This week was a glazing week.
I made sure to take things slowly as this stage of my making process has become complex and quite labour intensive. The simpler the pieces appear, the trickier they are to make!
Messing about with underglaze markings and text, wax resist and a few different glazes to achieve the results I want does mean, at the very least, a couple of days are required to glaze. The walls of my forms are quite fine so I usually glaze the interior and exterior in two stages, allowing drying to occur between so the glaze takes well. And I like to dip the rim separately so there are no finger marks.
And once all the glaze is on and dry there is fettling to do and some cleaning up of the resisted areas and bases to be cleared.
A deep intake of air (taking care not to inhale any powders) and a slow exhale and I remind myself not to rush, not to get impatient for those final results. There are no short cuts and each moment should be considered and given due care.
New work is on it's way. The kiln will be cool enough to unpack tomorrow. Some sanding and a lustre firing before handing work over to the curator for our artists in residents show later next week.
I think I can, I think I can...
3 comments:
It's that control and patience that makes that professional finish (and that is the part I have trouble with myself!) Thanks for taking us through that process...
Fettling eh? Mmmm another word outside my sphere of experience but it does sound dangerous and i would be hard pressed to use it in a sentence.
Well I have been known to make words up but to me it means rubbing my finger over any bumps and dribbles in the glaze once it has dried to a powder on the pot - so the glaze is smooth and consistent when fired.
As in "Can't talk now - fettling". Why not try it on your workmates and see what response you get?!
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