I
make pottery and would like to offer some tips -
Porcelain:
Porcelain is a a special white clay that can be both light and translucent.
This smooth clay can be carved while it is still damp, producing
beautiful effects when you use transparent glazes. I create all
of my own Celadon glazes which use iron to create part of their
vibrant color. I fire my porcelain at 2,350 degrees in a gas reduction
kiln.
Raku:
Special glazes are used to produce vibrant metallic colors. Each
pot is quickly heated to 1,800 degrees in an outdoor kiln. The pottery
is then pulled from the kiln with long tongs and placed in a sealed
container along with flamable materials. After 15 minutes the raku
pot is removed from the container and quenched in water to preserve
its unique colors.
Horse
Hair:
Each pot is created using a smooth raku clay and covered with special
colorants that we have developed. The pottery is quickly heated
to 1,800 degrees in an outdoor kiln. Next the pot is pulled from
the kiln and placed on a fire proof rotating table. As the pot cools,
horse hair and/or feathers are burned into its surface to create
the unique horse hair markings.
Stoneware:
Stoneware
is made from very strong clay. Each pot is hand thrown and then
bisque fired. The pottery is then glazed and loaded into a gas reduction
kiln where it takes about 24 hours to reach a final temperature
of 2,300 degrees. Once the stoneware reaches that temperature the
kiln is turned off, sealed, and allowed to cool slowly for two more
days.
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