Investigations into the Crater......

Lava, Crater and Froth Glazes

Investigating unknown territory!

As you probably are aware by now- this is a blog all about my Raku work. Well, a long time ago -when starting out at Uni, I first began my work in clay using stoneware electric kiln firing. This was way before "getting the bug" for Raku in my final year.

I've dabbled a bit with lava glaze effects in the Raku kiln more recently, and that went fairly well- so I've been doing a spot of research into higher temperature firing with lava glazes and slips.

No harm in that I thought. About 30 glaze tests later and umpteen fired test bowls, it's been "Interesting" to say the least. I quite like the fact that the results are so tactile and yes just like Raku- so unpredictable. The silicon carbide in the glaze and slip- also add a slight element of Reduction-very subtly -albeit nothing like working with Raku. Some of the crater glazes produce huge bubbles which can be rubbed down with a pestle to produce a dry crater surface. All very exciting and at this stage I'm still very much a beginner. But I am beginning to see a future in working with these exciting and unpredictable surfaces- I may just have got the "bug" all over again....

Recent lava glaze tests- between 1235 and 1260 c in an electric kiln
(Silicon carbide slip under white/turquoise silicon carbide glaze.)

Thanks to experienced Potters-Jan Lewin-Cadogan, Dameon Lynn and Norman Yap for their "Facebook" support, advice and encouragement!

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.

Mo Jupp

My connection to Mo was as a student at Middlesex University in the dog days of the ceramics course during the 90's. He was my personal tutor for four years. Diminutive of stature and blinking in the funny way he did, we all came to love him as a tutor. Middlesex then, had a reputation for slip casting and mold making, and I was awful at both! Instead I had more of an interest in sculpture rather than functional tableware. Mo seemed to take an interest in my progress. He was very perceptive of individual students' abilities and offered guidance without ever dominating the discussion. He could be critical of course, but in such a way that was constructive and not "dead ended." At times he played down his reputation ,when we first year students twigged what a great artist he really was. He simply claimed that he was a big fish in a small pond unlike his heroes - Giacometti or Modigliani. Modestly he said his income nearly all came from teachi...

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