Union Interiors- new work on show for October

Those nice guys at Union Interiors recently took stock of some new work at their Design Consultancy and showroom in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Hans Calvert and Josine Simon recently approached me, and I was excited to become involved in their new showroom exhibtion.

Union Interiors are a really interesting and eclectic practise- showcasing both high end design-("lifestyle" pieces) - as well as promoting "up and comers" and established craftspeople and artists. As such its' whole ethos is somewhat "ethical" too- clearly supporting the role of the maker.

Hans is chief designer and passionate about materials and and the Crafts - and this shines through in the sheer breadth and quality of his showroom gallery and exhibition. Where Union Interiors scores is that it's Hans' vision is to showcase contemporary arts and crafts within an interior setting or space. This clearly focuses the client's mind- helping them to see the "fit" between the "Art" and its' environment or setting. Many customers viewing work in a Gallery may not be able to envisage the same piece" back home." Union Interiors offers a solution in this respect! Not only that Hans is a real gent- and was quick to offer tea and biscuits upon our arrival with the delivery of new Raku pots! All in all -here's to the new exhibition this October!

http://www.uniongrantham.com/artisan.php

Comments

Making and firing Raku tiles

I have just had in one or two orders and enquiries concerning Raku tiles. Making them can drive you to despair- what with their tendancy to warp, crack and shrink! It's amazing how something so simple is in actual fact so hard to make. It's also very difficult to lift a flat object out of the kiln with tongs from a red hot kiln. Well, with some prior experience, I've developed a firing system for tiles now which is now working pretty well. Quite simply, I lay each tile on a flat bed of ceramic fibre. That way each tile is raised slightly off the kiln shelf- and it's then easy to grasp the tile with tongs and drop into your reduction chamber/smoking bin. I stack two or three kiln shelves and can pack in about 20 tiles in one batch - depending on size. I do let the kiln cool slightly before carefully removing each shelf of tiles. I back off the gas- get each shelf of tiles out- then power back up to temperature and repeat till they're all safely ...

Early days with volcanic and crater glaze part 2....

I glazed a couple of volcanic/crater glaze tapered bowls recently. They almost "half" work- but I'm still not convinced I've got it right- although it's promising. I layered combinations of glaze but I'm having a slight problem with the thick layers of silicon carbide glaze crawling. Sticky fingers maybe? Lots more to come over the next few months, probably with the next recipe- Pinnel Strontium Crater - with a variety of glaze stain additions . It's a pretty reliable recipe so fingers crossed.

Some more Crater glaze test results

I've been blathering on about Crater and Lava Glaze recipes here and on Facebook too. I suddenly "got the bug" as well as a commission- (more on this later) so hence the rather manic activity testing out glazes and destroying kiln shelves in the process with runny, bubbling glazes. I tested 2 recipes- after first trying the usual recipes from the internet and in various books. As I suspected - few of them gave satisfactory results- either it was "pilot error" or the glaze authors just happen to neglect to tell you that vital missing ingredient, kiln temperature or soak time etc! (Know the type of thing?) Anyway I resorted to testing 2 standard glaze recipes which I've had for years. A turquoise matte and a Lucy Rie white stoneware. The jury is still out on the turquoise variant- but the white is rather nice. A little suggestion from Potter Jan Lewin Cadogan http://www.janlewin-cadogancontemporaryceramics.co.uk/ put me right by suggesting to mix the g...

Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

Search This Blog