I fired up the kiln a few days ago with a load full of experimental work. Most of it involved new glaze combinations involving Jen’s Juicy Fruit.
Working with Decals
I’ve had a chance to try some more decals recently. This time on real pots, not just test tiles. I really like how they look on the Bone White from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. Even though the Bone White is a little too yellow after a glaze fire with a normal cool down I really like how it looks after going through an extra bisque fire required to fire the decals onto the piece. It becomes less glossy and brighter white. It reminds me a little bit of old paper.
These were a big hit during the Father’s Day festivities. I used black and white photos of Q and printed them off on decal paper. They came out pretty well. There is enough detail in the midtones to tell what the subject is but there are a few rough spots. Maybe if the glaze was more glossy the images would be a little smoother? It actually adds to the old paper look.
Glaze Tests – Fall 2012
Here’s a blast from the past. I was just about to upload some images of new glazes when I realized that I never posted my third batch of test tiles. I hadn’t even prepared the images!
It’s a good thing I’m on summer vacation…
So here are all 25 glaze variations. The base glazes are High Calcium Semi Matte 2 and Waterfall Brown from the book Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. Click the images to see a larger, more readable version.
High Calcium Semi Matte 2 Base
Testing Decals
I recently tested decals on my current lineup of glazes. The decals came from decalpaper.com. The test tiles were made from Amaco’s Warm Brown Stoneware, bisque fired and then each dipped in one of my current glazes. After glaze firing each tile to ^6 I applied one of the water slide decals and put the tiles through another bisque fire. The images show the tiles just after I applied the decals and then after the decals were fired on.
- decal test 2
- decal test 3
- decal test 1
Ceramic Decals – First Attempt
I learned a little bit about ceramic decals in the surface class I took this past summer at the Goshen Clay Artist’s Guild. During the class I spent most of my time working with the crystalline glazes and never got a chance to try the decals.