One of the fascinating aspects to firing work is the concept
of yohen, or kiln change work. In the past I have played with a number of
glazes that would change during a firing provided certain anomalies were
present. In fact, my first kiln change experience was back at CSU when I was
working with a tin based white glaze. At the time I was making pots that were
influenced by both Delft ware and blue & white sometsuke pottery. In one firing
I ended up decorating the glaze with a chrome based wash and when the pots came
out of the kiln, they were chrome/tin pink. It was rather startling as the
other pots were stark white and these select pieces were entirely mauve to pink
in color with almost crimson tones where the brushwork was. I made a number of
teapots, cups/saucer sets, covered jars, bowls and plates and decided to see
how uniform I could get the surfaces of the pots. These firings were not so
much about getting a desired color, but rather seeing the extent of homogeneity
that could be experienced in the surfaces as well as proving out some of the
theory from Cullen W. Parmelee. It was an excellent first exposure to getting
things to alter dramatically in a kiln and the next experiments were all about altering
Shino and copper red glazes.
Illustrated is a set of cups and saucers glazed in a tin
based white glaze and then decorated with a chrome wash. Once fired they
transmute from white to this mauve-pink toned surface without any help from Calvin
& Hobbs. I believe this set was made in 1993.
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