Comment

Comment by Louis Ford on February 23, 2012 at 7:35am

Now THAT's a description...lol    Thanks for taking the time....I think I would be more cost effective to just purchase your piece!

Comment by Michele Hartung on February 23, 2012 at 7:34am

Oh, Brian, never mind about the earlier comment asking about glazing. I see you have explained it here.  Thanks!

Comment by Brian Dean on February 23, 2012 at 6:44am

This particular piece is a slab rolled and altered bowl using Amaco Warm Brown Stoneware #58 clay because it gives a warm Cone 10 reduction look when fired to cone 6 oxidation. We've looked and looked for this type of clay to get the cone 10 reduction look and the iron in it helps with running of the ash and fake ash glazes. Bisqued to cone 010. Glazes are applies with Mini HVLP gravity feed detail spray guns (1.0 mm tip) with around 18 PSI. Glazes are seived to 100 mesh. My goal has been to achieve Cone 10 Ash GLaze look in Cone 6 oxidation and it has been a 2 year road but with Steven Hills DVD have made a quantum leap in last 4 months.

Glazes are as follows:  Satin Black around top of bowl inside and out. Strontium Crystal Magic (SCM) Warm Version thicker up the side particularly on inside where you want it run more. Jan's Red Iron Saturate inside center and up the sides a way to warm up the look and provide color in the inside center where the glaze won't run to. Don't try and make it too even as you want a natural look so uniformity looks contrived. Also a little Jan's Red on the outside. You can probably use other iron saturate glazes. The key is the RIO to add depth and color. I used 4 ash/fake ash glaze variants in this order thicker toward the top of the bowl but do put some of it less thick all the way to the base of the sides.  Ash Glazes: Hannas Fake Ash w/1.3% Cobalt Oxide (Steven Hills Revised HFA recipe on his DVD), Hannah's Fake Ash (Original Cone 6/10 Version with RIO 3.5% and YIO or Ochre 3.0%), Val Cushings G5 Ash Glaze (VCA) w/2% Cobalt Oxide (Washed Fireplace Ash), VCA w/9% RIO and 6% Rutile.

 

Finally, sprayed Jen's Juicy Fruit glaze w/7.3% RIO (From Steven Hills DVD Recipe) over everything inside and out. Fired to 2210 Degrees F using Steven Hill's Firing Schedule from his DVD. Cone 7 witness cones were completely down after firing.

As Steven Hill says in his DVD, play around with your own glazes and layering. Steven has never used the Val Cushing Ash Glazes that I know of but that's what I have been playing around with for last 2 years but when combined with his spraying and layering techniques and SCM amazing things started to happen for me. I strongly recommend the $45 investment in Steven's DVD and some spraying equipment.

Embarrasungly, I was one who thought at one time that the Cone 6 Electric world was was a rather sterile, uninspiring world of boring glazes without the dimension and atmospheric qualities you find in the Cone 10 Reduction World. I'm happy to say I was wrong. It takes a little time and experimentation to find and perfect your own results including finding the right clay, and finding and tweaking your own glazes and application techniques to suit your intended results but it is out there for you to find. Happy Glazing Ya'll! (As they say here in Texas)

Comment by Louis Ford on February 23, 2012 at 5:00am

Your pieces are a HUGE boost to selling Mr Hills DVD... DO you mind sharing what you did/glazes?

Comment by Jan Wallace on February 23, 2012 at 3:46am

Amazing. Great way to end my day. Thanks. :)

Comment by Brian Dean on February 22, 2012 at 6:21pm

Geoge, thanks I dropped Steven an email with the link. I have communicated with him one time before via email to ask him a question. Nice guy! Would love to actually get to take one of his workshops one of these days, but the DVD is the next best thing and I've made a quantum leap in glazing after studying the DVD. Thanks again!

Comment by George Lewter on February 22, 2012 at 5:00pm

I think Steven would love to see this photo. You can send it to him at steven@stevenhillpottery.com 

Comment by Brian Dean on February 22, 2012 at 4:33pm

Thanks George. Appreciate the compliment. Just been playing around with Steven Hills layered glazing concepts preparing a lot of bowls for our local Empty Bowls event here in Dallas on March 9th. I got Steven Hills Surface Techniques DVD before Christmas and have just been honing my own spraying techniques and combining some of his glazes with some other glazes I have been using for a while. I love ash glazes and have been trying to perfect them for the Cone 6 electric world. I not much for babysitting gas kilns for 10 or 12 hours at a pop 20 times a year nor do I really have a good space for a good downdraft kiln. So you do what you can with what you have. Besides we are just hobby potters so its more of a diversion and therapy for us rather than a living. Thanks again for the nice comments.

Comment by George Lewter on February 22, 2012 at 4:13pm

This is incredible. I love the organic qualities and the dramatic contrasts. It seems like a product of nature rather than something made by human hands.