: Kohaku - Viewing Profile

Forgive the rambling intro, but I need to provide some context...

One of my ongoing projects involves crafting indigenous musical instruments from regions with critically endangered species.

Among the list of instruments I need to make is a Kultrun Drum (from Chile- home of the Juan Fernandez Fur Seal).

These are flattened, broad drums... with a drum head that's usually attached with thongs (although it can be riveted in some cases).

Anyhow, here's the drum body that I made...



I always planned to attach the drum head with thongs... but I was concerned about the visual impact to the surface. Aside from the circularity of the carved designs, you've got a strong crackle pattern that I hate to de-emphasize.

Here's the piece with the drum head attached...





The thongs couldn't be spaced with 100% evenness (I didn't want to overlap the designs). The net effect- the integrity of the surface is compromised, and the drumhead buckles between the more widely spaces thongs. Overall, it just looks... sloppy.

So- I'm thinking of drilling holes in the rim and attaching a new drumhead using rivets. I've never drilled ceramic before. What do people think are my odds of doing this without destroying the piece?

Note- I have had good success with riveting drumheads to Raku drums... but always with the holes augered in before I bisqued the piece...

Sorry if this has been hashed out before- I did a quick search on the forum and nothing obvious came up.

I'm trying to beef up my online presence. I have a website that I'm relatively happy with, but I've recently started integrating a Facebook page.

Facebook has a couple promotion options- you can promote specific posts (like listings of work for sale) or you can fund a campaign that boosts the number of 'likes' overall for your page.

I put a little extra change into one of the promotion engines. It's certainly brought a lot of strangers to my page, and boosted overall activity... but I can't say that it's lead to any sales yet. (It's been less than a week though)

Does anyone use either of these tools... and has it paid off for you?

One of the things that I enjoy most in my work is surface decoration- particularly carved, simplified marine and wildlife forms. I'm been thinking of experimenting with slip trailing, though... and wanted a little advice before I head down the rabbit hole). A little context...

In Raku, I use the carved images to create a mosaic feel (multiple glazes, wax resist in the carvings.



I've tried for some time to adapt this style to high fire. The use of a high-iron wash allows for a 'wood grain' effect that I enjoy...



However, the use of any covering glaze tends to mute the design (see below).



I've tried using black wax resist in the carvings, varying the specific gravity of my glazes... but even a glaze like the one below that tends to 'break' well still fills the carved lines too much.



So- I was thinking of experimenting with slip trailing- in the hope that a raised design might shed a mobile glaze better, and highlight the designs more effectively. Before I start experimenting, however, I was wondering if it was even possible to make this work on vertical forms (like the mugs pictured above)? If so, any advice? How dry would the greenware need to be... and what would need to be the specific gravity (approximate) of the slip? Is this even a route worth exploring (especially in light of how complex some of my designs are)? I don't want the lines to lose their flow or look overly heavy...

I've been using a glaze called 'Egyptian blue' that I pulled off the web. Here's the chemistry.

Egyptian Blue
Soda Ash 30.5
Lithium Carbonate 8.5
EPK 22.5
Flint 38.5
Black Copper Oxide (added) 2.5
Bentonite 1.0

There have been a couple instances where this glaze yielded a lovely mix of vibrant blue-greens, with every shade of red and orange on the sides. Here's an example.




More often, though, I get either an algal green, or a brick red (or copper). For an example of the former, see below.



I'd like to get the first result more consistently. Yes- I know Raku is a chaotic process...

My theory is that the first result stemmed from several factors...

1) Less maturity at the tail end of the firing process (and thus a 'sandstone-like' texture)
2) Thick glaze application
3) Fast transfer of the piece to the reduction chamber
4) Intense but brief reduction, with the piece pulled early and rapidly cooled

These were the conditions for the firing for the piece at the head of the page. However, when I tried to duplicate these conditions recently, here's what I got...



Not bad... but not exactly what I'm going for.

Any suggestions appreciated!

On a whim today, I decided to throw a whole mess of vessels to use as glaze testers. (Yes- there are more efficient ways to make glaze test pieces!).

I don't know that I'd ever tried to trim anything with that particular size/shape (more or less like a tall shot glass). Proper nightmare! Between the lack of mass and the high center of gravity, the slightest 'grab' of my tool to the clay and the vessel would want to go flying.

Out of 50 vessels, I lost twelve, and two went flying clear across the room. The dog stuck its head in and nearly got brained.

Thing is- I can't think of a better way to do this. Some kind of chuck? Any suggestions?