Thoughts by Robert Holcomb

First you must know the TECHNIQUE. Then you acquire the SKILL through constant repetition of proper technique, but most  important is your IMAGINATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your friend, Robert Stoneware   :- )

Tools you will need…

A needle point (or a sharp stick).

Plastic (dry cleaning works best).

A piece of wood, app. 12”x12”, or an old vinyl record.

&

An open and positive attitude. When your biological needs are met, happiness is a choice. Make a wise decision J

Recommended tools…

Paintbrushes.

A sponge.

Pen(cil)s.

A notebook.

For potters wheel…

A ceramic wheel pack (wire, ribs etc…) Cost about $10.

Old towel or t-shirt.

Bucket or severed milk carton.

Read the bold print as it is most important, while the italicized goes into  intricate detail that is  for the more advanced and best read at a later date.

I offer ceramic workshops*. Pay the trans and hotel (and don’t play music after 1979).

*If your school is somewhere lame (not near a museum), a hassle to get to or in the bitter cold then I am busy.

CLAY

Clay is an earthy substance that is plastic when wet and rock like when fired.

Earth was molten then cooled, about 10 miles beneath our feet is igneous rock. Clay is
formed from the erosion of igneous rock. Mother nature is making more clay than
humans can use! The surface of the earth is 60% silica, 15% alumina…ironically these
are essential for clay.

The difference between primary and secondary clay is their manner of erosion, wind, water, gas etc…

PRIMARY (residual clay)- kaolin is found where igneous rock eroded and not moved by air, water…

SECONDARY (sedimentary)- moved from its original location by air, water…then settles in rivers and lakes. Finer particles and impurities , such as iron, add color and plasticity. These impurities can also lower the maturing temperature and affect the density.

Types of clay:
(Primary) kaolin/china clay- usually large particles so its not very plastic.
This white clay can be translucent…3280 degrees

(Secondary) ball clay- impure, small fine plastic clay…2350 degrees
“ “ stoneware- plasticity, color and firing range vary in this vitreous clay…2300
“ “ fireclay- course durable clay, not very plastic. Resistant to heat…2650
“ “ earthenware- most common clay that can be used for bricks. Usually lots of iron so its red or brown.
Porous and will melt before becoming vitreous…1850
“ “ terra-cotta- low fire open body that can be used for big sculptures.
“ “ adobe- non plastic surface clay suitable for sundried bricks.

There are other types of clay, like bentonite. Mixed with dry materials (1%  to 2% ), it will add plasticity to clay or keep a glaze in suspension.

If you dig in your neighbors yard the clay might be crumbly or have other qualities that make it difficult to work with. So you mix different types of clay together to get a clay body.

I use a stoneware clay body at a low fire temperature with great results ! However, if its severely under fired it will be chalky. If its severely over fired it will slump, then eventually melt on the shelves, bummer.
Also, if you are making a stoneware vase and finish it with earthenware, it will usually crack!

To find out the maturing point of clay ,or glaze, fire the piece in a kiln with a “throw away” plate under the piece. Keep a close eye on the cones, wearing goggles to protect yourself from ultra violet light. Or have the batch formula and do the Empirical Formula.
I used some jargon, but you will learn this in the classroom setting.

Earthenware is associated with low fire, but it is really a clay that will melt before becoming vitreous.

* Before 10,000BC, modern day Japan, they were making beautiful pottery.

Three options on getting the clay body you want.

1.Buy it prepared. Saves time, good for your health and affordable. 25 pounds cost about $15.
2.Buy ingredients and mix it yourself. Start with 25% water in a bucket or mixer.
I am not going to into detail about the Empirical Formula. If your interested, send
me an email.          …claymindclaybody.org
3. Dig it from the earth; riverbeds, creeks, lowlands, backyard etc…If your lucky no
alterations will be needed. Roll a coil and wrap it around your finger, if the wet clay
does not crack or crumble HOORAY! If changes need to be done ,see previous page
on when to alter the clay. Testing will need to be done.
Organic matter is probably in the clay.
If the clay needs to be cleaned* transfer it from the bucket you collected it to a board
to dry. Wearing a mask to , to avoid dust, and tap shoes to break the big chunks.
If you’re a lousy dancer, use a mallet. Pick out any impurities; rocks, twigs etc…
Then put the pulverized clay in a bucket of water to soak overnight. Pour the clay
through a wire mesh into another bucket to rid the clay of excess debris. Once
the clay settles, pour out the extra water and put the clay on a piece of wood to dry.

*Unusable if highly contaminated with soluble alkalis or lime. To test for soluble alkalis wet down a piece of clay to the plastic state then let it dry. If a scum or discoloration appears on the surface = Contaminated. Lime will react like plaster in the clay, shrink at different rates and cause the piece to crack/ break off. Put the clay into a beaker containing 50% solution of hydrochloric acid.
If there is lime in the clay you will see bubbling. That means move on to a different clay deposit.

Anything that was ever made was done by adding, subtracting and/ or altering the material. (period)

Pinching
Coil
Slab
Wheel thrown
Extruded
Slip cast
Etc…

After taking the wet clay out of the bag and giving it form, it goes through several stages:
Leather hard =clay can still be attached. Good stage for smoothing the clay.
Bone dry/ Green ware = fragile and chalk like.
Bisque ware (after first firing) = it is now stone and ready to be glazed.
Glaze ware = glazed and fired again.

Clay can be once fired with certain glazes. Also, a piece can be fired numerous times.

Many other resist and techniques likes mishima, sprigs etc…

#1 Additive light, or sunlight, is the sum of all wavelengths composing the visible spectrum, it may be disassembled or fragmented into the   individual colors of the spectral band. For a better understanding, buy a prism.

#2 Subtractive light, also known as “painters light” in art. This light is reflected from pigments and objects. Pigments produce their color by reflecting a segment of the spectrum while absorbing the rest. For example, blue subtracts or absorbs all the light in the spectrum except that seen as blue, which it reflects to the eyes.
Black absorbs all colors equally.

Components of color are hues, value and intensity.

Hues are names of color. Primary are red, yellow and blue. Secondary are mixing of intermediate colors.
Value is the quantity of light in color. Simply add white or a brighter color to make it lighter (tint) or black or a darker color to make it darker(shade). With  light and shadow a 2 dimensional object can look 3 dimensional. The color grey is called tone.
Intensity is the quality of color. Its how pure a color is, not light or dark, but how weak or strong.

On the color wheel we have “warm” and “cool” colors.
Cool colors, yellow green to violet, recede.
Warm colors, yellow to red violet, come forward.

We can still learn from traditional painting. Let me briefly explain 5 techniques I read about years ago.
#1 Color surprise. Take one color and divide it into two parts. Add white to one and black to another. Then put the lighter one against the darker one and   that will give an illusion of light and shadow.
#2 Related sequence of three adjacent colors (on the wheel). Repeat the above and as you add white, add a little color adjacent on the wheel. Now a sequence of colors come to light.
#3 Grey to rest the eye. To keep color surprise from looking busy or not belonging with each other, shades of gray will rest the eye.
#4 Cool against warm. Or warm against cool. Opposite colors on the wheel have the highest point of contrast.
#5 Transition of #4 in a large area. Many different color surprises can cause chaos without transition.

Mixing paints and chemicals are two different things. Cobalt oxide is blue and cobalt carbonate is pink. Yet both of these give a blue color when fired. You will get unexpected results, be patient, nobody is born with patience so if you don’t have it… learn it now !

I could write so much more on color that you would crave black & white TV. “Your eyes have more than100 million rods for night time vision and over 6 million cones for daytime vision…” When in doubt , repeat nature.

COLOR IN CERAMICS

Color in ceramics is from the clay body, colorants on the clay / under glaze, mixed with the glaze or on top of the glaze (over glaze).

Techniques and effects for color application:
Pouring
Dipping
Spraying
Sponging
Trailing- a snot remover makes a good tool.
Under glaze pen(cils) and pastels- oxides in writing instruments.
Splattering- flick a toothbrush, finally a hard toothbrush good for something.
Stippling- usually done with the edge of a brush or a sponge.
Feathering- add slips with brush or snot remover, then brush feather through slip.
Dotting- add colored dots with snot remover.
Marbling- add different colored slips on a plate, then shake rattle-n-roll.
Mocha Diffusion- example: put slip on ware then a darker slip over it. An acid, such as apple cider, is poured on top. Additional white slip is one of the endless options.
Colored clay- adding colorants to a clay body then slightly wedging the clay, faceting wheel made work can produce amazing results.
Methods of color:
Slips- also called engobes, liquid clay that can include colorants, up to 8% oxides.
Wash- water based with colorants.
under glaze- a colored decoration applied to green or bisque ware, simply under a glaze.
Stains- a mixture of materials. Example, iron + chrome = Wallah, a stain.. Commercial stains are usually fritted, removal of soluble materials, by ball milling so more versatile colors can be achieved.
Glaze- something on a doughnut or a room temperature liquid applied, most often to bisque ware, for a thin (credit card like) coating that melts when fired to form a glass surface.
Over glaze-(enamels), applying a low fire glaze over a glaze that has been fired. This includes lusters, metallic content in the clay coming to the surface.

Texture and color can be seen as one-surface decoration.

Silica forms the glass. All glazes have silica. The source is flint, kaolin…

Alumina acts as a glue. Keeps the glaze from running off the pot. Some glazes have little or no alumina. Feldspar is one common source for alumina.

Fluxes lower the temperature. Clay will melt before silica does, so a flux is a must. Potassium( K20) is a flux and that source is feldspar, and of course potassium!

Colorants include: cobalt (blue), iron (brown), manganese (black) and LOTS more.

When ,or if, you ask me for the empirical formula I will include more detail information about elements.

Colors vary greatly from the color of the clay, % of colorant used, application, firing, atmosphere, temperature etc…

You will encounter glaze defects:
Seeding, pinholes, bubbles and blisters- various stages that can be from under/over firing.
Crazing and crackle- a glaze shrinks more than the body.
Shivering and dunting- a glaze shrinks less than body.
Crawling- a glaze pulls together to expose bare area.
Dirty hands or dusty ware can also cause defects.

When painting pottery, think of it as a 3D canvas. Unfortunately, this rectangle shaped painting does not go with the form.

However, this Minoan piece made app. 3,000 years ago has beautiful composition. Observe how form, texture and color are one.

Technique and skill are important as they allow more freedom of expression. Though, imagination is the almighty in art !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :- )

Looking at a blank canvas or a bag of clay can be frustrating for some because your unsure on what to make, BUT NOT ANYMORE 

or
b) mentally- create a question ,“How would I turn hollow clay boxes into a drinking cup ?”

Or give yourself the answer,”A pregnant flower.”

PROGRESSION- why stop at a chimpanzee when you can evolve to a human.
VARIATION- now that monkey is man, make different nationalities.

So creating is this simple. You get inspired or fool around and have something to show for it. Then progress that idea to its highest level followed by  variations of it and now your ready for an art show. Hey, what about aesthetics ? See the final page on how to ctitique.

My favorite way to do a variation is ABSTRACTing. Some ways to abstract include:

Alter the mind- stay awake for a few days or get loaded.
Alter vision- look through a prism, magnify glass or look at a “warped” mirror.
Deception (fool the eye) -
Reversible-
Anomorphosis / transform (play on perspective)- grid example…
optical art- create a puzzling effect
Pointillism- Seurats dot art
Cubism- non-objective art with the use of geometric shapes where representing nature is not the priority.
Surrealism/ beyond reality- In 1924 Andre Breton defined surrealism as, “Pure automatism, by which one intends to express verbally, in writing or any other method, the real functioning mind. Dictation by thought, in the absence of any control exercise by reason,and beyond any   aesthetic  or  moral preoccupation.”
Dreams-
MORE…

In the distant future I will have examples for all of the above.

The piece below ,CRYING FLOWER, uses deception. With a dripping glaze near the top, it “fools the eye.”

Art is a language and abstraction is a dialect, so speak with an accent.

A helpful book,The Kiln Book, discusses 6 considerations before you design a kiln.
Kind of kiln.
Clay to be fired.
Atmosphere conditions.
Fuel available.
Location of kiln.
Shelf size.

Followed by the 9 design principles. I will list in the future.

FIRING- rate, how quick or slow, and length. 150 degrees an hour is a general statement.

ATMOSPHERE-
Oxidation, no carbon or residue in atmosphere.
Reduction- restricting air or adding fuel creates smoke in kiln.
Wood- woodash is sodium, calcium, potassium and silica that melts on the ware.
* saggars are used in wood kilns to fire the clay, but to prevent ash on the pot.
Salt- bisque and glazing can be done , but are not necessary. Salt turns to vapors
and sodium in the salt combines with silica on the piece to form a glaze.
Soda- similar to salt, but…
Raku / post fire reduction- 1500 Japanese lead ware glaze. Usually red hot pots are
taken out of kiln then put in combustibles and quickly cooled.
Coal, Oil etc…

TEMPERATURE- comes from heat and time. Ceramic cones* measure time and temperature, while a pyrometer only measures temperature.

There are cross draft, down draft and updraft kilns.
I did not even mention flue sizes, when in doubt make it too big, or chimneys….

(Pyrometric) cones are pyramid shaped pieces of clay that measure the heat of the kiln by slumping at the designated temperature.

Some things are better made with a different medium, but clay is the most versatile of them all. You can make functional,
non-functional or
non-functional functional objects.

It is usually best to start small before you go big. A maquette will help work out any 3D kinks. Vessels (with handles), jars (with lids),teapots, tiles, bust, instruments (drums, whistles etc…) can easily be made.
The thing that everyone should make is whatever you want ! This is art, if you don’t feel like it, don’t do it !!! I know the academic setting is different, but a teacher can have a syllabus that covers the previous 14 pages without limiting your imagination. I did not tell you what to think, I showed you HOW TO THINK through a ceramic point of view.

#1) If they did not.
a. Did something get lost in the translation from your brain to the piece?
or
b. Did your mind struggle with the initial concept?

Before I go on, I want you to think more, less or different. For example, would the piece have more impact if it were a bit  taller, less texture or different color ?

a. Objective / tangible (technique & skill)-
Form- not just scale (height, width and depth), but also negative space and its interplay with positive space.
Texture- surface quality can be real or simulated. Remember, think more less or different.
Color- I already wrote in detail about color, however I want to bring up a couple things. Paintings are usually done on flat canvases while  pottery “is in the round“. What may “work” on a flat surface can look “busy” on ceramics. Or when one solid color looks good on clay, it can be hum-drum in a frame.
I also want to point out, dark shiny glazes reflect light and leave a glare. That glare is the highest point of contrast and will attract the attention of the eye.
At times, there are numerous glares and a trained eye will recognize that and see the chaos it creates.
Composition- where to put what. More importantly know why.
Work in a series- remember variations. Most of the time a group is stronger than one alone.
Method of firing- Hey, doesn’t this sound like I am repeating the above notes? I am !

I will briefly mention the 7 elements of design.
Form
Texture
Color
Value- this should be filed under color. I challenge anyone to a debate.
Shape- is a 2D word for form, so this element of design does not pertain to pottery.
Line- is a series of dots.
Space-both positive and negative
The 7 principles of design.
Contrast- big/small, light/dark and smooth/rough. Conflict breaks repetition.
Emphasis- does the piece have a main point?  Color contrast is one of the many ways to draw attention to the main point.
Pattern- is a reoccurring theme. A piece can have many things going on and a pattern can keep it from being busy.
Movement- directs ones eyes through art. It can be done with edges of a sculpture, texture, color (low key to high key)…
Rhythm- repetition of visual movement (form, texture and color). Greek columns have a nice rhythm.
Balance- can be symmetrical ( classical Greek pottery is a perfect example) or asymmetrical.  Just not top heavy like a body builder who doesn’t workout  his legs.
Unity- when everything works together in harmony.

I am speaking from a 3D point of view, not 2D.

Many beginning artist put 2 or more good ideas in 1 piece. Take your favorite quality and accentuate it, then save the other ideas for another piece.

b. subjective/ intangible ( imagination)-
If your mind struggled with the initial concept then turn back to my notes on IMAGINATION, page 12.

#2) If your intentions did match your output, then is the piece aesthetically pleasing?

Aesthetics can be called judgment. From my experience, this is what I learned… AESTHITICS = 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration! I will never downplay the importance of creativity, as easy as it is. But, aesthetics is much more time consuming and separates the quality of art.
I look at the piece from side to side, front to back, top to bottom and close up and far away. I mess around with the lighting from all angles. If form, texture and color come together as one (composition) I succeeded at the objective. Then if I can feel the piece without touching it and it speaks to me without saying a word, I just documented the subjective / IMAGINATION.

First you must understand the artwork and you do that by observation of the objective and subjective. If it applies, what emotion does it elicit : fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise or happiness ?

No one has ever intelligently called the “Gross Clinic” a happy piece. Artwork can also be so vague it will mean something different when your mood changes.

Ask questions to learn about it.

Who made it ?

What time period ?

Where was it made ?

Is their a title ?

Did it have impact ?

Is it an innovator or imitator ?

Was it religious or politically motivated ?

Does it document the time period like Norman Rockwell ?

Is it outdated like Norman Rockwell ? Ooooops.

Gather as much evidence in your investigation. Then you can make a JUDGEMENT if it’s a quality work of art. Your judgment can change. : – )
PREFERENCE is totally different, do not confuse the two. I do not like Hip Hop music. That does not mean Hip Hop is bad music, I am sure there are many good songs. My taste prefers something else, with Real drums !

Seeing and doing are different things. The problem with some curators, mainly in modern art, is they are clueless about the importance of skill in art. Yes, one can be a good curator without making art and a professional artist can be a dud as a curator. The more knowledge the greater the power, in this case the power to make an educated opinion on what is good, or bad, art.

A wonderful example at terrible art is Cy Twombly* at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His work is a colossal failure at the objective (technique & skill). Chefs make food for the taste buds, musicians for the ears, so shouldn’t painters and sculptors make things for the eyes ? Of course ! Art doesn’t have to be” pretty” to be good, Picassos’ Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a fine example.

Remember, different and good are two entirely different things, but when they meet you are in the presence of something special !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* Yes I trash Mr. Twombly because his work is trash. I say that because of EXPECTATIONS and COMPARISON. If a drunk 3 year old with a broken arm did the same I would say, “Good job” and “ Lay off the Niquil.” This is an adult in a major museum and his work is comparable to a tipsy toddler . I have expectations and I pity the fool who thinks Mr. T’s beyond pathetic artwork is of any value.