Happy New Year Potting....

Well it's the New Year and I can't wait to get back to normal and back to potting. 2016 has been a year of some lows (worrying about clay dust, silicosis, cleaning the workshop top to bottom, to make it squeaky clean.... Btw, happily I got the all clear from the doc.), fluctuating gallery sales back home (thanks Brexit) but also the incredible visit from Curocarte all the way from India to buy work. It may never happen again...we'll see, but I have been overwhelmed by the support of Curocarte, their obvious love of craft, respect for the maker..you couldn't deal with a friendlier and enthusiastic and energetic group of people.

To end the year and begin the new..here are some highlights from their range...and that is Curocarte director Ananya Birla and team with one of my sculptural jugs at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai, celebrating the Elle Decor Awards 2016. Regardless of what comes next- it has been an unforgettable year..in some respects!:)

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...

Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

Search This Blog