Notes from the weekend market
It is easy to overthink throwing on the wheel. It is harder to just start. For a long time I treated test tiles as an afterthought.
Trade-offs
The glaze looked grey in the bucket and came out deep blue. Every firing is a little experiment, and some of them fail. Test tiles are boring until one of them changes all of it.
Little, repeatable steps beat big plans very nearly every time. Good the wheel is largely a series of little, unglamorous decisions. Below are a few notes, roughly in the order I learned them. Looking back, the thrown approach was the right call.
What changed
I keep a short list of things to try next; testing glazes is near the top. Clay remembers every mistake you make with it. Good bowls is largely a series of little, unglamorous decisions. Most problems with tableware turn out to be problems with time. It is easy to overthink loading the kiln. It is harder to just start.
I keep notes on every firing, even the disappointing ones. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about glazes. Most problems with ash glazes turn out to be problems with time.
Good glazes is largely a series of little, unglamorous decisions. You can get remarkably far with a trimming tool and some patience. Most of what I know about slip decoration came from getting it wrong first. I changed my mind about the wheel twice while writing this.
I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer.
Nothing here requires an electric kiln, though it does make things easier.
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