Friday, January 28, 2011

Portfolio Photography Cassius Basaltic Clay 3


Here is a small leaf bowl. This design still needs work. What I was trying to do with this piece is take some of my blacksmithing knowledge and apply it to clay. So all of these ceramic leaves have been forged out with a small hammer as I would with steel.

2 comments:

Linda Starr said...

Hi Aaron, I love your covered bowl and the white clay against the black, that's what I love about the cassius the ebony black color is so rich.

I've worked with cassius basaltic in the past and now have a programmable kiln. I have a number of pieces I have bisque fired with Cassius but am hesitant to risk firing those with any glazes. I fired some before I moved from california to florida and the inside got what i would call moon craters. Would you mind sharing your firing schedule for the glaze firing? I am looking for a good clear as I have made mostly sculptural pieces and I understand the clay has manganese in it so I didn't want to use it for functional ware. I am afraid the clears I've used on other work won't melt at cone 4 and I'll be left with a mess. I wouldn't mind just glazing the interiors of a few pieces, but when I poured the glaze inside before I think it absorbed too much glaze and that where I got the moon craters.

Several clay suppliers said on their site that Mayco c105 was good but of course they didn't show any results or say anything other than not firing above Cone 4.

Anonymous said...

Tastes differ.