[Clayart] shino struggles

[Paul Gerhold]

Since there appears to be no definitive definition of Shino that I can discern and there seems a clear difference between Japanese Shino and American Shino I would certainly agree that the aesthetics of Shino are significantly unconstrained.  That said when basically an entire kiln load comes out bad in the eyes of the artist who made the work I would say that something for sure went wrong. 

Having had countless unhappy firings both in electric and in electric Raku I can attest that in every case something went wrong ( not that it was necessarily apparent at the time) but by treating the firing with the
 attitude that something was done wrong and then running tests and more firings to determine the cause in most every case eventually the firing/ glazes can be mastered. Does it ever get to 100%.  Not in my experience but if you are doing work that can sometimes take two or three weeks or more the firings/ glazes better be very reliable or you are just wasting time , money, and effort if your work is your living. 

Paul

> On Sep 20, 2019, at 1:57 PM, David Woof <woofpots at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Paul,
> I read it that mel's "hypothesis"  is that "nothing went wrong," sometimes things are just different.  We can get all clawed up when we try for too much control and enslaved by our stipulations and expectations defining "success." The aesthetics of Shino should not be so confined! "Tamed!"  Otherwise we are doomed to the repetition of "blind dates" gone bad.
> Dannon, Hank, Mel, et:al: each do it their way (some tech overlap of course) and we are all the better for their diversity.
> 
> Side note: I mixed up a version of Berman Opal and Sapphire Blu, blended these 50/50, and applied it to a dense .07% absorption iron bearing ^6 OX body that i had developed....The combined glazes appeared to have partially separated and tightly crawled just enough to suggest a typical Shino surface but in a lively and enticing blue. ^6 ox held at 1900f for five hours, 1500f three hours, to natural cool down. Will i attempt to repeat this? If folks keep buying, yes maybe. Sometimes a one time mystery shot is best remembered that way.
> 
> Misneach,
> ________________________________
> From: Clayart <clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com> on behalf of Paul Gerhold <gerholdclay at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 2:17 PM
> To: Clayart international pottery discussion forum <clayart at lists.clayartworld.com>
> Subject: Re: [Clayart] shino struggles
> 
> 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<http://www.melpots.com>
>> 
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