Hello Again! Just finished a cone 6 (>6) firing!  The following are some of the items from the kiln. Opening the kiln is always filled with optimism and wonder. The waiting for cool down is always filled with angst!! Will the ware or sculpture look like one expects or????? Here are some photos for you to judge.

This is Royalty! This sculpture is Royal Sonic King Chicken IV. The IV means he is part of the 4th Family of Royal Sonic Chickens made since the time of giving royalty a family grouping name. Height (H) 91/2 in Length (L) 14 in Width (W) 4 in Price $125.  Contact Jerry Fowler or go see him at the Joyful Jewell near the Court House in beautiful downtown Pittsboro NC.

More Royalty! This sculpture is Royal Sonic Queen Chicken IV. The IV means she is part of the 4th Family of Royal Sonic Chickens made since the time of giving royalty a family grouping name. Height (H) 9 in Length (L) 12 in Width (W) 4 in Price $125.  Contact Jerry Fowler or go see him at the Joyful Jewell near the Court House in beautiful downtown Pittsboro NC.

Here is the King and Queen pictured together! Note the Queen's purple lipstick!

More Royalty! The offspring of the Sonic King and Queen Chicken! Known as the Royal Chicklets!

These Royalty are just perfect to display your business cards! The approximate size of the Royal Chicklets is H 5 1/2in L 6 1/4in W 3 1/4in. Price $35 ea.  Contact Jerry Fowler or go see him at the Joyful Jewell near the Court House in beautiful downtown Pittsboro NC.

And finally the family portrait! Probably not as well known Kate and William! But close?

 

Hi to everyone!! Thanks for reading my blog. Today's post is about Glaze components. One of the glazes that I often use for the inside of bowls and other utilitarian ware is called White Satin Matte (WSM). I also use WSM mixed with Mason Stains to achieve colors that I like to use for painting on bisque ware. One of the components of this glaze is Talc. Over the years I have used a very white Talc called Nytal Talc. However, recently I was told that Nytal Talc is no longer available and that Pioneer Talc could be substituted.  To my surprise I found that the Pioneer Talc  is grey in color. The material data sheet on Pioneer Talc received from the supplier indicated Pioneer Talc is white when fired. Since I use a lot of WSM and I mix WSM with Mason Stains for painting projects I decided to test fire some of these stains and the WSM formulated with Pioneer Talc to determine if Pioneer Talc would impact the color of the mixtures. You can see the results of these tests in the photograph below. As you will note by the results - I was pleasantly surprised!

The two half cylinders shown were  treated identically.  Horizontal Row 1) was given a single brush stroke with WSM only; WSM+yellow Mason Stain 6433 ; WSM+orange Mason Stain 6028; WSM+red Mason Stain 6025; or crimson Mason Stain 6003. Horizontal Row 2) was given two brush strokes. Horizontal Row 3) was given three brush strokes and Horizontal Row 4 was given four brush strokes of the same composition as described above for Hrizontal Row 1.