Monday, October 11, 2010

Cone 6 Reduction Workshop

I'm back from the cone 6 reduction workshop at UNC Wilmington with a head full of things I didn't know I didn't know. (does that make sense?) The photo above is not my cup but my favorite thing that came out of the firing. This is VC Matte under Cherry Blossom, and it is beautiful in person! We had some great results from the very sweet Geil kiln that UNC has and some nice new recipes to test.
This board is an example of what I stared at for three days and the photo below is what I stared at on the way home for three hours. When I got home, my head began to spin around like Linda Blair in the Exorsist and I spewed feldspar and gerstley borate (just kidding, but it sure felt like that was going to happen!)
Do you do this? Set your pots out in the car on the way home from a firing or a show? I do, gives me lots to think about while I drive, at least I don't text and drive!
Here are some pretty quick and dirty photos of some of my test bowls. These bowls were thrown, trimmed and bisque fired on the same day so don't be too critical please! I was in a rush, remember I had three shows the previous weekend!
This is buttery rust over cherry blossom
floating blue over vc matte, really nice, it looks almost wood fired
beautiful on the inside, this was the favorite of my tests
thick and thin yellow salt over an iron oxide wash
copper red, not my favorite, a little too muddy but sort of ok. There were some bad ones too but I'll spare you for now. The oil spot glaze just completely ran off the pot, very nasty, and the floating blue alone looked like baby poo. I also did some copper red over white slip which was nasty looking.
All in all, I am very happy with the results and I learned soooooo much! I have a really good basic knowledge of glaze chemistry now and feel pretty confident that I can work something out with these glazes we tested. Thanks to John, Heather and Vicki for coordinating such a great weekend. I'll have more later..............

12 comments:

cindy shake said...

Lovely Tracey! Wow -a bit too much science for my brain -probably why my firings didn't turn out so well -ha!

Kari Weaver said...

That white board looks eerily similar to John Britt's notes. The funny thing is that I found the same notes in my undergrad ceramics notebook. I guess it didn't stick.

I've decided to do one more firing this year (okay maybe two) and try to convert my ^10 glazes to ^6 as well as test lots of others. Val Cushing has some sort of formula in the book I have.

Right now I have one ^6 glaze I am thrilled with, two others that are just okay, and one ^10 glaze that looks identical in ^6. JB posted a ^6 rusty white that looks a lot like my ^10 white. I love my black and my lustre shino so I must find those.

I don't generally drive with bowls on the dash. If I had to hit the brakes, they'd probably knock me unconscious! I do like to carry my test tiles around with me, look at them in different rooms, etc.

I agree on the red, but the other 3 look sweet!

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Kari, yes, JB's workshop. I should test the rusty white glaze, sounds nice. Those bowls didn't stay too long, they started rattling around, but it helps me think things through if they are right there!

Judy Shreve said...

I think you are coming home with some real treasures to explore! I know quite a few people who are discovering ^6R and very happy with the results.

It's all a glaze test, isn't it! lol (I've taken JB glaze workshop & I highly recommend it.)

Linda Starr said...

Oh I wish I had gone with you, although no way to do reduction, your pots and colors are great and I also like the red. I never like anything on the dash, too distracting for me, even paper, plus I think a pot might be a projectile if I have to stop suddenly, but at home that's another story. I've been thinking I need a smaller kiln for little loads and a larger kiln for bigger loads, and a brick kiln for reduction, it's never ending isn't it.

If you hear of any handbuilding workshops, please let me know, I'm needing a workshop fix for sure.

Sister Creek Potter said...

Yes, it (^6 R) looks so great...but how to get there. I can't buy a Geil kiln And I can't see me building a gas/electric out of my Skutt...So what is the solution? I'd love to get to study glazes with John--he is inspiring even over the web! Yes, it is all very exciting. Glad you got to do it.

Tracey Broome said...

I'm trying these reduction tests with an olympic gas/raku kiln so no telling what I'll get. The main reason that I am trying cone 6 is because I really don't think this Olympic can handle ^10 even though the very unkind owners say it will, I say bullshit!

Jen Mecca said...

That was a lovely Shino cup...

The Seldom Seen Kid said...

Beautiful stuff, Tracey!
Some of thse colors on your barns will be great.

Michèle Hastings said...

the middle bowl is my favorite... just beautiful. it does have that wood fired appearance.
i am with linda about the dashboard...nothing, not even paper. when i was working full time selling real estate i would unload the kiln and bring a few pots to work with me. i liked seeing them on my desk and looking at them with a different perspective.

Unknown said...

Beautiful test results- I would love to attend a workshop like that.

I have wrestled with the idea of switching from cone 10 to 6 for a few years...but I can't seem to walk away from 10 (yet?).

...but that buttery rust over cherry blossom certainly IS enticing!!

Michael Mahan said...

Nice looking glazes, Tracey. I wonder how some of them would look in my wood kiln fired to cone 6.