I've definitely walked by homes with tons of rocks like those in their landscaping and thought 'It would be cool to create all the rock forms and then glaze them and have a ceramic 'rock' garden landscaping feature like that'. Now I know that I don't have to make the rock forms :)
Ha love your experiments! would never have thought to do that! Those rocks are mostly silica so its not that surprising the glaze didn't run. There would be lots of potential to absorb/ neutralize the fluxing agents in the glaze. The fitment is more amazing though, i definitely wouldn't have called that!
I’d say that blue one cracked during cooling if the crack looks “fresh” and not filled in with glaze. It still could have been slightly cracked from falling and then just showed up after firing and cooling. Cool video. I love your intrigue and creativity. I would never have thought to glaze river rocks.
You likely could have just used the hot glue, as the resist, and glued it to the prop instead of the dowel. It would have saved a step or two. I guess it shouldn't be surprising the rock survived. It looked to be granite, which is one of the main rocks, that clay is formed from. I also know of a potter, who incorporates crushed granite into his thrown work. In regards to possible applications, a person could do underglaze painting on rocks, with a transparent glaze on top. It would be more durable than using latex/ acrylic, especially outside.
I suspect that you could have glued the stick to the rock and then added the wax, as the hot glue would have resisted the glaze too. I also wondered if you have a set of glazing tongs and could have dispensed with the sticks altogether. Anyway, great experiment! Keep the 🔥🔥🔥 going.
It would be interesting to do a porosity test on the rocks after they came out of the bisque kiln. I’m guessing it’s going to be somewhere around 1% or less. They’ve got to be as close to vitreous as you can get. I’ve had some success preheating unglazed pots in order to achieve a thicker glaze application. Steam comes flying off. Very cool experiment. Thanks for posting.
Have you ever used one of those round webber bbqs as a kiln? Love the rocks, the bottom of the pink one got darker also. Thank you for the fun and mayhem. Cheers!
You could wax the bisque holders you put the rocks on in the glaze fire, set them in a bowl, put the rocks on and pour the glaze on the rocks, let dry, wipe the residual glaze from the bisque towers and fire the rocks on them as you did.
Hey Justin what was the white cylinders that you were propping it up for for kiln furniture? Really interested in those stone firing was pretty cool to when I thought that might try it as well raku firing in the ground with some of the other low fire glazes like lusters end it might be easier to brush on the glaze than to drip it depending on the clothes you have look forward to hearing from you
Warm the rocks first, then use glazing tongs or brush on glaze in coats. Or put warm rock in shallow pan and pour glaze over it up to waxed area, waxed side on the bottom. Or glaze the whole rock, let it dry, and sponge off the bottom. Duh.
I think that the bisque wasn't needed after all. It was more to make sure they wouldn't blow up. I'd still be nervous that I'd grab an unlucky rock and put my kiln out of commission.
I think bisque firing is cheap insurance because many rock can still harbor moisture in them even when they appear totally dry. Great experiment. It answered a fleeting thought I had once, but I didn't follow up.
Justins Makery I just watched a video by Matthew Kelly and he mentioned you. You made a stamp for him. I thought it was really nice since I also follow him on RU-vid.👋👍
