Raku-ing in December...

It's been unseasonably mild in the UK, whilst everyone else shivers- there's been wind and rain...storms for Christmas day...Well never mind, in between dodging the rain, I've been busy firing dishes and bowls.

The first couple of firings I stupidly re used an old glaze batch- and the colours didn't really work that well. So here's a tip- always label up your glaze or mix up a fresh batch every time. You think that your going to save money by re -using old glaze mixtures- - but believe me- it pays dividends to know that the glaze actually works!

I often get asked will the copper lustres fade? Well, yes- some do- especially if they don't get a good reduction in the smoking bins- the kind that gives off a lot of green smoke. Green smoke is a good sign! Equally,I have had some pots which are 10 years old- and given a polish with a soft cloth- the Copper lustres come up like new.

Some of these pots went straight to the Taplin Gallery in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Some are bound for my new Etsy store- which I hope will go International on the advice of Vasefinder founder- Charles A Blim.

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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 out of th

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

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