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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Welcome to the July issue and I hope your summer (if your in the northern hemisphere) is going well. Well there was no doubt from last month's quick poll that most Just Raku readers are interested in selling their work, so I will plan on having some articles dealing with this topic in the future. Thanks to all the respondents. The reader feedback section really grew this month and there are several great tips from other readers in response to past articles. I also want to tell you about another newsletter that you may want to subscribe to. It is called "The Ceramics Today Update" and you can subscribe at: http://www.ceramicstoday.com/competition.htm. This weekly publication covers all forms of pottery and ceramics. Tell them "Gary at Just Raku" sent you. Gary R. Ferguson ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * From the Studio * As I recovered from the Art Show at the beginning of June, I was pleasantly surprised at being contacted over the Internet for some commission work. A "surfer" found my site and liked my Shard Wall Art pieces and is interested in several, one of each of three different designs, but would like them to closely match the colors in some other Raku pieces they have. This is where the commissioned Raku becomes a challenge. Not only do you have to worry about pieces surviving the firing process but the glazing results need to be controlled as well. To be on the safe side I created three of each and they are in the process of drying (very slowly) right now. I will need to experiment with some glazes shortly to make sure I can get the colors they want before I glaze and fire the actually pieces. I quoted a time of about six weeks so hopefully the pieces turn out and I don't have to start over again in six weeks. Fingers crossed. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Article * Making Shard Art "Did that piece break?" I sometimes get asked this question
when someone sees my Shard Art, which are platters that look as if they
have been broken into pieces and then stuck back together. Examples can be
seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/gallery2.htm When I first starting making them I actually used small slab sections about ¼ inch thick draped over a shallow platter about 12 to 15 inches across. I then used wads of clay to connect the two pieces by press it in from the back and paddling it smooth. I liked the look of this from the front, but the firing survival rate was not very high. What I believe was happening was the area between the slab and the wad of clay was very weak because the wad was being pushed level with the back of the slab which gave very little overlapping clay between the wad and the slab section. I liked the look of the affect from the front so I came up with a different technique. Now I throw out a slab the full size of the platter. I take a wooden knife and draw the shard pattern on the slab. I also draw in the sections that look like wads from the back to hold the slab sections together. I then use a fettling knife to carve out the sections that would be open if just using slabs and wads. So I am left with a single slab that has been carved to look as if it was made up of small random slabs and wads of clay connecting them. I then take this single carved slab and drape it face down over a shallow plastic plate or bowl and let it dry. I have to dry these very carefully as they love to develop cracks at any of the various cut out corners. To help alleviate this, I take the backside (not sharp) of the wooden knife and press it into each corner of a cut out to kind of smooth the corner a little. I think this makes it a little harder for a stress crack to start. I bisque them lying flat on a sprinkle of sand and Raku fire them on end. You have to be careful when you remove the piece from the kiln that you don't put excess stress on the piece by twisting the piece in the air with the tongs. Just let the piece hang straight down as much as possible. I don't create anything on the back of the piece for a wire or nail. I just drive a small nail in the wall (sometimes painted black) and then hang the piece from one of the holes created by the carving the slab. I really like the effect of these pieces. They are very different and exciting to look at. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Tips and Techniques * Careful Drying I'm not sure about the weather in your area, but in my part of the world, I have to keep freshly thrown items covered somehow to keep them from drying too fast and cracking. To do this I usually use 1, 2, or 3 mil plastic sheets to cover the pieces setting on a table. To speed drying a little I will cut small holes in the plastic. For even faster drying I can cover the pieces with just a sheet of fabric or large towel. This seems to let more air in to dry the piece but not so much that one section dries much faster than another creating problems. Finally if I have more pieces that my table with hold (like nine shard art platters) or need by table to make something else (like rolling out slabs) I use a quick damp box. I cover a gorilla shelf with plastic and then place the pieces inside. This seems to trap enough moisture to dry the pieces slowly. Any type of open shelf could be used, but I like the gorilla shelves because they are nice and study to store other pottery supplies. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Q & A * Q: Have you ever heard of the "Grass Glazing" Technique? A: Well, yes I have. Actually, I've heard of two forms. The first form is much like horsehair Raku. Instead of dropping horsehair on the hot pot to create black carbon patterns on the piece, dry grasses are dropped on the pot. These create less curly carbon lines. The second form is a glazing technique in which a second glaze is
applied to a pot using a brush and a quick flowing upward stroke to lay
narrow pointed bands of glaze on the piece. This gives the effect of long
grass around the pot. An example of this can be seen at: ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Glazing * A reader sent me this recipe. She was mixing up a batch of Alligator (recipe below) and accidentally switched the quantities of the Cobalt Carbonate and the Cobalt Oxide. Alligator Copper Matt Gerstley Borate 8 cups She states, "I put the larger amount of cobalt carb. and the smaller amount of cobalt ox. I labeled the container bad alligator and forgot about it. Recently I decided to try the botched recipe. The results were a high gloss version of alligator colors with more blues. It has become my favorite glaze and the preferred glaze of people who buy my pieces! I wanted to share this bad alligator recipe with you. I have renamed it Bad @ss Alligator." so Bad @ss Alligator is Gerstley Borate 8 cups ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Bookworm * Handmade Tiles: Designing, Making, and Decorating. This is another great Lark Ceramics Book, which is excellent for both the beginning or experienced tile maker. Frank begins with by covering the basics of tiles and the history of handmade tiles, but quickly moves into the technical aspects of tile making. First, creating basic flat slab tiles are covered, including several slab making techniques. One neat trick explained is a technique of using a couple of sticks to hold the slab when picking it up or turning it over. By using the sticks instead of just your fingers, you prevent much of the distortion that usually occurs by handling the slab. He also covers calculating shrinkage and tile cutting methods. Next he covers creating tiles using open-faced press molds, including how to actually create the press mold. These techniques allow many similar intricately carved tiles to be created in a fairly short time. He also covers the use of carved plaster blocks and the use of an extruder to create tiles. Frank then address a multitude of surface treatments for tiles, including slips, inlay, sgraffiato, and resists. He explains the proper methods to fire tiles successfully and then covers a variety of glaze treatments for the tiles. By creating a series of related tiles elaborate mosaics can be created. Frank explains both how to create extensive mosaics and also how to successfully install tiles properly. Like most Lark Books, the technical instruction is enhanced by a variety of examples from a selection of tile artists. There are even a few examples of Raku tiles and mosaics included as examples. There is an almost unlimited amount of variation that can be done with tiles and mosaics and is a great platform for Raku. Handmade Tiles should provide a good foundation for what you can do with your own tile work. The book can be purchased for 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/fwqz ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Reader Feedback * The following is more great feedback from the readers of Just Raku. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Calendar * My full calendar can be seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/events.htm Aug 9-10 Nampa Art in the Park (Tentative) Nov 1-2 Eagle Holiday Bazaar (Tentative) Nov TBA Beaux Arts Society Holiday Sale (Tentative) ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Click Away * The Ceramics Today Update - Newsletter George Blackman Tom & Nancy Giusti Elaine Pinkernell Tanti Hill Just Raku Newsletter ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ This newsletter is send to opt-in members only. If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like your own copy each month send an email to subscribe@garyrferguson.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter send a email to unsubscribe@garyrferguson.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Disclaimer: Just Raku, the owner(s) and representative(s) of this
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