There are two environments that occur during a ceramic firing: Oxidation and Reduction.
The chemical terms for the two are:
Oxidation: A reaction where electrons are lost from the species in question. A flame of natural gas oxidizes with a blue light.
Reduction: A reaction where electrons are added to the species in question. These flames are usually [...]
Oxidation, Reduction and Chun
Kilns – Where Clay is Reborn
Do any of you know what the difference between a clay and a ceramic pot is? There’s a major difference. Clay is comprised of very tiny, hexagonal grains of sand called “platelets“. A common type of clay is called kaolinite. Anyway, at high temperatures clay platelets undergo a chemical reaction that begins to fuse them [...]
Intaglio: Soft Ground
So far, I’ve learned how to make plates that simulate:
pen – Hard ground
Ink Wash – Aquatint
Now I learn how to use a technique that can simulate graphite: Soft Ground.
Soft ground is very similar to hard ground in the sense that its a wax that you spread over a plate. Hard ground wax is hard- it [...]
Clay: Throwing Tricks!
“Throwing” refers to spinning a piece of clay on a wheel really fast and making a cylindrical shape- often referred to as a “vessel“. Vessels can be anything in between the forms of plates, pots, vases, cylinders and hollow spheres.
Here’s a quick run-through on the process. If you wanted to try it, it’d be better [...]
Carving Lust and Love
Well time to show you what I did next: Carving! So I have a good start on the shape now: I have the curves and a good surface area, but its really rough- dimples are everywhere for where the clay sagged as it dried, or I left finger marks from me smoothing it out with [...]
Sculpting Video
Sorry for my lack of posting here. I’ve been busy with a couple of projects of my own. Here’s something to make up for it:
Keep in touch.
—Matthew
