Comment

Comment by eleanor akowitz on January 16, 2012 at 6:59am

i"d like to make a comment about melting glass onto glazes. i have been doing it for over 15 years. i began by recycling beer and wine bottles, noxema bottles (now you can tell how long ago that was-pre blue plastic), etc. but i had a lot of trouble with cracking, crazing and poor fit. you see, the coef of expansion of these different glasesgot me into trouble. for a an easier and surer way to get glass all of the same coef, but glass frit. i know the same word but here in glassland the frit is ground glass. buy different colors but all of the same coe. i use bullseye and get buy small amounts and test, test, test. you can get some beautiful combos and sosme real losers.  i have never yet gotten the red to come thru a glaze fire. and i remember while visiting in puerto rico finding lots of broken red glass (imagine that) tail lights and packing a suitcase with them. then finding out that the color fades.  so if you want to go further with glass melting remember to get all of the same coe

eleanor

Comment by Catherine Rehbein on January 15, 2012 at 5:25pm

 Hi  Suzanne ..Thank YOu! I do a bisque fire...then a cone 6 glaze firing with the glass in the wet glaze

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Comment by Suzanne on January 15, 2012 at 12:59pm

These are beautiful!  Do you add the glass and fire to cone 6 or do you do an additional firing at a lower temperature?

Thanks for sharing!

Comment by Jan Wallace on May 1, 2011 at 7:41pm

I appreciate very much you sharing what you have learned Catherine and love the work in your photo. I look forward to seeing them glazed. Thanks for the tip on glazing the inside and outside on separate days. When you mentioned using broken pieces of glass, it makes me think of the little treasures/tumbled glass that you can find on the beach sometimes. I now have a use for them and it will mean something special if i incorporate them into my pottery. My kiln has been broken for a month. I found this site and started to make the wonderful glazes shared on this site, so it is has been torture that i cannot fire anything.  I am hoping to get it fixed next week and look forward to start with my glaze experiments. I have a 14 month old so have been out in my studio when i get the opportunity (mostly at night when she is sleeping), making things ready to glaze. I will take some pics when i get a chance of some of the things i am yet to glaze. I also do love raku so make pieces appr for that. I also plan to make a raku kiln and a soda kiln in the near future(have had experience making kilns in the past). I have been doing raku in my electric kiln up to now but is not ideal.

Comment by Catherine Rehbein on May 1, 2011 at 7:16pm

Jan, All of my glazes are commercial..I gave up mixing my own a while ago. Lack of time with teaching full time..I chose to focus on my forms. There are so many commercial glazes on the market,my experimentation is with combinations and applications.Minnesota clay and Great lakes clay offer some great choices. Also at the NCECA this year I purchased some new Ash glazes on the market...I'll let you know how they work.

I spray 4-8 layers of glazes on much of my work..my interest lies in the interaction..crackles,ash..matt..celedons  I love to experiment!  The insides of my pieces are poured..they are then left to dry over night. if you glaze both sides the moisture forces the glazes to crack off.The rest is sprayed ,splashed ,painted whatever the piece calls for. Often times on the large platters glass is places in the wet glazes.  Currently I am experimenting with rolling wet clay into glass...cant wait to see what happens.

In the pic below the shells have been rolled and then slipped to the darker body..I want a raw feeling with bits of random glaze,,hoping this works. 

Comment by Jan Wallace on May 1, 2011 at 7:01pm

Yes, i notice that they were upside down. It gives these pieces a wonderful overall feel. Oh wow, that is a great idea with the glass on top for that unexpected surprise. Its also a great excuse to drink another bottle of wine, ha, ha. Do you mostly use commercial glazes on your work? And, are your glazes sprayed on?  I really like the relaxed way you throw and how your work is decorated. I am trying to be more relaxed in my throwing techniquie which is why i think i am drawn to your work. They have a lovely quality. My work is very stiff at present, but i want to consciously change that.

Comment by Catherine Rehbein on May 1, 2011 at 6:50am

They are very easy to create...thrown as one piece upside down. The flat surface begs for special treatment! I melt glass..I have an abundance of wine bottles ..:)    love the crackled surprise when they come out!

Comment by Jan Wallace on April 30, 2011 at 10:36pm

Very clever idea. Love these too.