Clay art
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TIMES
Volume 13 • Number 5 September/October 2007
John Bauman:
Picks of the Season
“Claymobile” Community Outreach Program Making Sense of Unity Formulas Texas Clayfest: BIG Fun for Potters “Botanical” at Santa Fe Clay
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contents
TIMES
Clay
September/October 2007 Volume 13, Number 5
features 34 John Bauman’s Picks of the Season Harvest some ideas from the bountiful studio of New England potter John Bauman.
40 Line, Color, & Life: The Works of Deb LeAir A former wilderness guide who insists on spending at least two hours daily outdoors, this University of Michigan MFA recipient etches her love of nature into the colorful pots she makes.
44 Clay on Wheels This Philadelphia Clay Studio outreach program brings ceramic art to the community via what’s known as “the Claymobile.” Pumpkin Jar by John Bauman. 8" x 5". Thrown stoneware with pulled handle.
48 Texas Clayfest In keeping with the largest state’s reputation for doing things big, this annual event just keeps growing and growing ...
exhibits & shows 18 Botanical Santa Fe Clay showcases a fresh collection of garden wonders in the form of natureinspired clayworks.
38 Three Guys and Some Pottery
Untitled by Michael Corney. 8½" x 8" x 8". Electric-fired porcelain with glaze and underglazes. One of various works in the “Botanical” show (see page 18).
Who would have guessed that these artists— 3 guys (and 2 girls!)—would meet each other at Penland and spend their futures together? 7
contents
®
TIMES
Clay September/October 2007 • Volume 13, Number 5
Get in the groove of thrown and pressed textures with Bill van Gilder’s surface treatments, page 29.
departments 11 YOUR WORDS “Green” Pottery and Handmade Society
13 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries
46 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers
59 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in the United States
63 SLURRY BUCKET TIPS Save time and trouble with these studio-tested tips & techniques.
66 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially for active clay artists
57 GREAT GLAZES Cover artist John Bauman shares some hot formulas. On the cover: Carved Five-gallon Jar and Acorn Casserole by John Bauman. Cone 10-11 stoneware fired with natural gas in reduction. Photo by Joe Hilliard.
columns
Pictured at top: Butterfly Vase by Kelly O’Briant, one of five exhibitors during “Three Guys” show (see story on page 38). At right: Forest Surround by Deb LeAir. 10" x 10" x 2". Earthenware clay with terra sigillata and copper wash. To learn her story and view more of her work, turn to page 40.
23 AS FAR AS I KNOW “Making Sense of Unity Formulas” by Pete Pinnell
27 BENEATH THE SURFACE “Could You Leave Your Career for a Life in Clay?” by Lana Wilson
29 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “Serve ’em Up: A Double-wall Platter Project” by Bill van Gilder 8
51 TOOL TIMES “More Great Tools for Throwing” by Vince Pitelka
53 KILNS & FIRING “Under Pressure: How Do You Rate?” by Marc Ward
55 STUDIO HEALTH & SAFETY “Art Teacher’s Arm Injured in Pug Mill Accident” by Monona Rossol
58 BOOKS & VIDEOS Soda, Clay, and Fire review by Steven Branfman
64 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Something About Tomatoes” by Kelly Savino
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January 28-February 2, 2008 During our two full ‘at sea’ days, world-renowned presenters Bill van Gilder, Pete Pinnell, and Lisa Orr will share their expertise in wheelthrowing & handbuilding, glaze formulation, firing, sprig molding, and more—plus they’ll offer evening slide shows and sales of their pots! It’s the opportunity of a lifetime! Set sail from sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a 5-night cruise
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I’ve been doing it for almost 30 years using a variety of clay bodies and glazes. Presently, I single-fire porcelain in an electric kiln to cone 9 in nine hours, and have fired large pieces in as little as six hours in an Olsen fast-fire kiln. In the Mexican pottery village of Mata Ortiz, where I live part-time, a onehour firing of greenware to approximately 700° C is the norm. Granted, this is a desert region; we know the pieces are dry when placed in the kiln. In Mata Ortiz, a pre-heat of some kind is undertaken. Thank you, Clay Times, for fomenting this discussion. Peter Chartrand Mata Ortiz, Mexico
The iPod® Dilemma
I enjoy all modes of clay, buying abstract, functional, and all in-between. Clay is a world of endless possibilities. It has been a part of mankind since the time of Alley
An aspect of successful pottery sales is what I call the dreaded “iPod®” enemy. How can we turn the iPod group on to ceramic art or any other art form? How do we foster an interest in art in general? How do we open eyes and souls? [An answer] is not easy to divine. There may be hope ... hope based upon possible efforts to bring art and design to the public with a focus on American youth. Parents need to take their children to craft shows, museums, and the theater. Hopefully, exposure will negate the anti-art culture that is seen and promoted by participants in videos and television. Give our American youth options. Artists of all media need to spread the proverbial word that very unique and special objects must be a part of a civil society. We must find the funding to open the door of creativity in our schools. Art is not a useless endeavor—art is a needed light that must be always shown. Denise and I have three granddaughters. The goal is very simple: give them chances to see and absorb. Flowers must be allowed to bloom. Will our girls live in a world empty of handmade creations, or a world saturated by sameness and banality? That question is the bottom line.
Thomas Turnquist Lakewood, Colorado [
Regular Columnists: Steve Branfman, Books & Videos David Hendley, Around the Firebox Pete Pinnell, As Far as I Know Vince Pitelka, Tool Times Monona Rossol, Health & Safety Kelly Savino, Around the Firebox Bill van Gilder, Teaching Techniques Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Contributing Writers: K.T. Anders Karmien Bowman Mike Donohoe Christina M. Edleman Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. 15481 Second St. • PO Box 365 Waterford, Virginia 20197-0365 (540) 882-3576 • FAX (540) 882-4196 Toll-free subscription line: (800) 356-2529 Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published bimonthly, six issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Waterford, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscriptions are available for $30 in the U.S.; $36 in Canada; $55 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800-3562529, or visit www.claytimes.com. Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Web site for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines. POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197-0365. Copyright © 2007 Clay Times, Inc. All rights reserved. The material contained herein is derived from various sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. All technical material is offered as general information only and should not be acted upon without expert supervision. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
I have been buying, selling, and writing about American studio pottery since 1978. I have observed trends and taste changes fairly closely over this interesting period. I have traveled from coast to coast meeting clay giants such as the Heinos, Harrison McIntosh, Harding Black, and Kurt Wild. Always I am sensing what collectors or clay dealers are involved in at the moment. One goal is to peruse what is selling and who is collecting. I am fascinated by the reasons something sells or is left upon a dusty shelf.
Second, what portion of the public on the street has even a modicum of knowledge of any form of art? Most Americans do not know the difference between art Deco and Art Carney!
Editor & Art Director: Polly Beach editorial@claytimes.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell circulation@claytimes.com Advertising Manager: Karen Freeman advertising@claytimes.com Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene accounting@claytimes.com Proofreader: Jon Singer Office Assistant: Ingrid Phillips
Spouting Off I Your Words
I’d like to add my voice to those suggesting single-firing as a conservation measure. Contrary to popular belief, single-firing does not involve a long firing [or] high-clay glazes.
Oop. Clay has a part in every living soul on this shrinking planet. The first question for potters is simply this: What portion of John Q. Public wants handmade clay, abstract or functional?
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Once-Firing: The Way to Go
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“Green” Pottery and Handmade Society
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What’s Hot
ceramic art world news • events • calls for entries KARMIEN BOWMAN PHOTO
Conferences ‰ Art
of Fine Craft 2007: Original Mind/ Modern Matter, takes place October 4-5 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The event will feature demonstrations by Paulus Berensohn, Jeanne Quinn, Hiroki Morinoue, and Kathryn Finnerty. For further information, contact the Lux Center for the Arts, 2601 N. 48th St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68504; (402) 466-8692; or visit: www.luxcenter. org/afc2007.
‰ The Seventh Biennial Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference takes place in Front Royal, Virginia October 4–7 and will feature special guest Randy Brodnax and presentations by many other accomplished clay artists. For full event details, e-mail: conference@ theclayconnection.org; call (540) 636-6016; or write to The Clay Connection/MidAtlantic Clay Conference, PO Box 3214, Merrifield, VA 22116.
‰ Sculpture in Public: Part I, Sculpture Parks and Gardens Conference takes place October 15-17 in Seattle, Washington. For full details, contact events@sculpture. org; call (609) 689-1051, ext. 302; or visit: www.sculpture.org. ‰
features Henry Glassy, folklorist and Material Culture author, as keynote speaker. Live entertainment, throwing and firing demonstrations, pottery sales, and much more will take place throughout the weekend. Admission is free. Plan your lodging ahead of time, and bring your copy of The Potter’s Art for an autograph. For full details on the annual event, see Karmien Bowman’s story on pages 48-49 of this Clay Times issue.
Tuscaloosa, AL. Guest artists will include Jason Briggs of Tennessee, Curtis Benzle of Alabama, and Ching-Yuen of Taiwan. Discount registration fee is $135 ($45/ students) through December 30; $160 ($55/students) afterward. For contact information, daily schedule, accommodations, directions, and further details about the conference, visit the Web site at www.alclayconference.org.
‰ The Michigan Ceramic Art Association Conference in Detroit will feature demonstrations, lectures, exhibitions, and tours during Michigan Mud 2007, to take place Oct. 26-27. For full event details, visit www.michclay.com; e-mail: kay@ youristpottery.com; or write Kay Yourist, 1133 Broadway, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.
Calls for Entries
‰ ‰
The Texas Clay Festival takes place October 27-28, 2007. This year’s event
The 23rd Alabama Clay Conference takes place February 8-10, 2008, on the campus of the University of Alabama in
September submission deadlines
‰ En
Feu: Emerging Artists in Contemporary Fine Crafts, to take place December 7-22, is accepting digital submissions through September 18 from emerging, professional Canadian artists with no more than five years experience. For details, contact MAM Fine Crafts Collective,
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
The National Juried Ceramics Exhibition and Symposium is slated for Oct. 17–19 in Lawrence, Kansas. Presenting guests include Dan Anderson, Bob Archambeau, John Balistreri, Mark Burns, Brad Schwieger, Jane Shellenbarger, Beth Cavener Stichter, and Michaelene Walsh. For full details, visit www.lawrenceartscenter.org/ceramicsshow; e-mail: educoord@sunflower.com; or write Ben Ahlvers, Symposium Director, 940 New Hampshire St., Lawrence, KS 66044.
Founder Billy Ray Mangham sings it up with Clay Times columnist David Hendley during the ’06 Texas Clay Festival. A full story on the annual October event appears on pages 48-49.
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
‰ Drawing
with/in/on Clay, to take place November 5-December 7, is accepting digital submissions through September 10 from artists who live in NE, IA, KS, CO, MO, MN, ND, OK, SD, and WY. Entry Fee: $15 for three images. Juror: Anna Calluori Holcombe. For a prospectus, send your SASE to Laura Kukkee, Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Gallery, Northwest Missouri State University, 800 University Dr., Maryville, Missouri 64488; ceramic@nwmissouri.edu.
‰ Mark Richard Leach, Chief Curator for the Mint Museum of Craft & Design, will jury submissions received through September 20 for Craft Forms 2007: 13th National Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Craft, to take place November 30, 2007-February 1, 2008. Entry fees are $30 for digital submissions and $40 for slides. To request a prospectus, please send an SASE to Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Avenue, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087, or visit www.wayneart.org or www.craftforms.com. ‰ 4th Annual Whimsical Craft Exhibit takes place December 2-January 12, 2008, and is accepting entries through September 24. To request an application, e-mail redbrick@redbrickarts.com, or contact Redbrick Gallery, Fine Craft Retail Shop and Art Center, 95 Rantoul St., Beverly, Massachusetts 01915; (978) 927-5615.
‰ Doug Jeck, Akio Takamori, and Jamie Walker will jury digital submissions of ceramic and mixed-media works received by September 29 for the Kirkland Arts Center Ceramic Exhibition Clay II, to take place February 15-March 29, 2008. Entry fee is $25 for three entries. For details, contact Kirkland Arts Center, Clay II, 620 Market St., Kirkland, Washington 98033; www.kirklandartscenter.org/clayapp.htm.
‰ Conner Burns will jury digital submissions and slides received by October 18th for the 3rd Annual UAM National Juried Cup Show, to take place December 7-January 25, 2008. Entry fee is $20. For a prospectus, visit www.uamont.edu/ arts_and_humanities/sahcalendar.html. For additional information, contact Scott Lykens, Cup Show, PO Box 3460, Ceramics Dept., University of Arkansas Monticello, Monticello, Arkansas 71656; lykenss@ uamont.edu.
November submission deadlines
‰ Small Rays of Hope and Fragments of a Larger Idea is accepting digital entries through November 1 for its show, to take place December 6-20. Fee: $45 for three entries. To request a prospectus, e-mail hope@rhondaschallerchelsea.com, or contact Rhonda Schaller Gallery, 547 W. 27th St., Suite 529, New York, New York 10001; tel. (212) 967-1338; web: www.rhondaschallerchelsea.com.
December submission deadlines
‰ More than $5,000 will be awarded in conjunction with Big Fish Small Pot: Third International Small Teapot Competition and Show, to take place February 25-March 20, 2008. Digital and slide submissions of small teapots may be entered through December 30. Fee (for three entries) is $40. To request a prospectus, send your SASE to Art Gallery, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy., Mission Viejo, California 92692. Contact: thuntley@saddleback. edu; http://gallery.saddleback.edu. ‰
The Oregon College of Art and Craft is accepting exhibition proposals for 2008/2009 through December 31. Please send proposals/queries to Arthur DeBow, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Hoffman Gallery, 8254 SW Barnes Rd., Portland, Oregon 97225; or e-mail: adebow@ocac.edu. February submission deadlines
‰ Digital entries for the 8th International Ceramics Competition, to take place August 1-September 30, 2008 in Mino, Japan, will be accepted from
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
‰ HWD 2007: A Regional Sculpture Competition is accepting digital and slide entries through September 28 from artists living in OH, IN, MI, and KY. Petra Kralickova will jury the show, to take place November 5-December 14. Entry fee is $20 for three works. Contact Amy Anderson, Rosewood Gallery, 2655 Olson Dr., Kettering, Ohio 45420; amy.anderson@ketteringoh.org; www.ketteringoh.org; (937) 296-0294.
October submission deadlines
Hot Stuff I News & Events
6977 rue de Bordeaux, Montréal, Quebec H2E 2M2; or visit www.mam-montreal.com/ expos/enfeu_call.html.
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
Foundation, 34 School St., Watkinsville, Georgia.
November 1, 2007-February 4, 2008. Contact: International Ceramics Festival Mino, Executive Committee Office, 4-2-5 Higashi-machi, Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan 507-0801; info@icfmino.com; www.icfmino.com; tel: 81 572 25 4111.
‰ Combined
Talent’s 22nd Annual Juried Competition takes place through September 23 at FSU Museum of Fine Arts, 530 W. Call St., 250 FAB, Tallahassee, Florida.
Ceramics Exhibitions
‰
It’s A Fine Line: Contemporary Hopi Pottery takes place September 20-27 at King Galleries of Scottsdale, 7100 Main, #1, Scottsdale, Arizona.
‰
5th Annual Perspectives: Georgia Potters and Collectors continues through September 19 at Oconee Cultural Arts
‰ Red Heat: Contemporary Work in Clay takes place October 4-26 at University of Tulsa, School of Art, 600 S. Delaware Ave, Tulsa, Oklahoma. ‰
In Continuum: Current Work by Past Members takes place September 8-28 at Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester, New York.
‰ KleinReid: Works by James Klein and David Reid takes place through September 28 at Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, 2 Pine St., Alfred, New York.
‰ The Power of Red takes place through September 30 at Penland Gallery, Penland School of Crafts, 67 Doras Trail, Penland, North Carolina.
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Introducing our new Low-Stone 900 Series colors. Here is the second half of our 37 brand new colors for 900 series low-fire glazes. As always they are lead-free and dinnerware safe. Each color will work with the existing colors to create new layered effects.
‰
4th Juried Clay Annual takes place September 7-October 5 at WAD Clay Institute, 2100 Mary St., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
‰ Krystallos 2007 takes place September 15-October 14 at Stonewall Gallery, Campbell Pottery Store, 25579 Plank Rd., Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. ‰ 1000 Years of Porcelain takes place September 29-October 12 at Chester Springs Studio, 1671 Art School Rd., Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.
‰
Triple Take, to feature works by Jorie Berman, Crisha Yantis, and Cheri Wranosky, takes place through October 13 at MudFire Gallery, 175 Laredo Dr., Decatur, Georgia.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
‰ Works by Matt Repsher and Tim Rowan will be on exhibit September 14-October 13 at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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‰ Clay²: Southwestern Indian Pottery Tiles runs through October 14 at Arizona State Museum, 1013 E. University Blvd., Tucson, Arizona.
945 to 949 94 Fenmar Dr. Toronto, ON Canada M9L 1M5
950 to 954 P.O. Box 874 Lewiston, NY US 14092-0874
955 to 958
959 to 962
Phone:(800)970-1970 or (416)747-8310 Fax:(416)747-8320 www.spectrumglazes.com info@spectrumglazes.com
‰ What a Dish! Dinnerware and Serving Pieces from RAM’s Collection runs through October 21 at the Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St., Racine, Wisconsin. ‰ Drink It In takes place October 4-25 at the Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd., Worcester, Massachusetts.
‰ Ceramics of Jack Troy takes place October 20-December 14 at Marywood University’s Suraci Gallery, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton, Pennsylvania.
‰ The fifth annual It’s Only Clay National Juried Functional Ceramics Competition and Exhibit takes place October 5-27 at Bemidji Community Art Center, 426 Bemidji Ave. N., Bemidji, Minnesota.
‰ Western North Carolina Pottery: The Rodney Henderson Leftwich Collection, takes place September 22-January 13, 2008 at the Folk Art Center, MP 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, North Carolina.
‰ Fabulous Finishes runs September 12October 27 at Gloria Kennedy Gallery, 28 Cadman Plaza W. #4M, Brooklyn, New York.
‰ Breaking New Ground: The Studio Potter and Black Mountain College takes place September 21-January 19, 2008 at Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, 56 Broadway, Asheville, North Carolina. [ To list clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, and ceramic news items in Clay Times, please e-mail details to: editorial@claytimes.com. To bypass spam filtering, please put “What’s Hot” in the subject line.
Hot Stuff I News & Events
‰ History in the Making II: Ceramic Traditions—Contemporary Pots takes place September 29-October 27 at Genesee Pottery, 713 Monroe Ave., Rochester, New York.
‰ Hand and Wheel: Purposeful Pots, featuring the work of Mary Bowron and Jill Hinckley plus new work by gallery members, takes place October 9-November 3 at Creative Partners Gallery, 4600 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland. ‰
Parades: Freer Ceramics continues through November 4 at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 12th St. and Jefferson Dr., Washington, DC.
‰ Fifty American Potters: From the Ceramics Collection of Bruno and Mary Moser runs through November 17 at the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, 102 S. 10th St., Lafayette, Indiana. ‰ Form and Imagination: Women Ceramic Sculptors runs through November 24 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, 340 S. Garey Ave, Pomona, California. ‰
Asheville in Atlanta 2007, to feature works by Kyle Carpenter, Emily Reason, William Baker, and Akira Satake, takes place October 20-November 17 at MudFire Gallery, 175 Laredo Dr., Decatur, Georgia.
‰ Danish Ceramics runs October 4November 24 at Works Gallery, 303 Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. to feature works by Tony Marsh, Sun Koo Yuh, and JeanPierre Larocque, takes place October 19November 24 at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
‰ Johnston and Jones, to feature works by Daniel Johnston and Mark Jones, takes place through November 24 at North Carolina Pottery Center, 250 E. Ave., Seagrove, North Carolina.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
‰ Collaborative Vessels,
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CLAYTIMES··COM COM n n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 2007 CLAYTIMES
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B O T A N I C A L
Water Ewer and Cup by Julia Galloway. 8" x 4" x 4". Soda-fired porcelain with gold luster and inlaid surface treatment.
S
anta Fe Clay of Santa Fe, New Mexico, recently hosted “Botanical,” a national invitational exhibition featuring work from artists who incorporate reference to flora and botany in either their form or their surface decoration.
Appearing on pages 18-21 is a sampling of works from the show. To view more, as well as a wide variety of works appearing in other Santa Fe Clay exhibitions, click on the “Gallery” link at www.santafeclay.com.
“Peach Tea Picnic” Teapot by Claudia Tarantino. 3" x 11" x 10". Earthenware with underglaze color.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
Early Summer by Lucy Breslin. 8" x 14" x 10". Stoneware with glaze decoration.
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Wallflower VIII (Paula) by Cynthia Consentino. 16" x 7" x 6½". Earthenware with glaze and terra sigillata.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
Flower Head by Don Kennell. 20" x 20" x 3". Stoneware with full-color decals.
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Untitled by Matt Repsher. 14" x 20" x 10". Earthenware and found wood.
Pitcher with Tray by Ursula Hargens. 8" x 11" x 11". Earthenware with over/underglaze treatment and gold luster.
Vase by Sarah Heimann. 10" x 4" x 5½". Earthenware with relief surface decoration.
Large Birdcage Jar by Myung Jin-Kim, 18" x 12½" x 12½". Porcelain with painted underglaze decoration. [
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
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Making Sense of Unity Formulas by PETE PINNELL
I
n several recent columns, we’ve been exploring the basics of glaze chemistry, and in particular how the oxides we use can be categorized. In this column we’ll begin putting numbers with the categories, and will put the information to practical use. First, why would an artist even want to mess around with all this chemistry and numbers stuff, anyway? The simple reason is that this information provides you with some of the most powerful tools available for understanding glazes and controlling how they act. With this information, you can get the surfaces you want, rather than settling for what the kiln gives you. But before we look at any glazes, let’s use numbers to describe something a little more simple: fruit salad. This isn’t a very good recipe, but it allows us to look at several different ways we can describe the same thing. We could list the recipe by weight, which would look like this: 8 ounces of apple 8 ounces of cantaloupe 8 ounces of cherries Or, we could list the recipe by volume: 1 cup apple 1 cup cantaloupe 1 cup cherries
1 apple ½ cantaloupe 8 cherries This third way of describing the salad is also a ratio. We could read it this way: “For every apple, use half a cantaloupe and 8 cherries.” Put this way, a ratio describes the relationship among its parts. In other
This is the way we look at glazes when we convert a recipe (which we usually list by weight) into its unity formula. In unity formulas, the recipe is broken down to its constituent oxides, and then listed as a ratio. If we were to write our fruit salad recipe as a unity formula, it would look like this: Apple
1.0
Cantaloupe .5
Cherries 8.0
We could make this recipe just a bit more complex by having more than one fruit in a column. Let’s say that in our perfect salad we used the same amount of apple, but split it between two different varieties. We would then write our unity formula this way: Granny Smith apple .5 Braeburn apple .5
Cantaloupe .5
Cherries 8.0
Notice that the first column—the “apple” column—adds up to one. This is what makes it a “unity” formula: one of the columns must always add up to 1. With glazes, we virtually always use the flux column—the first one—as our point of unity. What this means is that no matter how many different fluxes we have in a glaze, the total of all the numbers will always be one. This makes it easy to understand the “amount” of alumina, for instance, since we are always looking at it in relation to the amount of flux in the glaze. This way of looking at a glaze is known as a Unity Molecular Formula (UMF), and we now know why it’s called unity. The word molecular refers to the way in which we are looking at the glaze’s constituent parts. We could further subdivide the chemical parts in the formula and look at individual atoms, but it’s easiest to understand the role each component plays when we look
at the glaze in the form of oxides (as we’ve talked about in previous columns). Let’s look at a real-world example. Here’s a commonly used glaze called Leach Clear:
Leach Clear Cone 9-11 (oxidation or reduction)
Custer Feldspar Silica (quartz) Whiting (calcium carbonate) Kaolin (EPK) Total
40% 30% 20% 10% 100%
Here’s its UMF (rounded for clarity): K2O .16 Na2O .07 CaO .77
Al2O3 .39
Si02 3.9
As you can see, the first column adds up to one, so what we’re saying here is that for each molecule of flux, the formula has .39 molecules of alumina, and 3.9 molecules of silica. (OK, as a side issue we all know that it’s not possible to have less than a full molecule of something, and still have those same qualities. However, we’re talking about a ratio—the proportion of one thing to another—and not actual amounts of substance. For this reason, it doesn’t matter if we talk about a fraction of a molecule). If you look at the flux (first) column, you can see that it’s subdivided into the different oxides that act as fluxes. In this glaze they are sodium and potassium (from the feldspar) and calcium (from the whiting). It’s always interesting to me how the recipe of a glaze can mislead us. The recipe calls for 40% feldspar and 20% whiting, which might lead us to think that the major fluxes are the alkalis (sodium and potassium)—after all, the recipe calls for twice as much feldspar as it does whiting. In reality, the major flux in this glaze is calcium—77% of the total, or .77
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Yet another way would be to list it by units. In this form, the recipe would look like this:
words, it doesn’t just tell us what to mix—it reveals something more basic that allows us to understand how the parts relate to each other.
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Back to Basics, Part 4
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