MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Well I've had a hell of a fine season making, glazing and firing monsters.  They've all been adopted out to loving families.  Here's a picture of Casey's babies before he came and picked them up and gave them all away for Christmas:

These guys are pretty damn ugly and make perfect drinkin' buddies.  They don't talk much, they are good listeners, and they keep their mouths shut about all your secrets.  (Truthfully, they don't have a damn brain in their heads and can't remember a thing you tell them, but they are loyal -- so that's a good thang!)

You can order these custom made by messaging me here, or by going to my facebook Monstermugs
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MonsterMugs/154842774541834

You can see all the monstermugs I've made so far here
http://corazondedios.deviantart.com/gallery/10665024

There's a passel of them.

Well, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I plan to.  I've already got mugs ordered by people for me to start making next year (as in a week from now). I've got to keep on potting!

much love
DJ

OIL SPILL SALLY

Here's Oil Spill Sally.   She is just one of the millions of victims of British Petroleum's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  We will be feeling the results of their horrific rape of the Gulf for decades to come.

ANGELINA JOLIPS IN LUCIOUS COLOR

I finally got her fired.  I'm going to make more of these! They are so fun and ridiculous and great to drink coffee out of.

Angelina Jolips is selling herself for Christmas! $30 gets these lips on your coffee every morning!

CASEY'S MONSTER MUG BORN TODAY

Casey, you asked for it.

Here's baby No. 1

Name him and weep!

much love

DJ

My Latest Monster Jug

Here is my latest Monster Jug

It will be auctioned at the Mad Platter Bash in the spring

CLAY IMPRESSIONS

On clayart, an email list I belong to, there is a running thread about what influences the potter.  Many people there have been potting for decades, but I have only three scant years to my craft.  So I cannot claim to be so good a potter as to have "influences" from those long schooled in its arts.

Yet, when I thought about it, the very medium itself was a mind-blowing experience when I grasped the awesomeness of a plasticine soft mud that through my efforts, could change into virtually anything I could imagine and craft.

The clay itself influences me -- the smell, texture, feel of it.


Every  potter I see leaves an imprint on my mind.


I love Acoma Pueblo pottery.

I love Kumano pottery. the guy is insane. He fires his kiln to temperatures identical to those inside a volcano!  His stuff looks like living stone
http://www.osakaprints.com/kumano/content/kumano-sales.htm

Conversely, I love the ethereal perfection of Miyamura
http://additionsstyle.blogspot.com/2009/10/artist-to-know-hideaki-miyamura.html

Mesoamerican pottery enthralls me.

The more I think about it -- what "influences" my art -- honestly,  its not so much influence as inspiration.


I have had to process a LOT of data since I began pottery so late in the game -- at age 55.  Many here have been working with clay for decades. I've only been at it for three  years.


The three dimensional aspect of clay blew me away -- the infinite possibilities of each piece from start to finish -- that in and of itself created an absolute addiction to clay


I began to collect images of clay as a screensaver  for my computer -- it was the easiest way I could compile a slideshow study to run through my brain and absorb the awesomeness of clay under the fingers of thousands of different clayists (somehow, artist does not suffice, nor do the words potter or ceramicist),


I have over 2 gig of images collected from everywhere. Not just images of finished art -- but images of kilns and firings and happy potters smiling over spinning clay,  pictures of studios and hand made brushes and people glazing, greenware and bisqueware -- every aspect of this all encompasing artform.


Glaze chemicals themselves are an inspiration, mystifying in their inert powderiness, which, when mixed, leaves behind their dull cocoon and explodes into an array of volcanic color as they embrace and seduce the vessel they cover.


The awesome elemental forces of clay -- earth, fire, water, air -- all delight my deepest paganess despite its veneer of 800 years of Christianity in my Celtic lineage.


In once sense, I have no "influences" -- no pedegrees pompous or otherwise -- in terms of emulation. I am simply trying to learn the craft through repeated, careful, joyful pursuit of a simple objective.


In another sense, everything from the river and ocean where I live, to the sunsets that billow over me, to the colors and textures of life -- they all influence and leave their imprint on my mind. I, in turn, try to leave their imprint on my clay.


much love

OCTOBER 12 KILN FIRING 2010 -- cone 6 2232 F

MOST OF THE PIECES ABOVE HAD THE GLAZE BRUSHED ON WITH A HAKE BRUSH.  EVEN THOUGH I TRIED TO BE SURE AND BRUSH THE GLAZE ON VERY THICK, STILL A FEW OF THEM WOUND UP BEING TOO THIN IN PLACES -- with the exception of Heidy's Eggshell, which just does good no matter what you do to it.

Still, the pieces came out with nice bright colors. Although there was an issue with thinness in places due to brush application, basically, it was a good firing and I learned a LOT from it.

ACTUAL FIRING RAMP note: kiln lid was cracked open for 14 hours of firing. it was 1900 degrees when Jen closed it. My bad. Hence the ramp was slowed to about 150 degrees per hour for 14 hours. Maybe more

200 degrees an hour up to 2100

100 degrees an hour up to 2232

-- Hold 8 minutes

drop at full speed to 1800
100 degrees an hour down to 1300

Again, HEIDY'S EGGSHELL GLAZE performed admirably.  It did not mind the slow cool at all. The colors are fresh and gorgeous.  The glaze came out very even.  I found that the areas where it is thinner are where the lovely rusty tones come out.

EGGSHELL -- tried and true from Ceramic Arts Daily

CONE 6	X1	X2	X3	X5
Whiting	9.5	19	28.5	47.5
Zinc Oxide	5.5	11	16.5	27.5
Frit 3124	44.5	89	133.5	222.5
Custer Feldspar	20	40	60	100
Bentonite	7.5	15	22.5	37.5
Kaolin	5	10	15	25
Silica	8	16	24	40
TOTAL	100	200	300	500
OXIDES
Tin Oxide	9	18	27	45
RIO	3	6	9	15

DJ'S GRAPE GLAZE

The Grape glaze with cobalt carbonate came out a perfect purple -- even better than the same recipe using cobalt oxide.  Jen said that this was the first time she'd seen a glaze come out actually purple instead of dark blue. She said, "That's DJ's Purple" -- I'll check to make sure its not just a derivative of Jeannie's purple.  If it isn't, then I guess its DJ's purple all right! I'm pretty sure the great color is due to the slow cooling at 100 F an hour from 1800 to 1300 degrees. It brings out more red.

DJ's GRAPE GLAZE WITH COBALT CARBONATE

cone 6	X1	X2	X3	X5
Neph Sy	18	36	54	90
Frit 3134	14	28	42	70
Whiting	20	40	60	100
OM4	18	36	54	90
Silica	30	60	90	150
total	100	200	300	500
oxides
Chrome Ox	0.2	0.4	0.6	1
Tin Ox	7.5	15	22.5	37.5
Cobalt Carb	1	2	3	5
RIO	0.5	1	1.5	2.5

RASPBERRY BLUE BUST!

Alisa Clausen's Raspberry blue, whose image I loved so much and researched so hard to mix correctly turned out to be a bust.  It's a glossy, watercolory sort of glaze that looks like diltued cobalt blue -- its cool if you want that sort of effect -- but I didn't want it.  I'll try it again dipped, but I think its just going to be a translucent cobalt blue.

Here's the pic from Alisa Clausen's flickr

CONE 6	X1	X2	X3	X5
Neph Sy	18	36	54	90
Frit 3134	14	28	42	70
Whiting	20	40	60	100
OM4	18	36	54	90
Silica	30	60	90	150
total	100	200	300	500
oxides
Cobalt Carb	1	2	3	5
R I O	0.5	1	1.5	2.5

Well, they are both blue, that's for sure.  I like seeing the glaze on an entire piece rather than a small rectangle of it.  I'll make sure that I mixed it right, but after mixing it three different times, I'm pretty sure that I did. Anyway, I don't like how it turned out.  I'll try it a couple more times, put on thicker and also try it on a couple of different clay bodies.  But so far, its a "meh."

PRAESYODIMIUM YELLOW GLOSS

The praesyodimium yellow gloss came out muddy looking onf the buff clay that I've been making Laszlo's bowls out of.  It looks great on the white clay body next to it.  SO I'll make some bowls of Cinco Blanco and try it on that.  I also am going to try it with a bit of tin in it as an opacifier,  In the gloss white base, its quite translucent, so the buff claybody cannot work well with it if you want a pure yellow. 

Neph Sy	35
Silica	21
EPK	10
Whiting	8
Gerstley Borate	18

COLORANT: add 7 grams of praesydimonium yellow

AMACO VELVET UNDERGLAZE CHARTREUSE 

WITH K-17 CONE 6 GLAZE ON TOP

This color is for one of the marine monster jugs that I have made.  I like the effect of the k17 on top of the chartreuse.  I'll have to get the K-17 recipe from my google docs excel files of the school's cone 6 glazes.  It's nice the way it highlights the texture on the right teabowl.

JOHN POST'S TOMATO RED 13 AND JUICY FRUIT VARIANT

Where it was put on thick enough, it came out great.  On the mug below, its mediocre.  I'll mix up more next time around and and put it on THICK! This glaze should probably be dipped, not brushed on.  Where you see it come out so nicely on the above piece is where I dipped it in the small amount that I mixed up.

John Post Tomato Red #13

FRIT 3134	10.8
Neph Sy	23.1
Bone Ash	10
Magnesium Carb	6.2
Whiting	7.7
EPK	21
FLINT	21.2
TOTAL	100
BENTONITE	2
Red Iron Oxide	12
Lithium Carb	2

JEN'S JUICY FRUIT VARIATION FROM JOHN POST -

CONE 6	X1	X2	X3	X5
EPK	30
Gerstley Borate	27
Neph Sy	147
Flint (Silica)	36
Whiting	33
Lithium Carb	27
TOAL	100
Soda Ash	30
Titanium dioxide	15

FIRING RAMP FROM JOHN POST’S EMAIL 10.10.2010
200 degrees an hour up to 2132
100 degrees an hour up to 2200
drop at full speed to 1800
150 degrees an hour down to 1300

The Strontium Opal Blue is a beautiful glaze -- delicate and quite glossy --  but must be put on thick due to its translucence.

37.8 Custer Feldspar	75.6 Custer Feldspar
24.9 silica	49.8 silica
22.8 borate,Gerstley	45.6 Gerstley Borate
11.2 calcium carbonate	22.4 calcium carbonate
3.1 strontium carbonate	6.2 strontium carbonate
3 rutile, 0.4 cobalt carbonate	6 rutile, 0.8 cobalt carbonate

The center piece was strontium opal blue over candy apple red.  Yeah. Yucky.  Still, it might be a good effect over a different color.

FLOATING BLUE OVER CONE 6 OHATA

DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF SLOW COOLING THIS GORGEOUS GLAZE!

Normally this is a killer combination

but in a slow cool, with a thick coat of Ohata and floating blue on the piece -- it just turns blackish brownish blue

The flash makes it look nicer than it really does.  It is basically an inky black with vague hints of some color that MIGHT be there in the glossy blackness. This piece was dipped first in Ohata cone 6 and then in floating blue.  I did quick dips because I did not want it to run under the handle like the last piece did.  I even washed off the glaze under the handle more to help it not run, but it ran and puddled on the cookie under it anyway.  Next time, I'm going to try BRUSHING on the Ohata and then dipping it in floating blue.  Hope it works.