"As clothes are to the human body so are glazes to pots. That clay vessels made by primitive peoples were not glazed suggests a parallel to their own familiarity with nudity, nor does it seem inappropriate that they should have had the greatest feeling for naked clay forms. With our multiplicity of clothing we have become sophisticated and ashamed of our bodies, and, in a manner no less apposite have completely covered our pots with glazes."
-Bernard Leach Respond to this: Has there been a time that you chose a glaze for a bisque piece with something that didn't turn out the way you'd hoped, or that wasn't necessarily the "appropriate" finish or pallette? Have you regretted or been happily surprised when viewing your work after glaze firing? Describe the piece, and what you would have done differently. What is Bernard Leach trying to say here, when he compares glazes to articles of clothing? Personally for me, I believe he's speaking about appreciating the simplicity of the form, and while it can remain functional, the piece is a visually appealing work of "functional" art. Thoughts?
14 Comments
Christine Riley
10/14/2016 06:15:23 am
Ive been very surprised on many different art works ive done and the way the glazes turned out on them. But the one id have to say was the best in my eyes was the ugly face mugs. I tried something new with glazes i had never tried which was tone three colors together going from red, to orange, to yellow. I truly didn't think it would turn out that well and it turned out amazing and went very well with the rest of the art.I think he means that by looking at something you can tell what it consist of like person i know they say don't judge a book by it's cover, but everybody does. And by looking at a piece of artwork with glaze on it you can look at it and tell if the piece goes with the glaze or glazes on it kinda like clothing and a person.
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Ashlee Mock
10/20/2016 06:47:53 am
Most of the time, I find that I can appreciate and admire the form of my pieces after being bisque fired and before glazes or a glass firing because of the simplicity and eloquence. Glaze fires are different from bisque fires because I don't know what to expect from the glaze fire. One time, I made an intricately glazed piece for a Roy Lichtenstein inspired project that I had no idea what to expect and it ended up coming out very beautiful. Consequently, I have played a piece with the knowledge of the glaze being red and the piece was brown after coming out of the kiln from glaze firing. I was disappointed, however, every time I mess up I learn.
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megan obranovich
10/20/2016 09:44:57 am
Most of the time when a new bisque piece comes out of the kiln I like to look at how it came out and know what what I need to do to make this piece as great as it can be. Glaze and bisque fires are definitely different because for a glaze fire I always get nervous b/c what if the glazes I chose don't come out to be what i want them to. And with bisque fire I never know if the piece will explode or not. I think its a good learning experience for everyone.
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Riley Jones
10/20/2016 03:33:18 pm
I recently made a teapot inspired by Lana Wilson. It was a pretty basic, but functional piece. I wasn't sure how I wanted to glaze it after seeing it come out of bisque firing. Ms. Daughtry suggested that I use earth tones and leave some parts just clear glazed. I ended up painting the piece a couple of shades of blue because I felt that it would be too boring to use earth tones and leave parts without color. When it was finished I realized that I should have taken Ms. Daughtry's advice. Although I am still happy with my piece, I believe that it could have been better if I'd have used a simpler color palette. I think that this goes along with what Bernard Leech is trying to say quite well. A piece is beautiful in its self a lot of times. You don't always have to come up with an elaborate way to glaze it. Sometimes simpler is just better, and that is what I believe he is trying to say; instead of trying to change everything, leave them in their natural state, because that is when they look their best.
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Taylor Kenyon
10/20/2016 05:21:54 pm
I have been in many situations where my piece doesn't come out of the kiln looking the way I planned for it to. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. For example, today my cylinder came out of glaze fire. The glaze ran a lot and it didn't look like what it did on the test tile. I actually liked the end result more than the test tile. Sometimes imperfections make the piece more appealing. I think Bernard Leech is trying to say less is more. Sometimes it's better to take the more simple route for a better outcome.
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Lindsi Ashley
10/20/2016 06:46:44 pm
There have definitely been times where the glaze doesn't turn out the way I like it most likely due to the glaze combinations I used. Today, a piece of my came out of a glaze firing and it didn't appeal to my eyes due to the glaze combinations. The piece may not appeal to me anymore but it will appeal to some others. I think bernard leech is saying that we shouldn't be so transfixed on the glaze of the piece solely but the whole body of art itself, just like our bodies.
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Katy Brant
10/22/2016 01:21:40 pm
I have been surprised by the turnouts of some of my pieces, like for instantce last year i glzed my coil project and it was supposed to be like green and teal blue and it came out purple and lime green, in this case it made my project almost like an eyesore. This year I made a tray for ashes and I thought I used black ice but I used burnished steel instead and it turned out amazing. Sometimes the kiln has a misfire or the glaze doesn't come out as planned and sometimes imperfections make pieces look better!
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Oscar Guerrero
10/23/2016 06:00:21 pm
I have chose some bad glazes for some of my pieces and I look back and think to myself I should have used something different. But last year I did make a sugar skull and I only glazed the decorations on it and it turned out really good, and I thought it wouldn't look as good if I didn't glaze the entire piece. For my cups I have made I would probably have used a different glaze, and maybe one that has a matte finish to make it not as flashy as a glossy glaze.
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Stephanie Montero
10/23/2016 07:29:07 pm
During pottery one last year I made a bowl and a plate, I used glazes that I have never tried before. I glazed both pieces with the same glaze, when they came out of the kiln the bowl had a dark tone then the plate did. I was not sure why but I was not very happy with the results of the bowl. I think Bernard Leach was trying to say that simple is better. Sometimes less is more when it to many things, for example glazes.
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Savannah Harris
10/24/2016 05:56:08 pm
I have used many different glazes and tired putting many different glazes together. Some of it came out awful and I didn't like that while other came out just the way I wanted them to and looked great. I think when I've been most happy was when they came out not looking how I imagined and I was pleasantly surprised. I think he was trying to say sometimes the suprising imperfections and the simple is better than trying to out do something.
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McKinley Durham
10/24/2016 07:00:54 pm
When I was in pottery 1 my sophomore year, we only were allowed to use certain glazes. So I was never suprized or amazed at the turnout of my pieces. But this year, I've used so many different glazes that are so pretty and surprise me as to how they do the things they do while in the kiln. I like to layer different glazes and see how they look on test tiles. It's always fun to see what will turnout from them.
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Aianna Orta
10/27/2016 06:42:02 am
There has been a time where I wasn't very pleased as to how my peice turned out because of a glaze. There has been moments where I was extremely happy as to how my peices have been glazed. When I glaze I try to keep track of the amount of layers I use so everything can look even. That sometimes never happens.
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Lindsey Yates
11/9/2016 11:33:13 am
Many times when my pieces come out of the kiln I think there going to look somewhat different than what they do. When a glaze comes out I try to keep track of what looks good to me and also what doesn't look good to me so I can make sure I don't use the same glaze that I didn't like and make sure I use the glazes I did like again.
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Brittany gonzalez
11/29/2016 04:42:03 am
Oh this has definitely happened to me before! I remember last year I made a hand made bowl and I really wanted it to be maroon. So I used the maroon glaze but turns out it was very light and streaky and the piece wasn't all the way maroon. So the first thing that I did was re-glaze it again and added two more layers and it turned out a lot better thankfully.
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