art

an odd place

Have you ever bought something that turned out to be less than what you anticipated?  Lately I can’t help but feel a little like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, expectantly awaiting the arrival of his Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring.  Ahead lie the fantastic prospects of solving great mysteries only to be confronted by reality – a commercial for Ovaltine.

old blue

Several weeks ago, I set myself up for a change in my functional work; something that might more closely relate to my clay drawings.  I had come to the realization that I just wanted to draw on my work – a growing obsession – and went about developing a process to do so.

After testing the process to see if it was reproducible, I set out to glaze enough work to fill the kiln…well, relatively full (45 pieces).  Though I felt fairly comfortable with the application, this load would have work with three new glazes (glazes that were previously tested for reliability).  Other than color, I was moderately confident in the results.  I can’t say I saw much while unloading that I hadn’t envisioned when I closed the kiln lid.  I had done my homework.

new blue

My disappointment doesn’t quite run parallel to the decoder ring debacle.  It’s not that I didn’t get what I expected in as much as I got exactly what I expected!  This is where I am – odd place.  The work itself is good, it’s fun to look at and handle.  But, it’s just not the same.  The same…that’s what brought me to the point of change.

You see, once I was limited to the use of an electric kiln, I worked to ‘recreate’ glaze surfaces that closely imitated reduction fired work.  However, the new pieces require a cleaner, more distinct contrast in value and color.  That is the part I’m having the most difficulty reconciling.  In an effort to compensate for the lost subtleties of the reduction-like surface, I created layers of surface information to provide some depth, allowed for and almost encouraged one glaze to blush onto the next and purposed dynamic lines.

It’s curious to pursue change and then be disappointed that things aren’t the same.  I need to live with this work a bit.  Not sure I love it…not yet.

10 Comments

  • Hey this may not be what you expected, but after all it is art. I like it and think it looks good….just one mans opinion!

  • Hi, Beth, I just retired after 30 years of teaching ceramics where most of the firing was in electric kilns. From my perspective your new blue is very rich and not as muddied as the reduction sample. Coming from a reduction background it took me a while to appreciate the clarity and subtlety of oxidation. Recently I discovered that stoneware clays, in addition to adding richness to the character of the blue glazes, carried the blues with less green in the thin applications than did porcelain.

  • Beth,
    Other than the fact that I am totally confused since I know NOTHING about either reduction fired work or electric kiln work, it looks good. ºÜº

  • I love your idea but have workked verylittle with an electric kiln (stoneware and gas). With the drawing idea (basics) how about rubbing in oxides? May take two firings to get what you are looking for.

  • If I look at “old blue” and cock my head slightly to the left I see a troll, while “new blue” looks like a far off galaxy caught by the Hubbell telescope. Needless to say, I never have understood art but you can certainly find joy in it with the right perspective.

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