March 8, 2017

  • Looking Spiky

    I might have mentioned that Sparky accidentally knocked some of my ceramic orbs of their display stand. They fell onto the carpeted stairs. The carpet cushioned their fall and there was no breakage at that point. However he was unable to prevent them from bouncing down the stairs, which didn't cause any of them to break. Sadly the orbs all made it to bottom of the stairs in quick succession where they crashed into each other like croquet balls resulting in complete demolition. He felt very bad. This tragic event has provided an opportunity to try to redo some of the broken orbs. The first one that I attempted was Syracosphaera prolongata. This coccolith is found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic. The first one I made was much more detailed and fragile. The photo below shoes where one (of many) spikes broke off during the firing. I glazed it in Oribe which by a stroke of luck turned pinkish in the grooves. The spikes were glazed with Mamo Yellow and miraculously appeared yellow instead of the usual sickly green Which for the record is one of my favorite glazes for that very reason! The spaces on the body between the coccoliths was painted with red iron oxide and resulted in a pretty metallic brown.
    Syracosphaera prolongata6

    This is the micrograph of the original coccolith which doesn't really do it justice. I decided that I could do better on my second attempt having resolved to make the spikes more substantial and try to avoid having them all break off!
    Syracosphaera prolongata

    This is the final result. I glazed the body in Phil's Celadon which looks a lot like the Oribe except it won't ever go pinkish and is a tiny bit more green. I put the lovely Super T glaze on the spikes in hopes they would be a brilliant turquoise. The kiln gods (or demons) had other plans and the Super T ran off the spikes and mixed with the Celadon. The resulting swirled and pooled color is delightful. The tips of the spikes were covered with red iron oxide stain. This was done out of necessity since the stilts are all missing.
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    20170304_204441

Comments (6)

  • Poor Sparky he probably feels so bad and how could he ever redeem himself? Roses?

    The work looks absolutely difficult.

    • The first one was more detailed but too fragile. Little bits had broken off in the kiln and a few when it was dusted. The second one is sturdier... He felt really bad and he has made it up to me.

  • I like it -- it's very different from the original, and the colors seem more like you were expecting. I'm fascinated by the fact that that a yellow glaze turns green, and the other colors change as they do!

    • The science behind the glazes is all chemistry. The chemical colorants in glazes react with each other when they reach a certain temperature. It is all very interesting!!

  • That's a shame that they all broke. The new one looks like it's wearing fingernail polish on each of it's spikes.

    • Hahaha! Now that you mention it it does! Maybe my next one should be a bunch of hands - I could give them all different fingernail polish colors!

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