Glaze testing with Andy Martin's Show Saver

As a potter, admitting that you despise anything about the ceramic process, is often met with shocked looks and disdain. But here I am confessing, not for the first time I might add, that I HATE MAKING GLAZES. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Wheeeeeee! that felt good......
But as much as I don't like doing it.......it still has to get done.
This week I maned up.....womaned up......and made some glaze tests.
Here are the results:


Andy Martin's Show Saver Base Glaze:
nepheline syenite 21.4
frit 3110 4.2
strontium carbonate 12.8
whiting 2.4
barium carbonate 22.8
grolleg (EPK) 2.4
silica (flint) 31.o
bentonite 3%


For Water Turquoise:
add: 4% copper carbonate
















For Purple:
add: cobalt carbonate .25%
manganese carbonate 3%



















For Grass Green:
add: chrome .5%
copper carbonate 3%
red iron oxide 1%

















For Ultramarine Blue:
add: cobalt carbonate .5%
copper carbonate 3%
















For Chartreuse:
add: .5% chrome
(be careful here. it calls for .5% not 5%. too much chrome is never a good idea)

















I am going to remake the purple and the grass green with less of each metal for a little less intense color. Next week I'll post test tiles.
Have a great creative week!!!!
Leanne P

finished bottles and chicken heads

Here is the finished group of bottles from the last post.
Like I mentioned previously they are glazed with:











Andy Martin's Show Saver Glaze:
nepheline syenite 21.4
frit 3110 4.2
strontium carbonate 12.8
whiting 2.4
barium carbonate 22.8
grolleg (EPK) 2.4
silica (flint) 31.o
bentonite 3%
add:
copper carbonate 4%

This glaze is AMAZING! I love it! Very stable, wide firing range- cone 3 up to cone 10, does well in oxidation or reduction, does awesome in a salt kiln, buttery surface.
I can't get enough of this glaze. Every time it comes out of the kiln I always think of candy, specifically Jolly Ranchers:)

Side note: I do not use this glaze on pieces meant for food because of the Barium content.





On another page.....or wall..... chicken heads. Everywhere!
When I am sitting in the studio carving, this is often what I see. Chicken heads peeking around the door, looking for treats from mama. So I just had to make one or two or 10......so you can have chickens peeking at you from a wall, or around a corner.






























































Later in honor of one of my bestest friends birthday........Giraffe Heads!
You know when you have a good friend and you can't think of one more thing to buy her/him? That is where I was this year. So I decided to make something just for her. She loves giraffes. So in your honor Lisa........

what's on the shelf......

what's on the shelf this week?
Lots of orders......
Commissions can be a great support system behind an artist during the slow months in the beginning of the year. I try to manage small orders throughout the year and save the big ones for January and February when I am really slow and don't have much to do. This year I taught Winter Term at a local college and didn't have quite as much time as usual. So these past couple of weeks I have been trying to finish many orders that have stacked up on my list. This group of bottles is due next week. They will be glazed a shiny turquoise called Andy Martin's Show Saver glaze.





Also on the shelf this week are many pieces coming out of the Lotus Series.
I have an order for 2 large loti, 3 medium and 7 small. So far I have made all but 4 small loti which I hope to finish today.























Off the shelf this week is a big order that I did for the Greensboro Children's Museum. The request was to make tiles and plates that thank the museum donors by having their name carved on the pieces. I had a wonderful time working with Betsy Grant and the staff at the museum.
In the following picture are the tiles that they have hung on the barn in the Edible School Yard.
Here is some information I have quoted from their website:

"The Edible Schoolyard History

The Edible Schoolyard is a teaching garden and kitchen where children and their families can learn how to grow healthy food and create delicious snacks and meals using fresh, local, organic ingredients. The Edible Schoolyard offers children a chance to build practical gardening and cooking skills, to connect with the natural world and to enjoy nourishing food.

The Greensboro Children's Museum has been selected to be the first children's museum in the country to have an licensed Edible Schoolyard, a program created by Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation!

The Edible Schoolyard at GCM is expected to serve as a national model for other museums and children’s institutions nationwide promoting health and wellness in young children and families. "

The garden is exceptional and beautiful. They have chickens and rabbits.....and every vegetable, fruit tree, herb that one can possibly think of. What an amazing place to have in ones home town. I am proud to be a small part of such a wonderful museum.

what's on the shelf......

Hello out there!!!
It has been so long since I last posted. And if there are still people out there that follow this blog thank you for being patient.......thank you bunches.
Life has been simply put-crazy.
We have had some family emergencies, but thankfully things are looking better each day that passes. We have been very blessed.
On a lighter note, we have also had some really crazy fun shows this spring. The collaborative Alien show with my great artist friend Paige Cox, traveled to Winston Salem and Greensboro. In September, the show will travel to Columbia, SC to Southern Pottery Gallery.
We also had the best "Keep It Local" home show so far. A big thank you to all of you who came out and helped make the show such a success!
With all of that said, I am happy to say that I am recommitting myself to blogging. I have truly missed this connection that the blogisphere allows and the friends I have found out there. And on that note here is what is on my greenware shelf waiting to be bisque fired this week:
































pottery lingo:
green ware: formed pottery that is air dried but unfired and, thus, still raw clay.
bisque or bisqueware-is clay that has been hardened through a firing to a lower temperature somewhere around 1600 to 1800 degrees F. Bisque Firing is the first firing to harden the clay for glazing.