Labour Day Testing

Labour day was truly a day of labour in the studio as I completed some paperwork and then set to work on the next series of tests. I finished my work day at about 10pm or so in the evening, loading up the kiln to bisque fire overnight. I decided to do a few more tests with what I have now discovered are "underglazes" rather than glazes, painting them on leather hard tiles and then placing the laser decals over them. I am trying to determine how I might incorporate some subtle colour into the final tile. I also spent some time later in the evening planning the layout of the "parts" of the final tile which will a series of "boxes" that will be approximately 30" x 30" when hung. I have been drawing these out for a while now in my sketchbook, trying to figure out the most desirable combination of sizes of boxes. I then used roofing paper to cut out the pattern to scale so I could examine it. This was my first attempt. I recall hearing a critique by Steven Heinemann that when making pots (or when looking at other people's work), sometimes you need to take the piece and turn it on its side or upside down and examine its new form. I photographed the first layout from above and then walked around and looked at it as if it was turned 90 degrees, photographed it again and found this was a more desirable layout. As I continued to look at this new layout I began to see a better connection with the theme of the tile itself - history - and how our history is often seen in the form of bricks and mortar - what this layout subtly referenced.
Once I saw this, the creative ideas began rolling out and I came up with a great idea for the narrow box near the center of the composition which I believe will really add to the overall design. Imagine if I had stopped working earlier? Now, the building begins ....

Read the Label

Friday .... unloaded the 04 firing to somewhat better results than the cone 6. The first layer had my colour tests of the Duncan 'Cover Coat' glazes. My first reaction was "wow, these are really matte glazes, how odd". I had the same matte result for the "grey" glazes on the black clay and white earthenware. It is always hindsight that reminds you of the things you could have done in your testing that would have yielded even more information. In this case, that perhaps putting a stroke of clear glaze over the colours would have given an indication of how they stand up to overlapping etc. This was even more true when I returned to the studio to examine the bottles of 'glaze'. Turns out, they are not glaze at all. In very fine printing at the bottom it says opaque underglaze. Oops, no wonder. When I further read the back it said to brush three coats on and then cover with a clear coat. More oops. So, now I have a variety of colours of underglazes which is totally fine as I don't have coloured glazes in my studio. My students will like these too. Now I need to test how they stand up in Cone 6. Further layers into the firing my image transfer tests were revealed. The image was clearer! So, it looks like the final firing of my tile will be 04 afterall. In the photo you can see I brushed on some diluted rutile and red iron oxide on and grey underglaze. The rutile gave the image an aged paper look which might work for my final piece. I slipped in a couple of other tests where I laser printed images onto special decal paper I bought at a model car/train/airplane store very close to home. Artists who have experimented with decal transfers recommended getting it from beldecal.com however I was concerned about timing since it needs to be purchased and shipped from the United States, so I thought I would try this out - and it worked!
I put the transfers onto already fully glazed and fired cone 6 cups and fired them in the 04. Again the result was faded, so I might try doing this at a lower temperature such as 012 as other artists have done. In the late afternoon I took a trip into Dundas to take some clay pressings to give me some different textures for my tile. One of my stops was Grove Ceremony where a memorial is built and a number of the Bertrams are buried. As I bent down to clean off some of the stones laid in the ground so I could read them, there were a number of times where I heard something over my shoulder and felt a presence. I think the Bertrams like that I am interested in their family history and am recognizing it in this way and were were visiting me in this sacred place to let me know so. I have started to feel like their history and lives have become a part of me. It is something unexpected in this process but very special. My clay molds are drying and my next steps are firing these molds, maybe another round of tests of the grey glazes while I commence making the frames of the tile pieces.
But, there will be a slight pause while Robert and I head up to Awenda Provincial Park for 4 glorious days of camping with my friends Kristin and Sue and their families - our 2nd annual trip together. This photo of Ceil and I on a rock on the beach at sunset probably 3 years ago, just gives that sense of peace we have there. I'll post more when I return.

Image Transfer onto Clay

Opening a kiln continues to be like Christmas to me. Even when it is an ordinary firing I usually sneak in a little test or something a little different that keeps me interested. This morning I opened the kiln to see the first results of my 08 bisque firing of some image transfer tests I am doing for my Hands on History tile. My first glance into the kiln was of the test tiles with the inkjet transfers on them. All that is left is some clay and talc residue from the paper. The result were better as the lower layers of the kiln were revealed. Here are all the tiles out on my table. I tested 3 white clays, PSH 400 (an 04 white earthenware)on the far left, PSH 910 (porcelaneous cone 6) in the center, and Laguna Frost (cone 6 porcelain)on the right. I printed the images in 4 ways - on an HP inkjet at home, on a laser printer and a photocopier at Robert's work,and on a photocopier at the Big Bear near my house. The key to photo transfer is iron in the toner or the ink for the printer or photocopier. This is the case if you use regular paper on a printer or special decal paper. As can be seen from the photo there was a range from no image to a darkish red image left. The darkest image was on the tests where I used the laser printed images. The ink jet and the photocopier from Robert's work left no image. The photocopier at the corner store left a pale peach-coloured mark. I was elated to find images on some of the tiles as it can be difficult to find a printer or photocopier with iron in it. The photo on left shows the most interesting tile that came out of the firing. The paper with the image still on it remained intact but smaller. Both examples show how clearly the text is - at least at this stage. For all of these tests, I used images/photos that I would actually use for the final tile. The image on the far left is of one of the annual ribbons that the Bertrams and their staff wore at company picnics. The other is of an advertisement for their first business - Canada Tool Works. Images with text had to be flipped mirror image in Photoshop to read correctly as the paper with the image is applied face down onto the wet clay and rolled vigorously with a rolling pin to adhere it. I put the 04 tiles asside and set up tests for the cone 6 tiles that had an image left on them. My good friend Jane from Sheridan recommended the use of Duncan Concepts Clear Coat Ice Grey in a diluted format to lightly coat the images for the Cone 6 Firing.
I also tested a full-strength and a diluted format of my own cone 6 clear glaze Val Cushings Clear to see how it worked. What you are trying to avoid is having the iron eaten up by the glaze, hence the diluted format. For some of the tiles I diluted commercial underglazes to watercolour consistency and painted them first, followed by a coating of the ice grey. In this image I used chartreuse on the left and honey on the right. I kept detailed notes indicating what I did with the different test tiles. I then loaded them all up and they are firing as I write. This bisque also included the "black" clay tests I talked about in my previous blog for the "frame" of the final tile. The black clay - PSH 540i - turned a deep purple colour at 08. For this Cone 6 firing I tested various commercial gray glazes on top of this clay as well as on blank Laguna Frost and PSH 910 tiles. I also tried my clear and the ice grey glaze on the PSH 910 tiles that had the grey underglaze on them. And so on and so on .... Stay tuned for the results ....