[Clayart] shino struggles

[Paul Gerhold]

So Mel what is your working hypothesis as to what went wrong? Personally I think any glaze can be made reliable. A mix of knowledge, science, the right tools and endless effort and any glaze can be tamed. Of course once a glaze becomes too reliable it is time to look for the next challenge. 

Paul

> On Sep 17, 2019, at 4:11 AM, mel jacobson <melpots at mail.com> wrote:
> 
> in an age where all is answered,there is a tool or an app to
> solve your problems, perhaps the joy of the struggle to make your
> own, do your own, be your own is a gift.
> 
> i love the struggle of learning to fire several gas kilns.  to learn
> their behavior, their small changes. it is joy.  when you win the fight,
> when you win the game, and it is you, not the team, not the town, not
> the state....it does make you smile.
> 
> yes, salt leaves the bucket in shino. i could buy an automatic, electric
> driven, computer aided system to measure salt content...but i don't want
> to. i use my intuition...and because i do that, things are in constant
> flux.  changes happen that you cannot plan, gifts are given from the kiln.
> i am in charge of it all. win or lose...
> 
> i would gladly have a bad firing, lots of crap and crud, but there in
> the center of the mess is one of the best pots i have made in ten years.
> a star, a racer.  if you do not experiment, use your senses, they all work
> our `sorta good`.  i don't want sorta good. i want amazing. it just takes
> a few each year.  they are not warren's pots, they are malcolm's pots, they
> are not even hank's pots.  they are melvin pots.
> 
> as dr. saulk, the inventor of the cure for polio said...`if you want answers
> to complex problems, don't get on the bus and ride with all the researchers,
> get off the bus....the cure of polio was in a dumpster, in a small town in
> iowa`...it sure was not on the bus. i have always lived by the philosophy.
> 
> anyway, it is time when all have to win the same game, at the same time
> and be rather mediocre. hold back the winners..give a laurel to all.
> i am sorry, i do not live like that.
> 
> i cannot be a ballet dancer in new york, or be a nfl quarterback by saying
> `just do it`.  but i can do things on my own, work hard and find answers
> that others miss.
> that is my mission.
> i teach that...all the time.
> mel
> 
> 
> 
> website: www.melpots.com
>