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Process

Because bisque fired clay is very porous, I can anticipate that my dark lines will stick to the surface while I work on top of them with glazes - though sometimes I lose a few.  Here, I used an ash glaze; a glaze that includes wood ash as a main component.  Ash glazes tend toward soft, warm, earthy colors.  Because they are sometimes created with nearly 50% ash, they are often difficult to apply because the ash absorbes the water in the glaze.  In this piece, I wanted to create a wash of color that would help to visually unify the seperate images and balance the visual weight by drawing the viewer away from the figure - if only for a brief moment.  My solution was to prop the tiles and sling the slurry-like glaze onto the suface. What a mess! 

With a heavy application, this glaze is a soft Naples yellow.  Where thin, the glaze tends toward brown. Both colors are appealling, but all yellow or all brown wasn't what I wanted.  Since 'slinging' glaze is not the preferred method of application, I knew I would have to pray for the best and live with the results.

~ test tiles ~ Fear That I Can't Shine ~ detail
 
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