Comment

Comment by Rebecca Shawyer on October 22, 2013 at 2:44pm

Thank you George, 

I have tried these effects at cone 6 with another clay. The clay was whiter so I used less stain, but because it was a sculptural clay it was grogged and the specks of grog could be seen.

The only color I have had problems with is black. It was the same problem at both temperatures. It works with the clay body but seem to react with the clear glaze by blistering. I tried different clear glazes but they all blistered.

I have contacted Vince Pitelka who is a master of colored clay and he agreed black can be a problem.

Mason stain black, worked for me for a while, but recently it hasn't, which is weird because it is the same batch of stain, the same type of clay, and the same temperature! I am avoiding it for a while.

Comment by George Lewter on October 22, 2013 at 2:27pm

We concentrate here on the mid-fire cone 5-6 range, but few of us are fanatical about that. A great many of us work in multiple firing ranges and techniques, and like to let ideas percolate and migrate across ideological borders. It was this willingness to explore possibilities that opened cone 6 as a "legitimate" area for pottery in the first place. When people see that something is possible at cone 10, they ask, "can I do something like that at cone 6? Sometimes they can. 

I had heard that some of the inclusion stains would work in the high fire range. You have proven to me that it's possible. I'm pretty certain that your techniques would work very nicely with the right cone 6 clay, and you would likely be able to add a few more colors to your pallette. So thank you for posting your pictures.  

Comment by Rebecca Shawyer on October 22, 2013 at 11:49am

Hi George, actually it's Stoneware Paper clay cone 8. (I hope it was still o.k to post it on a cone 6 site) I am in New Zealand, but I get it from Australia.

The bright colors are from colored clay. I use stains added to the clay body, and then make patterned logs, slice them thinly and roll them on.

As you can imagine this is an expensive technique with colors like red, and orange. It did take me a long time to make as well. 

Comment by George Lewter on October 22, 2013 at 8:05am

I'm guessing with the brighter colors that this is low fire earthenware? Or are you using glazes with encapsulated stains at cone 6? My! that is a lot of painstaking detail.

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