Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Pretty Pears All in a Row

Firing the kiln again.

This time I have about 100 test tile pieces, several bowls, experiments with funnels and a sieve and a large flat tile/platform for a grouping of pears.

The pears have been around in the studio for a while and I finally decided I wanted to place them on some kind of base.

Don't know if this will work, but it's good to experiment. I really didn't want to lay a piece of slabbed work down flat on a kiln shelf, so I'm firing it like I bisque plates, standing on end. Conserves kiln space and avoids the problem of warping.

I arranged them on a long piece of paper measuring the approximate size of the base tile, placing them in an order I thought looked good.

Then I marked where they should go and proceeded to roll out the tile. I cut it as long as I could to fit it into the kiln. I made note on the paper about individual pears, numbered them and outlined them with their number on the paper.


I'm thinking a black base with black stems on the pears......we'll see. The kiln is still cooling this morning.




4 comments:

Linda Starr said...

Curious to see how your long flat tile does in the kiln firing. How thick did you make it?

I'm making some textured tiles and can't stack them to dry. I wonder if I fire them upright if the applied texture might pop off since it's a different type of clay.

Linda Starr said...

Oh forgot to ask, will you attach the pears to the base, what will you use? epoxy?

Clay and Fiber Artist said...

Well.......

I haven't decided yet how this is all going to go together. The tile is rather thin. I could--

Glaze it, lay it flat, cross my fingers and fire it, if it doesn't crack, fine. If it does crack, work with it. Like mount it on a custom cut and finished wooden board. Give it legs and assemble it in two components.

Or

Do a cold glaze like acrylics or an applied, glued surface.

And I think I'll fix the pears into position with epoxy. I don't want them to move once I've placed them.

If none of the above will work, I'll just make another tile or two, only thicker.

Linda Starr said...

Hi Jeanette, thanks ever so much for the info, my tiles are warping and the one with the rice bags on top to hold it down is warping the worst, go figure, guess I'll make more. Hope your big one works out.