For the last week I've been spending a great deal of time outside. The weather has been great, sunny with relatively low humidity. We've had heavy rain mostly at night. It's been enough accumulation that the pool started to go blooey. So! I've had to rebalance and add a few chemicals to clear it up. Now it's time to get rid of the few remaining sassafras trees down. They drop their leaves early and often.....nasty things...one of the few trees I actively dislike. They aren't even particularly good as fire wood.
I have glazed a few mugs. Low fire glazes tend to be extremely dusty. They suck up color as soon as you lay your brush on the pot. I've taken to added a very small amount of acrylic medium to my glaze. I am talking drops here. The idea is to toughen up the glaze but not make it completely impermeable a la wax resist. The glaze cannot be allowed to dry out. It can be reconstituted if not too much acrylic has been added, but it's a royal pain. Also too much acrylic will make the glaze foamy. Low fire glazes are so stable that any bubbles will fire in the glaze.
I have been experimenting with adding a few new elements to my designs. Early days yet, but I think I can make it work......eventually!
The last photo is of the baby snapping turtle that Proge found in the pond while I was living it up in N.H. He was not much bigger that his photo, but even so you do not want snappers in the pond. They will eat the fish.....Proge says we have a small frog missing half a leg. And their sharp little claws poke holes in pond liners. We let him go in a river about five miles away.
This post can also be seen at Mud Colony. Please stop by, there are many interesting things going on there.
Have a great relaxing and/or productive week end.
As always...........thanks for stopping by...........*s*
You are doing lovely things! Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Elna
I've never seen a turtle that small before; must confess you have me stumped with all the acrylic in the glaze and all, hope it all works out.
ReplyDeleteDearest Susi,
ReplyDeleteLove your majolica with the fish a lot better than that baby snapping turtle. They're mean, kind of pre-historic looking creatures. We had once a wild duck in the creek and our pond that lost its foot. Awful sight. She must have barely escaped from that beak with sharp teeth.
Far better to release him in the river indeed. Even if he/she will kill there too...
Hugs to you,
Mariette
love the pots, but I came for the unicorn......thanks for a good chuckle.
ReplyDeleteInteresting info about the acrylic in the glaze. How much glaze are you adding the couple of drops to?
ReplyDeleteHi Elna.....Thanks.....enjoy days....rainy Saturday here.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda....Snappers look like dinosaurs! It isn't much acrylic and it burns out .
Hi Mariette.....Thanks. Snappers are pre-historic....I think they are like gators and crocs....relatively unchanged since a long time ago. That was one lucky ducky!
Hi Meredith.....Thanks...if you chase them they will run!
Hi Lori.....the amount of medium depends on it's viscosity. The stuff I am using now it thin, about like half-and-half. I think I used about 1/4 tsp. for a gallon. I start with a very little, either dip a test tile or brush some on paper and let it dry. If I can rub it and little or no dust comes up I try brushing a little color on the dry graze. If I can move the brush fluidly I am good to go. You want the glaze stable but if you want to move it to blend colors you should be able to by blending with a wet brush.
My knowledge of majolica is from workshops with Walter Ostrom and Linda Arbuckle.....and a lot of experimenting on my own.
I have only used this with low-fire (^05-^03) glazes. For some reason I think this could be a disaster on mid to high fire glazes. That's instinct, nothing else.
Hope this helps!
Nice work...painting.... I remember someone in school when we spent a month doing majolica work, using hairspray as a fixative after painting. Worked great for her. Interesting adding that smallest touch of rutile to the glaze that is tin and not another opacifier to make that gorgeous pink! love majolica. like what you are doing there :)
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