Shizuku Yuteki Oilspot

Just spent a bit of time inputting this old recipe into Glazy.org. Pretty Sweet!

Here are a couple of sets I made using concrete as a glaze material. It was pretty simple to make. The project began after finding two concrete paving tiles in a construction rubble dump. The larger one I kept for the bases, and the other I busted with a sledge hammer into gravel sized chunks. The gravel went into a bisque kiln, and the remaining slab went into the brick saw to get cut in half. Once the calcined concrete came out of the bisque, the friable powder went into the ball mill and ran for a relatively short 8 hours. After sieving out the remaining sand and large pebbles, I had myself a pretty nice looking glaze slurry. Overnight I noticed a lot of settling, I added a small bit of epsom salt, and what I guessed to be about 1-5% by weight of bentonite. It still settled a bit, but not so much that you couldn’t use it. The application of the glaze was dipping, with a bit of spraying to build a thicker layer of glaze on the top half of each piece.

Continue reading “Concrete Celadon Glaze”

Liquor Bottle Set

Rainbow Iridescent OilSpot Glazes

Hello Again! It’s been quite some time since my last post. Gotta thank those of you who have contacted me with interest and suggestions! With so many summer projects and school stuff, it’s been very difficult to put my full efforts into any one thing… but life is what happens while you’re making plans. Anyways, enough with the excuses.

Over the summer I had the time and energy to figure out an acceptable firing schedule in our new Blaauw kilns. For as much as I love their sleek and sexy design, computer controllers, and top of the line hardware… you can’t look in the damn things while they’re firing. This poses several challenges for control freak oil spotters. Usually, the idea is to firein complete and total oxidation, going slowly through cone 7,8,and 9 to allow thermally reducing iron to bubble up through the glaze and cause the surface to crater or foam. By carefully monitoring the situation inside the kiln, and by pulling out glazed pull rings, the firer can increase the temperature slowly and fire until the glazes have significantly ‘healed over’. This isn’t really an option, so as a result a much more empirical approach was needed to find a good fit.

After 5 firings, I settled on a more or less acceptable firing schedule (the way this programming works is that the kiln starts at 0, take 1:30 to get to 200C, then 2:30 to get to 700C, etc). In Celcius;

time_temp 00:00 5

time_temp 01:30 200

time_temp 02:30 700

time_temp 03:00 1115

time_temp 02:00 1190

time_temp 02:30 1230

time_temp 02:30 1253

cooling

time_temp 02:00 1000

time_temp 02:00 500

time_temp 02:00 300

time_temp 02:00 50

time_temp 04:00 50

Once that was established, I began with some of my favorite tiles from my initial 2 rounds of oilspot base glaze recipes. My favorites:

NoCo OS: (NC)

Dolomite 4.4

Whiting 4.4

K200 Feldspar 57.3

EPK 9.7

200m Silica 24.2

Spanish FeOx 10

Candace Black: (CB)

Dolomite 5

Whiting 5

K200 Feldspar 60

EPK 5

200m Silica 20

Spanish FeOx 8

Cobalt Carb 5

Loganspot: (LS)

Local Black Dolomite 10

K200 65

EPK 5

Silica 20

Cobalt 5

Red Iron 8

Fake Mashiko: (FM)

K200 37.6

Silica 9

Redart 8

Calcined Redart 35

Wollastonite 5.7

Talc 4.3

Bone Ash .5

Red Iron 4

With these base glazes I began mixing, blending, and layering, and combining glazes with dipped, poured, and sprayed application. On a whim I decided to experiment with some of my manganese saturate glazes, and that’s when things started to get really interesting. There is admittedly one glaze in particular that I’m not sharing, but with a little diligence and some wet blending, a seriously motivated glaze experimenter can discover this glaze by looking at my old posting on my OSII series. Blend them all in 50/50 proportions and you’ll get the elusive but beautiful GF glaze. Hell, it might even be on my blog somewhere. That’s all I’m saying for now – I’d hate to rob anyone of the learning experience… Hah! =)

Recently I was contacted by the British potter Allen Richards who has done some pretty extensive research into lustrous gold glazes. He suggested that I try small additions of Vanadium Pentoxide. These glazes feature 2 amended manganese saturate glazes in combinations with the usual oilspot suspects.

Here are some videos of some of my latest results. None of these particular tiles have Vanadium pentoxide. As time goes by I’ll try to annotate the combinations MS corresponds to Manganese Saturate.

Iridescent Hare’s Fur Tenmoku

Started out with Kamada Koji’s big bang glaze in mind. I’ve been completely obsessed with all glazes iridescent for some time now. This is my favorite variation to date… but still too subtle and elusive. Closer than I was, but still a lot of room for improvement.

This is the glaze I’m calling Fiske GoldFur – which came from a blend of some variations on a fake Mashiko with calcined redart, and a variation of a Britt oilspot with local black dolomite.

The center action of the GoldFur piece.

Some combination of some variations of variations.

Another angle of the GoldFur piece. Getting closer and closer to something completely new and completely incredible.

Iridescent Glaze Research

Download the full PDF of my research Paper:

Iridescent Glazes

Download the full Powerpoint of my research Presentation:

Iridescent and Manganese Crystalline Glazes

Text From Paper:

Matt Fiske

Technology of Ceramics, Glaze Calc

April 24, 2014

Iridescent and Manganese Crystalline Glazes

Manganese crystalline glazes (high alkali, silica, and alumina) are usually created by saturating a feldspathic glaze with between 15-60% manganese dioxide. During the cooling cycle, manganese precipitates out of the molten glaze and crystallizes on the surface, producing lustrous, satiny surfaces.

UNDERSTATEMENT: Manganese Dioxide is extremely hazardous to your health!!!

Breathing in Manganese dust when mixing these glazes or breathing the off-gassing vapor when firing WILL GIVE YOU PARKINSONS-LIKE SYMPTOMS BEFORE ULTIMATELY KILLING YOU, PAINFULLY. HEAVY GLOVES, DUST MASKS, AND VENTILLATION ARE CRITICAL.

Historical Information

There is a long history of lustrous, metallic glazes. The first examples are thought to be from the early ninth century in an around what is modern day Iraq. Archeological evidence suggests that early examples originated from Mesopotamia in Fustat, which was then the capitol or Egypt. The oldest surviving examples were often multi-colored stains and iridescent sheens derived from copper and silver compounds. These compounds were usually manufactured by dissolving coins into acids and then mixing the resulting solution with earthenware clay. This mixture was then calcined and then finely ground. The resulting pigment was then mixed with a carrier (usually lavender oil) and applied to lead or tin glazed pots and re-fired to dull red heat. The pots were then held in an extremely smoky reduction environment at various temperatures and lengths of time, which resulted in surfaces ranging from olive-green, brown, amber, orange, yellow, crimson, and a very dark red which was sometimes so dark as to look almost black.[1]

Although the history and development of reduced-pigment lusters is long and storied, it was a more or less consistent sequence. It isn’t until the 19^th century that one starts to find examples of resinate lusters. This resulted in the development of materials almost identical to modern ‘liquid gold’ and ‘platinum’ lusters. In Europe in the 1870s a revival in the technology and development of luster glazes saw a further refinement of reduced glaze lusters, most notably in the studios of William De Morgan, Massier, Kähler, and Zsolnay. This notable shift was the result of the use of higher firing clays, which French ceramicist Louis Franchet believed could offer the complete range of earlier pigment-lusters, but without a lot of the trouble.[2] Aside from the obvious temperature differences, the main difference between pigment and reduced glazes is that glaze lusters are generally less subtle, less mellow, and offers a wider, more brilliant range of color.

Abstract

I began research on this project in an attempt to find a brilliant, iridescent glaze similar to Zsolnay’s famous Eosin glaze, which has a very obvious bright reflective rainbow iridescent quality. Initial research suggested that Zsolnay’s effects were the result of the thin application of copper, silver or bismuth to a pre-fired glaze – firing to fusion point, and then reducing the kiln atmosphere during the cooling cycle. This method is documented extensively in Greg Daly’s book Lustre. Having had some glimmers of success with iron saturate glazes in reduction cooling environments, I proposed a solution that did not; 1.) involve expensive silver or bismuth oxides, or caustic salts such as stannous chloride or copper sulfate, and 2.) involve a postfiring or overly exotic and difficult to repeat firing schedule. In the end, a satisfactory solution was some combination of feldspathic glazes with 30-60% Manganese Dioxide, following closely in the steps of David Shaner, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, John Tilton, and historical Rockingham ware.

Definitions

Reduced-pigment luster. Nearly all historical luster made before 1800 fits in this category. The result of calcining copper, silver, and bismuth oxides with earthenware or laterite clays, and applying the resulting mixture to a maturely fired lead or tin glaze surface. The piece is then refired and held in heavy reduction at dull red heat allowing for a thin layer or metallic oxide to fuse with the surface of the glaze. After the firing, the earthenware is wiped away, revealing a nano-thick layer of iridescent metal.

Resinate luster. Usually made with dissolved gold, platinum, or other noble metals and suspended in an organic binder. Generally fired to a low temperature, with the organic compounds burning out and fluxing a thin, even layer of metallic oxides with the surface of the work. Developed around 1800, very common in industry, very toxic.

Reduced Glaze Luster. Generally higher porcelain and stoneware temperature. Usually cover the entire surface of a form. Relies on metallic saturated glazes precipitating out thin layers of reduced metallic oxides which deposit in a thin layer on the top of the glaze. Generally more brilliant and operate across a wider spectrum of interrupted light.

Technical Information

Materials: I found that nearly all of my iridescent surfaces contained some percentage of manganese. The exception is a traditional Tenmoku glaze fired in standard reduction, and then ‘struck’ at 1840F for 1:20-2:00 hours. Strike firing, or striking the kiln is a glass term which refers to increasing the fuel supply and thus creating a reducing atmosphere around 1800F. Initial tests suggested that manganese saturated glazes promoted richer iridescent surfaces regardless of a strike firing. Additions of other oxides were often counterproductive to glossy surfaces and generally resulted in unpleasant black, rough surfaces. Copper, Iron, Chrome, Nickle, and Cobalt were all tested alone and in conjunction from .1 -> 20%. The character of the underlying glass matrix of was usually beer bottle brown, so I tested extensively to change the color of the glass without effecting the iridescent surface – to date I still don’t have a simple solution to this problem. Granular Manganese seemed to produce brighter colors as well as promoting streaking ‘hares-fur’ effects in faster cooling, and acting as ‘seeds’ to crystal formation on slower cooling cycles. My ideal concentration of granular manganese was 2% and fine manganese dioxide at about 27%.

Most recipes called for 50-70% feldspar, and after testing all of the available feldspars, I found that Nepheline syenite promoted a much smoother, regular iridescence. Custer feldspar promoted iridescence across a wider spectrum, but promoted intense crystallization as to appear almost pixellated. Kona f4 promoted a more matte, golden green/purple sheen. Other feldspars promoted a lustrous brown glass with varying degrees of light to moderate iridescence.

The addition of silica promoted a lightening of the glass matrix, as well as a sugary, semi- shiny sparkling satin luster. Silica beyond 15% eliminated iridescence. Alumina additions to the glaze produced a semi-matt honey colored glaze.

I found that the clay body had a huge impact on the color and quality of the iridescence. The most successful clay bodies were grolleg based porcelains, with only the highest percentages of manganese based glaze recipes showing even the slightest luster on stoneware recipes.

Finally, glaze thickness was perhaps the most critical aspect of obtaining iridescence at high temperature. This was complicated as these glazes are extremely runny. Even slight overfiring resulted in glazes running off the pot. There was a need to find a balance between adding clay and silica to the feldspar and manganese without diluting the concentration of available metal oxides and feldspar. It was also extremely difficult to apply these glazes consistently, and fire them in such a way as to reach maturity without overfiring.

Firing: All tests were fired in high temperature gas kilns. I usually fired to 1260C, or Orton cone 10. A majority of my testing was in standard cone 10 reduction firing, with a 1 hour body reduction at cone 012-> cone 08, and a 6-10 hour firing from cone 08-> cone 10. Recipes with 15% copper produced a striking gold color in oxidation environments, and glazes in oxidation firings bubbled and boiled up between cone 7-9, which suggests a similar thermal reduction similar to oil spot glazes.

Cooling: Most of my firings were in small soft brick or fiber kilns, so the possibility of extended cooling cycles was limited. I found that crash cooling seemed to promote smoother, less brilliant surfaces, and a moderately fast cool was ideal in creating a balance between bright color and reasonably smooth surface. Longer cooling promoted larger crystals to a point, and excessively long cooling cycles promoted a matte surface. Reduction cooling remains an exciting possibility which mostly extended beyond the scope of my research. A very interested mottled crystal growth was observed on bottle forms cooled with a 3 hour reduction hold at 1840F.

[1] Caiger-Smith, Alan. Lustre Pottery: Technique, Tradition, and Innovation in Islam and the Western World. London: Faber and Faber, 1985. Print. Pg. 21

[2] Caiger-Smith, 1985, Pg. 177

[3] “Iridescence in Lepidoptera”. Photonics in Nature (originally in Physics Review). University of Exeter. September 1998. Retrieved April 27, 2012.

Bibliography:

Britt, John. The Complete Guide to High-fire Glazes: Glazing & Firing at Cone 10. New York: Lark, 2004. Print.

Caiger-Smith, Alan. Lustre Pottery: Technique, Tradition, and Innovation in Islam and the Western World. London: Faber and Faber, 1985. Print.Pg 149

Conrad, John W. Black Pearl and Other Saturated Metallic Glazes. Santa Ana, CA: Falcon Division of Aardvark Clay, 2010. Print.

Currie, Ian. Revealing Glazes Using the Grid Method. Australia: Bootstrap, 2000. Print.

Daly, Greg. Lustre. London: A. & C. Black, 2012. Print.pg. 131

Hamer, Frank, and Janet Hamer. The Potter’s Dictionary of Materials and Techniques. London: & C Black, 1991. Print.

Slides from Presentation

New Sculpture

Tektites

Tektite Details

Metamorph 1

Glass Castite

Calciticrustalagics

Slabscape

Mugs

New Teapots by Matt Fiske

New work by Matt Fiske