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INTEGRATING DESIGNS

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This bowl in the  'Byzantine Crackle'  technique was cr eated like this:  On the inside of the  bisqued bowl I drew the dual leaf-frond pattern then applied wax resist carefully to articulate the design. Then 3 coats of White Crackle was applied with a wide hake brush to the entire piece. A small damp sponge cleaned off the waxed pattern if glaze stuck there. It was fired to 1750F and allowed to cool in the kiln.Then with a soft fan brush Blue Velvet was applied over the entire piece and right away you can see the crackles absorbing the glaze. This takes practice not to brush the glaze off the crackles. Be patient. Where the pattern was waxed and burned out, the bowl will have a pure Blue Velvet  glaze. Fire to 1800F and post fire. The design of the flying geese was made like this: First the geese were drawn to a scale that suited the size of the bowl in different flying configurations, then 3 coats of Mayco White glaze was carefully applied with a fine bru...
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NAKED RAKU with and without GLAZES

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  This bowl is Naked Raku without the addition of other glazes. This bowl has Blue Velvet and Apple Red, with the Naked Raku. ' NAKED RAKU' is a technique that uses slip and a 'glaze' to achieve crackle effects on bisqued ware. It's called Naked because the piece is not glazed per se. Just smoked- patterned  bisque. The piece is painted with the slip (recipe to follow) then covered with a 'glaze' (recipe below). It's not rocket science once you get the hang of it so I wanted to see what else I could do.  The slip/glaze was applied to specific areas sometimes in a planned design, then 3 coats of Blue Velvet was applied to all other areas butting right up to the slip. Occasionally I applied Spectrum Apple Red to add more interest. The pieces were fired to 1700F then post-fired as usual, one quick 'burp' then lid on until cool.  Getting the slip off can be tricky but do not submerge in water no matter what you may read elsewhere. Things get gummy a...
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CHLORIDES

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The tea bowls you see here were all sprayed with Ferric Chloride and/or Stannous Chloride and if you look closely you can see the White Crackle glaze beneath as the base. This may be the most toxic way to achieve a particular 'look' but as I mentioned at the very  beginning, I've tried everything and if you have the same hunger to see what can happen read on!  The chlorides are available at chemical stores and are mixed with distilled water. The proportions need to be tested (by you) for the results you want and will like. You'll need a respirator, safety glasses,air compressor with painting attachment and heavy rubber gloves. The bisque is covered in White Crackle and fired to 1750F-1800F. It's removed from the kiln with tongs heading for the post-firing buckets, but before that it's sprayed with a solution of either  ferric chloride  for a go lden yellow effect or stannous chloride for a mother of pearl  effect, with an air compressor (use the p...
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SPECIALTY GLAZES

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This may not be your cup of tea, but over the years some pieces just called out for a very dry textured look. It's flaky and fragile, but I used a mixture of Elmers Glue and water, painted over the entire surface and it stabilized the flakiness. The 'look' can be almost archaeological. Recipe:    Black Flake Frit  3110  10 Manganese Dioxide 70 Copper Carb. 30 Fire to 1750F for very dry look. Burp bucket once and let cool. Brush off ash and don't wash with soap and water. P aint over the entire surface with very diluted Elmers Glue to stabilize flakes.  
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USING COMMERCIAL GLAZES IN RAKU

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Spectrum Bronze Spectrum Bronze Spectrum Bronze/Heartwood and Ebony lids Spectrum Apple Red interior/Spectrum Holly Green exterior Spectrum Yellow   Spectrum Bronze above/Spectrum Pewter with Silver Nitrate interior below Commercial glazes especially in the metallics like Bronzes/Pewters/Gold all have oxides that reduce in Raku wonderfully. The Apple Red and Holly Green are also excellent choices and the Yellow crackles and looks like the lost yellow of ancient Chinese dynasty's. Follow application directions(3 substancial coats brushed on and dried between each coat). Fire to 1750F-1800F for options in how shiny a finish you want. Post fire, burp bucket once and let cool .
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BYZANTINE CRACKLE

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This vase and all the examples show the crackle effect I'll describe below.                   Because I 'discovered' this effect I figured I could call it anything I wanted!  It came about when I had a post-fired load of White Crackle that didn't ...crackle. Dang! They survived the post-firing with no cracks, so I slathered Blue Velvet over them figuring I had nothing to lose. To my surprise the Blue Velvet was absorbed into the invisible crackles that didn't show with smoke/carbon. Then with a soft fan brush I very,very gently swept over the piece only to see the crackles become even more visible. With too much enthusiasm I swept some of the design away and tried again.  So thereafter I applied White Crackle to pieces and fired to 1750F and let cool in the kiln then applied Blue Velvet as I described. Then when completely dry I fired them again to 1800F. and post-fired . This technique got a lot of mileage over the years and I...
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THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

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The pink butterfly design is a commercial glaze. I stumbled upon this effect by accident when I was using a commercial glaze for a fan design. (See previous post picture).I drew the butterflies on the interior of the bisqueware, then applied 3 coats of a pink glaze  by Mayco. I fired the piece to 1750F and let it cool in the kiln.  I applied Blue Velvet over everything and poured extra into the base of the piece for a textured effect. I noticed that the crackles in the pink glaze were absorbing the Blue Velvet along it's crackle lines! The piece was dried completely. This articulated wonderful patterns. Then the piece was fired to 1800F and post fired.  
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