Monday, December 28, 2009

porcelain

I'm going to be mixing up a lot of porcelain this next week, about 1200#. It's about time for my fix I suppose. I'm really excited about this departure and I am excited to be able to spend a decent amount of time exploring it. I really enjoy working with porcelain and would probably do more with it but it doesn't do anything that interests me in the wood kiln...at the moment anyways. I'll be firing most of it in the gas kiln, I really enjoy a gestural surface with a clear glaze. I have done some work with a bold green and wax resist that was well received.

Here are a few pots from last year, not the best pieces but the only ones I could find photos of.




I have a few hundred pounds of stoneware to work through while the porcelain dries in the racks. I'm ready to get back to the wheel and back to work! I've had three out of six rejections so far for spring shows, my worst stats ever! Oh well...I hate art festivals anyways. I have less need to make pots now, though that doesn' mean I'll be making any less. Less deadlines means more exploration and better pots.
Cheers!

9 comments:

carter gillies said...

Good luck in the new year Brandon! I like the idea of your pots made in porcelain and encourage you to keep putting some in your wood kiln. Some of the 'best' (most dramatic) results from our local anagama have come from porcelain on the first set of shelves after the firebox. I wish I was still firing that kiln if only for those results. I can definitely see your porcelain pots treated similarly. Good luck!

Sister Creek Potter said...

"more exploration and better pots" is my current mantra. Somehow I get lost in 'making pots' and forget to explore the forms and glazes. Especially my glazes need focused exploration. Maybe I'll print a big sign to hang in my studio--my new year's mantra. Thanks for the reenforcement. Happy New Year.

Corbin Webster said...

One person you could look to is Matt Long's pots he uses porcelain and a variety of Flashing slips

Good Luck with the new year

Lori Buff said...

I love your positive attitude, I'll try to remember it. It seem that most artists I know are complaining of lower sales at the shows due to the economy, yet the organizers don't charge any less. I've posted about it on my blog:
http://futurerelicsstudio.blogspot.com/2009/12/art-festival-fees.html
Hopefully you'll find better venues for selling your new and beautiful work.

klineola said...

Mmm, porcelain! Can't wait to see what you come up with. Would you share your porcelain recipe?
:)

Tracey Broome said...

I have some friends that get some beautiful results with porcelain in wood firings. I'm sure whatever you do will be great! I'm guessing that a lot of people are trying to figure out where they will be selling their art this coming year. One of my very "new age" friends would say that maybe you didn't really want to be in those shows and that is why the Universe didn't allow it to happen. Nice to think that way sometimes, it sort of simplifies things I think! Best of luck anyway :) you have beautiful work and lots of people out there that want more of it!

Linda Starr said...

I like comparing how the same glaze looks on stoneware compared to porcelain, can't wait to see your pots in porcelain.

brandon phillips said...

my porcelain formula is as follows(and i believe it's a variation of one of tom turners?)

#6tile 50
Kaopaque20 25
Om4 Ball 10
Custer Spar 40
Silica(200) 40
Macaloid 2

This is what I've used before...kaopaque is no longer available i believe but i have 4 or 5 bags that i'll use until they're gone and then i'll work a sub, grolleg would work but it's so expensive. #6tile is real expensive here so i think that i'm going to cut the #6 in half and use epk for the other half. i'll probably also switch to bentonite because i don't have anymore macaloid, i blunge it so i may not even need it. i don't care about translucency so i'm ok with putting "dirty" clays in it. this stuff is real fickle in the bisque, any bowl or plate larger than 8" needs to fired down through quartz inversion or it'll crack.

klineola said...

Thanks for sharing, BP. That's interesting about the bisque. I'll keep that in mind when I bisque.

Happy New Year.