external bike part supports would be part of the design. Before starting this project I had been thinking about the reason for integrating bike parts. Of course I started incorporating bike parts because I am going to be in a show that requires that artists use bike parts. But the bike part project coincides with an existing interest in integrating mechanical parts. 

I started to think about why, logically, bike parts might be integrated into my work. My usual forms are organic, abstract interpretations of exotic plants, microscopic organisms and undersea fauna and flora. How might bike parts, or mechanical parts in general, come to be incorporated into these plants and animals?

early sketch showing mechanical support

Part of my answer stems from the logic of science fiction and Steampunk. I am thinking particularly of ways in which mechanical elements might conceivably be used to "improve" or repair organic forms. I developed a more refined picture of what organic / mechanical integration might look like this summer while reading "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer. The cyborg main character has mechanical body parts that replaced damaged limbs. These man-made parts integrate with her organic body. The descriptions in the book are vivid and helped me envision some ideas for my own work. Of course in the real world prostheses function this way, as man-made tools to support missing limbs of an organic being.

early stage in building, with bike parts positioned as supports

So in developing my plans for this project, I tried to think about how my psuedo-organic forms might need to be supported. An obvious place for support would be in increasing stability, both to hold the piece upright and to support attachments or top-heavy elements of the form (like a halo neck brace supports a broken neck). 

later sketch showing possible combination of thrown clay and bike part surface decoration patterns

clay wads to plan spacing for parts to be added later

thrown forms for decoration shown above (thrown forms at front left are meant to mimic bike part at front left)

I also thought about the functional, defensive or reproductive functions of a plant form and why a form might need different segments or separated functions. My sculptures are not imitations of existing organic forms; I tend to combine elements of flora and fauna. I also tend to keep my forms relatively simple. My forms generally don't have defined legs, arms or heads like higher order vertebrate animals. Their bodies or forms are more likely to suggest sea cucumbers, squids, mollusks, or the seed pods and bulbs of plants. 

I usually made my forms relatively simple and sometimes repetitive (i.e. the form of the sculpture has similar bulbous forms growing or protruding). My surfaces are generally quite repetitive. I like to think of my forms logically (in a surreal, science fiction logic sort of way) as I build and finish them. Interior surfaces are distinct from exterior surfaces, edges fade into one another or change because of a change in form. The way I planned my forms for this project was to think about how mechanical elements might logically replace or enhance support as well as decorative elements of the form.

If an eccentric scientist on a different planet were to replace the physical support and reproductive organs of a science fiction plant, would the replacements mimic the shape of the original or would the new material require a new shape to achieve the same function?

sketch showing decorations elongated with different bike part extenders

thrown forms with bike part extender

While I've been working on this project, I have also been reading Umberto Eco's "History of Beauty" and I just finished Denis Dutton's "The Art Instinct." My considerations of the relation of "function" to form keeps coming up as I read these books. My work does not mimic nature, though I look to natural forms while I work. My work does not have a mechanical or biological function, though I keep considering function and nature as I design the forms. My work might more accurately be decorative and imaginative, but this isn't what I think hardest about when I am making it. 

bottom section finished with spaces for added decoration and with sprigged gear decorations attached

sprig mold made from a bike part, results shown above and below

The third bike part sculpture, like any of my work, evolved as I built and sketched and re-sketched and altered the form. I was thinking of the row of four spaces on the bottom as a place extravagant display, like flowers or colorful tail feathers. I thought of the rounded sections above as plants blossoms with mechanical stamen to be added later or as vessels that might tempt bugs in then capture them like venus fly traps or pitcher plants.

I also had to consider and design external mechanical elements as the form became more top-heavy. As I worked it was supported by towels, but the intention from the start was to provided a bike-part as support. As I worked, the piece became more extravagant at top and therefore heavier and less stable. Additional supports then needed to be added to the design.

base done, top part still being formed, at this point I hadn't decided how to finish the top section

temporarily placed bike part additions on top section

top section nearing completion

interior of top section, protruding ball for post-firing attachment

finished form before firing (wet or leather-hard clay)

bisque fired sculpture in kiln. sculpture required stilt supports because my kiln is small

bike part support trial run before throwing additional support bases

80 Days of Clay Project Progress

This weekend I commenced a new project, to make a small clay object everyday. I plan to continue this project through the spring and up until my summer in the studio begins.

my inspiration ideas, folded and ready for random selection

Day 1: Open project

I began the project Saturday. I didn't select an inspiration hint or "assignment." I went into my studio and saw a sprouting bulb and liked the shape, so decided to work from this.

my first inspiration

I worked with my daughter in the studio, trying not to stop what I was doing every few seconds to help her. I worked with two pinch pots to make a hollow form. I didn't have my good paddle at home, so I used a wooden stick which left markings on the side of the piece. I kept the markings and accentuated them. Then my husband stole the wooden stick to clean goop out of the drain, so I will not be using this particular tool again. My finished clay piece resembled the original bulb. My daughter's clay piece resembled a hammered pancake.

my first piece

Day 2: Beth Cavener Stichter

For my inspiration assignment, I pulled out a page that instructed me to make a piece inspired by another artist, Beth Cavener Stichter. She is one of my favorite artists, though my work is not at all similar to hers. I didn't have a plan ahead of time, but thought about it during the day before I went into the studio. In Art Appreciation, I often show a picture of one of her rabbits that is hanging from the wall by a metal collar around its neck. I decided to recreate a rabbit. I thought the ears would be interested.

my second project (just before being interrupted)

I'm disappointed by my rabbit. I was too literal in my interpretation of my inspiration. Today I wish I just used an abstract form with ear-like shapes added on. Instead I have a chocolate bunny without the chocolate. I decided to texture the rabbits surface like my own sculpture instead of like Beth's. But after an hour and a half working, my daughter woke up from her nap and I decided to "finish" since one of the rules I set out for this project was to finish the work in one sitting.

the second project "completed"

Day 3: Monday

Today was another inspiration-less day. I liked the wart-y look of one of the last additions on Saturday's piece, so I decided to make more of these decorations today. I only spent 18 minutes on this piece that uses the texture from a paddled string bag (from cheese) and looks kindof like a moon with prominent craters.

third project (Monday)