I feel like good ceramics make people want to hold them. Mugs and plates and teapots and bowls are made for human hands. The size, weight, shape, and temperature of a vessel provide so much tactile feedback. I think the iron oxide adds something special for the fingertips. I would like to have a pot like this someday so that I can trace the swirls of texture with my own hands.
IMO the tactile aspect is so very important, even for non-functional and sculptural work that invites the urge to touch. The feel of a piece adds a whole other dimension.
Your seconds aren't burnt food! They're lovely! While it's very kind of you to gift them, there are certainly people who would love the opportunity to buy one. If you still feel they are truly lesser works, you could offer them for a lower price. Many of your followers can't afford your prices and I for one would really love to see some more affordable pieces in the shop. Seconds, thirds, and more. Your work is so lovely, even when it doesn't measure up to your high standards.
I trimmed pots today in my very warm studio, as my kiln was firing a bisque load. I took a break and watched this video on my patio. I do not have a gas kiln and don’t plan on getting one (if I were younger, I would). But that does not mean I can’t experiment! I often do refires and come out with very interesting results. Then I tell the lovely people who buy them that it is nearly impossible to recreate that piece so they definitely have a one of a kind and no one else on the planet has one.
I have a pot which I hate the internal glazing of - absolutely doing this in the studio next week. It's only earthenware and isn't reduction but I think it could be interesting anyway Mucking about with oxides is my favourite thing. Black copper is my usual but clearly I should branch out!
One part colemanite and one part rutile titanium oxide when brushed over an iron saturated glaze makes for some interesting results when fired in a reduced atmosphere.
So much knowledge and beauty in one video. Love the effect glazes have your work. I wanted to fix an area on a piece I made that the glaze didn’t quite work. My friend/ colleague sprayed some hairspray on the parts I wanted to reglaze. She said it would help the glaze stick. Hope it works.
Okay first of I never would have guessed I’d be jealous of a banding wheel but phwoar that’s a nice banding wheel. The iron oxide pots are also really lovely, I mean obviously the forms are great, but those results are so cool. Really want to give it a try
i love this, instead of just scrapping the things that arent perfect we try to recycle them. im also sure many people would take the failures as an ornimant or art piece. we look so much for perfections and with AI we assume everything is perfect. but in the world of AI we humans search for the human element of the broken pot and the refired pot. something otherwise imperfect is perfext in a world of computational perfection
How do you handle visitors in your studio? I can't imagine people (especially strangers) just drop by unannounced. If I ever visited London, your studio would be a better destination than the london eye lol. Beautiful work, as usual, friend!
OMG. You did it again. Another great video that you give to this channel. It's amazing how you are able to bring us such a great content and always with your very special approach to ceramic. So much admiration ❤
re: iron oxide sticking to glaze, have you tried sanding the glaze before applying? a quick once-over with a fine sanding pad/paper on the banding wheel might improve application and help even out defects. helps with paint over gloss, might work with glazes too.
The first thing that came to my mind was 'Oh, it's basically an oil spot glaze' but you're right the black iron wash does give a feeling of motion and fluidity. Very nice work 👍
I love the look of those bowls they remind me of the Chinese teacups that have the same patterns but lots of different colors and they use a walk-in style kiln. There lots of TikTok videos about these teacups and some of them are just absolutely gorgeous. It looks like you might be on to something when it comes to making the teacups they’re selling on livestreams on TikTok. I can give more info if needed.
I never sell anything that I would consider seconds so this is a great way to avoid those "lost" pots. This video answered so many of my questions about using iron oxide. I fire at a community studio to cone 10 reduction and I never know what's safe or not when experimenting with things. I'd love to start trying glaze on the inside and iron oxide on the outside but only firing once. I'm assuming that this would be food safe since the glaze would be on the inside?
Very nice. I have a pot... or maybe dozen, I just might have to try that on. One thing I've done on occasion and have gotten very nice results from is draping or wrapping fine strands of electrical copper wire on my pots, which like the heavy iron I would not recommend for use with foods or in a microwave, but it does leave a very what I consider attractive pattern. The issue of copper vaporizing hasn't been an issue so far. I have as yet to try it with a fine gauge iron wire; silver wire might be worth trying too.
>I wouldn't put them in the microwave So hear me out, but in my youth I had a hobby of microwaving CDs. If you stop the microwave almost immediately, you can sometimes capture beautiful waves of arc burns across the surface of the CD. Presumably something similar would happen with the iron oxide layer in your pots which might make for some interesting pieces. Or shrapnel. Who knows? But if you want to try it I can't emphasize enough how quickly you need to turn it off, as in hit the on button then hit the off button.
Titanium oxide, ie titanium white, might be something interesting to try. Though the Kiln might need to be fired a bit hotter than you'd usually do to get to the 1670°C you need to melt the metal, so idk if that'd be something feasible. Tungsten oxide could also be interesting, though there I'd only try a single test piece first to see if the metal will stick at all given that the kiln definitely doesn't get hot enough to melt the metal. Both copper and aluminium oxides could give interesting results, but have the potential complication that their melting point is a few hundred degrees lower than what you fire at and the metal might just run off the pieces and makes a mess. Aluminium being worse at under 700°C as opposed to coppers ~1000°C.
I’m curious about the “pings” coming from your kiln: many peops consider that to be something to panic about, that it’s crazing happening which renders a pot unsafe for food consumption? It’s obs clear to me that in your case it’s on purpose but I’d love to understand your take on this? Also, would the iron oxide bowls then also not be good safe? Thanks again, love your work!
This is purely a thought with no basis on whether it would succeed or even be possible, but if you were to put a touch of iron powder, fine powder as opposed to coarse spangles, into an iron oxide coating, I wonder how that would potentially turn out?
Every time you mention how reduction atmospheres work, I feel a little concern. Isn't incomplete combustion supposed to produce lots of carbon monoxide ? Does that mean you have to ventilate really well or does it react somehow in the kiln ?
What would happen if you brushed these iron glazes on for the first firing? Would the firing still yield these interesting streaks of molten metal even without the "slippery" underglaze, or would the porous material absorb it better?
The black oxide looks almost identical to Amaco’s Potter’s Choice Saturation Metallic glaze when fired in oxidation. Anyone wanting this look should try that if you’re restricted to oxidation firing
Double doggie sighting! That regal pose at 22 seconds! Delightful! (PS: I can only dream of making "flawed" pots such as yours! Those colors at the end are fabulous!)
