So this coming Tuesday, our dear Tamara will be away in Arizona soaking up all kinds of national ceramics community goodness to share with us when she returns. Does this mean it’s a good week to skip class? No way!
For one thing, we have lots of “Project 1″s to look at. Chul’s was still hot in the kiln last week, we had a few absences, etc. So we’re having mini-crit, part 2. Don’t worry, this will not be the kind of crit where you examine your split ends and compose your grocery list.
Those of us who did gather in G’town last week saw some very interesting results courtesy of Michelle’s fearless exploits with both the commercial decals and her own custom decals refired to improve the fit of the glaze used for decal application with the glaze used on the commercial ware. This leads to two important points:
1. Keep in mind that the commercial decals may give you totally unexpected (and lustrous) results. Also, watch out for any sheets marked “glas” or “vetro” or…”glass”. Yep, there are a few glass decals shuffled into the mix. Good news–we can fire them on glass at a very low temperature (cone 022). Bad news–they will blob and run if fired at the same temp as the ceramics decals (cone 018)
2. GLAZE FIT! Michelle’s early experiment with her own custom decals on commercial ware (using the Miller clear) looked great…until it went through the dishwasher. Tamara pressed on by refiring it at a higher temperature–about cone 1. This seems to have resolved the fit issue but it dispersed the pigment in some places to the point of obliterating the image (sad). NEW TESTS are in the kiln (thanks to Matt, who found some glossy cone six clear hanging around the studio, and Tamara and Chul who got the tests in). Let’s see what happens with these before you bust a move on any of your custom decal works in process. Yes, Katie, I said “bust a move.”
Finally, in case you missed the excitement, an updated schedule for the rest of the semester is available in the handouts section. Go on and get it!
Decalomania! 