[Clayart] garbage can temmoku

[robert hackert]

Hi Mel:
Over the years I have taken Carlton Ball’s cone 10 Waxy glazes and made them work at cone 6. Your comments regarding feel and look are very important.

Bob Hackert
North Port , Fl

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 12, 2018, at 6:37 PM, mel jacobson <melpots at visi.com> wrote:
> 
> this is what was written with a color crayon on a the side of a 5 gallon pail. 1967 or so.
> `potters garage sale`.  i paid a dime for two pails.
> 
> fels 85 1700
> whiting 15 300
> epk  10 200
> silica 20 400
> iron ox 10 200.
> i made the glaze, my first true temmoku.*
> it was really black with those orange edges where thin.
> i made a set of dishes that i still own.  it was classic
> black temmoku.
> 
> i have learned a great deal about temmoku since then.
> of course working with joe koons was like getting two
> ph.d.'s. i have two dozen of his temmoku recipes
> .
> to get red you add bone ash...as a general rule.
> 
> however, in my opinion most the the recipes are the same.
> often,  the variable is the amount of iron, and what sort of
> iron you have and shine.
> 
> without question, working with any blackish sort of glaze when firing
> a fuel kiln demands control of reduction.  too much and the glaze
> kids foggy...the more air, the brighter the black.  shine and brightness
> means you fire almost oxidized...reduction muddies the glaze.
> 
> joe used one of pete volkus' blacks for our top glaze for the chinese black.
> it was very close to the `garbage can black`....but, as you all know....i
> fired most of those many total kiln loads in neutral. or, very lite reduction, with
> lots of oxygen blue flame..and a very wide open damper.
> there was reduction, but  slight.
> 
> black in the electric kiln is plain easy to achieve.
> it becomes that 12 percent iron, 4 cobalt.
> and then you can vary those numbers all over the place.
> john h. got it just perfect for the black in the book.
> of course we know that ron and john's recipes are mostly
> perfect.
> 
> i am a true believer in simple glazes...as this glaze written is giving us.
> get the surface you want...keep it basic and glass making...and really
> be careful with reduction.
> 
> as i age, and get much wiser, i am cutting back reduction and looking for
> perfect surface and color.  heavy reduction is what `kids do` when they
> don't have a clue...like a `loud band`...cover up your mistakes with noise....
> like classical jazz, quiet and elegant.
> 
> right now, today...it is all about touch...what does it feel like when
> you find perfection?.  FEEL AND TOUCH. and everyone of you adult potters
> knows what i mean.  that is the mark of maturity.  it starts with the feel
> of the clay when throwing, then the touch of bisque.
> but, the end game is when you first pick up the warm pots.
> 
> in no way is this romantic, it is adult knowing.
> mel
> * temmoku the word.
> it comes from the chinese...`tien, men ku.`  it was describing a magic mountain
> that had a perfect shape...like a triangle with a wide base....  the early traveling Buddhist
> monks had black bowls...named for the mountain...and the japanese , we think
> just made the word into `temmoku`.  black bowl.
> 
> -- 
> Mel's Website:  www.melpots.com
> CLAYART PAGE:
> http://www.melpots.com/CLAYART.HTML
> 
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