This post is primarily about my "test" of
Michael Coffee's Chun Red recipe.
You can find the recipe
HERE.
A little set up first.
You can click on the firing log image to see it enlarged. The red line is the reduction.
Everything was single-fired to cone 11 in my 7 cf propane updraft kiln.
I used a couple of shelves at the top, about 2" below the flue opening to sort of contain the flame and hopefully encourage reduction. I finally had to back off the redux because I was not able to get to cone after 13 hours or so and needed to go to bed.
I had to make a change to the recipe and I am not sure if that effected the results.
I didn't have any Potash Feldspar, so after some research of the ClayArt archives, I substituted Neph Sye.
I'll be talking about the specific flaws on the pieces in hopes of some insight from you all.
Click on any pic to enlarge it.
The Hakeme Bowls
OK, so I have 8 bowls here. All are an iron rich clay body.
The inside of each was coated with a porcelain slip and then "Hakemed".
The outside of each bowl was dipped in a satin black glaze.
The Chun glaze was poured into each bowl and swirled around twice.
The glaze was mixed fairly thickly and heeding Michael's notes, I tried for a medium thick coating.
The overall effect of the glaze was pretty spectacular, if not exactly what I was expecting.
Michael's example is a lovely deep, even red that breaks on the rim of the cup.
You can see, I got an almost verigated effect between the red and the celedon. I wonder why...
I really like it, though I think its too much over the Hakeme texture.
However, it crawled like crazy.
On some pieces, its very obvious and just blech.===============
>
<=========On others, I kinda
like it and think it works.
And then there are some where its just enough to turn an otherwise
lovely bowl into an ashtray =============================
>
FWIW I should mention that I do rinse all my greenware before glazing it.
Its dust-free and bone dry when glazed.
Anyway, its these little bare spots at the bottom of the bowl, where the glaze is pretty thick that puzzle me the most.
Here are a few more pics of the Hakeme bowls before we move on to the other things:
The Big Bowl...
So, satin black glaze was poured into the bowl.
On the outside, the glazes were sprayed.
The top 1/3 was sprayed with a yellow glaze that tends to run like an ash glaze. It pinholed something crazy.
The lower 2/3 had the Chun Red sprayed on it. I sprayed a thin-medium coat and then resprayed the middle 1/3. Wanted to keep it fairly conservative because I know this glaze can run when thick.
I guess I could have gone thicker overall.
While I guess I don't call whet the glaze did on this piece actually
crawling, it is really thin in places.
I don't know if that bothers me or not, or if I should even consider it a flaw (though I feel it is).
I think its just sort of too much going on on the surface.
This bowl was dead center in the kiln, with ware above and below it, and extra posts all around it to sort of create a bit of sagar effect I suppose.
Now the rest of the load...
Kitty Dish...
OK, this is kind of interesting and something I need to play with more.
This is the Chun Red over Malcom Davis Shino.
The shino was sprayed on fairly thinly (I like that peachy mottled look), and then the Chun was double-dipped on the rim. It breaks nicely on the edges and is a deep, oxbloody red without being too irony red looking.
Soap Dish...
This dish is butt ugly!
I was just really lazy in glazing this - its Michael Coffee's Nuka over Ohata Red. But, I went back and brushed the Chun on the swirly bit and it just crawled on off. Wonder why...
Lint Feeders...
These make great test tiles sometimes ;)
So this one has that satin black on it and before I put it n the kiln, I decided to dip the part around the opening in the Chun.
I applied it really thickly. I knew it would run, but that was OK - just wanted to see what would happen.
Since it hangs on the wall, it looks sorta cool. But again, that crawling!
Funny - all three of these lint feeders were on the lowest shelf. I would have expected much more reduction.
This one has Malcom Davis Shino on it. I like!
And a little Tenmoku.
Thought I might get some tea dusting as I did a bit of slow cooling at the end of the firing, but no.
That's OK...its still a nice piece, with some subtle hares fur going on. It will look great in the sunlight!
And lastly,
I've been watching ShyRabbit talk about firing pieces multiple times. Last load, I had some little cups, in a shino glaze, that were just blech. I decided not to kill them and just set them aside. So, I pulled one out, dipped it again in the shino and threw it in the kiln this firing. It is much improved and show's some interesting flashing. I don't know that I like the cup any better, but it sure was fun to see the results! And the inside is that nice peachy color.
So, there ya go.
Some will admonish me for not testing the glaze first, but, well, I did - just on bigger pieces. All I'm out is some propane (nothing to sneeze at BTW), but I'll sell the lint feeders and that will pay for the firing, so...
Now, I'm hoping you will all give me your invaluable thoughts and insight into what happened here. I am liking this glaze enough to want to keep playing with it, but could use a little direction.
And I want to thank Michael for being so generous with his recipes and knowledge and time!
CMCK
