Wednesday, October 30, 2024

THIS OR THAT

I have been having some problems with these Kuro-Oribe glazed hexagonal bowls recently, most likely to being a bit overzealous with the glaze application but is also proof I can still learn from my mistakes. As you can see, each of the six sides are basically glaze channels and with just a touch too much glaze, the channels are acting to, well, channel the glaze to a single meeting point. The channels met at three main junctions causing the glaze to run somewhat uncontrollably down the sides, the base and to the foot where it has been running onto the plinths that they are fired on. 

I should mention, being overzealous comes from the fact that the more glaze and glazes I apply, the richer and runnier the glaze get which is a positive thing in terms of the richness of the surface but not so much when it comes to gravity and basically liquid glass. For anyone following along, the fix is quite simple, use less glaze and thinner overglazes and this will diminish the running problem which is not a bad thing. So the fix is in but I have to say, the last bowl that ran badly had the penultimate surface of what I have been after but sometimes you have to choose, really wonderful shards or a a really nice bowl, you can get with this or you can get with that!