Friday, October 23, 2009

What the "F" am I doing!?

Earthenware testing did not go well. Pinholes, crawling, bad slip application, ugly colors, you name it, I got it. Today I woke up not wanting to do this anymore (just a fleeting thought, I'm sure it will go away). I have no functional forms in my head that I want to make with Earthenware, although I loved throwing it, no mug design that makes me dance, no casseroles, nada. I do have beautiful large Raku jars and platters in my head however. Why the hell can't you use Raku for food?!?!? ARghhh... I need an earthenware glaze that makes me happy for functional ware so I don't have to say over and over, "no you can't use that really beautiful bowl for food, it's just to look at, has no good reason for existing except that I liked making it and look at those cracks!" And no I don't want to make earthenware with white slip and draw on it, everyone else has that covered, thank you. I just want a rich, wonderful glaze that will compliment my raku rich wonderful glaze so you can eat out of the damn thing. And there is a nagging voice in the back of my brain speaking about cone 10 once again. Go away! If I could only rip off what Brandon or Hollis are doing, I would be fine :) Their work always makes me think how nice my Raku would look sitting beside theirs, it is very complimentary to my style, not that I don't like everyone else's work out there, it's all great!
In other news, I'm taking a breath and Wes and I are invited to lunch with Meredith at Whynot Pottery so we are heading down to Seagrove this morning. I'm going to take some of these miserable tests with me and whine on Meredith's shoulder :) We were supposed to go to the Mts. this weekend, it's Gerry's 50th birthday and I thought we were going to celebrate in Asheville, but he isn't feeling it. So, I'm going to do the Ocktoberfest at Saxapahaw instead. My friend Susan is firing her wood kiln as I write this, I should be out there stoking a kiln, but thought I had other plans. As I said to Judi on her blog, I can't seem to plan my life for one week, much less have a five year plan! OK, well off to Seagrove for some inspiration and a breath of fresh air. Happy weekend everyone!

5 comments:

cindy shake said...

Ahhh, the comfort of a communal clay friend. All will be well and as my daughter says to me in her best calming voice, "this too shall pass, if it was easy everyone would be doing what your doing!"

* I will be repeating the same mantra to her during finals week...

brandon phillips said...

well...you can use some raku for food depending on what's in the glaze and if you don't reduce it post-firing. but then they're kinda boring, yeah?

can you do cone 6 in your kiln? i've seen some very nice results with cone 6...nice ash glazes and shinos too. just a thought.

ang design said...

do the glaze recipes need tweeking trace..? , painful i know but this is where the glaze work comes in and if you stick with it you will get 1,2,3 eventually a whole team of glazes that grab you, sorry its a pain...

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Guys: Feeling a bit better now, nice visit with some Seagrove potters including Mark and Meredith at Whynot Pottery. We talked about the bisque cycle I'm doing and the fact that it's in a gas kiln, could be the pinhole problem. The crawling is from a Ron Meyers glaze we have at Claymakers and it is a problem there for everyone, I knew better than to use it, but took a chance. No great losses, I just made up a bunch of test bowls with some old clay and I learned a lot about my kiln. I do like the sound of ^6 shinos, Brandon. I should go take one of John Britt's workshops sometime. I just want to wake up one day with buckets of glaze that I like, that aren't fussy and go fire the damn kiln without working something else out!!!

Hollis Engley said...

Hang in there, Tracey. I stopped making raku because, much as I loved what happened in that kind of theatrical firing, I couldn't drink coffee or eat soup from the pots. So I listened to that Cone 10 voice and have been happy I did. I love raku and the people who make it, but I'm into usable stuff. As for ripping off what I do, hey, rip away. I'll send you any glaze recipe you want. Your pots will always be your pots.