Well, tomorrow it's back to school for me so summer break will be over. It was an odd summer but it did go by quickly. I say "odd" because I wasn't able to do ANY outdoorsy stuff due to the ulcer on my leg, so no swimming, working with the horses, etc. I did get to spend lots of time with my husband (and go day-tripping!) and I did go to BF in KY. So I can't complain too much.
I also did get a lot of art done. Firing in the summer time is difficult because the kiln tends to overheat its electronics. So I only fire on cooler days (which are rare in Texas LOL) and also run fans. So far I've only had two EtH (Electronics Too Hot) errors. That's one of the great things about china painting, you only fire between cones 022 and 015 so it's much cooler (relatively speaking LOL). The EtH errors came up during the glaze and greenware firings.
One of the things I love to work on are medallions. They are larger, and very easy to finish as they usually only involve the head of the horse. Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig was very generous and made a mold for bisques from her RESS medallion. Sadly, the bisques did not sell out so I'm finishing a few as donations to RESS. One of them is pictured in my blog today. This particular one was glazed with parchment crackle glaze.
Crackle glazes are cool, as they craze or fracture during cooling. On a big piece you can actually hear the crackling! Even on a smaller piece, like this medallion which is about 2 x 3 inches, if you are in a quiet room you can hear the occasionally creaking or popping sound from it. Once I had it glazed, I china painted one horse a smutty buckskin and the other a black roan with corn spots. Once the china paints were fired I then applied a coat of black ink all over the piece and wiped it down. Since the crackles on the glaze are actual breaks in the glaze's surface, the ink can stain the fracture lines, and you can see the crackle very readily then. It makes the piece look like an old ceramic you might find in an antique store or in your grandmother's attic! It does mean you can't use crackle glaze on a surface that will get wet or be a food surface though.
The next medallion will be much different and I hope to post pictures of it this week. But first I have to attend a week of in-service at school. I'd rather be glazing truth be told LOL.
Cheryl
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