A new Face, with a story. Something different

Dale Cochoy

I'm so sorry Joanie. I guess I can't please all
Should I answer......

Ok
1. I wanted to experiment.

2. I've done this before w/ matt glazes, and even then they are not completely matt, I think possibly due to the min. porosity already achieved on the clay surface?

3. I wanted to use THESE 4 glazes because I knew they would run together, which was an effect I wanted to experiment with.

4. You ARE looking at it with a flash reflection. If it wasn't 10 degrees out I'd take some outside.

5. lastly, on many pot pics I take w/ digital inside I have a terrible problem w/ too much red. Even using color correction of photos I still can't get rid of all of it and still have pots look true to colors.

I'm not really offering these as excuses to your complaint, I'm just stating some facts regarding the outcome.
Dale

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If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
__________________________________________

Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
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Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

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pootsie

Dale:

I'm sure you've already thought of this, but just in case, have you fiddled with the "indoor/outdoor/auto" setting in your digicam's menu?

I've also found that taking multiple pix using different EV settings and *slightly* different angles will result in a big range of color balance, so you can find a better match among the pictures. My digicam has a spot-meter that will result in different color-balances when the angle is moved to put the bulls-eye over a different spot each time.

FWIW

pootsie

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p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

Dale Cochoy

I don't want to get too heavy into a photo thread here but,
I've experimented with the "outdoor, indoor, auto" settings and still find MOST pics look better with the auto, especially with my photo lab setup ( Read: Kitchen table). If Outside the colors usually look great although I can spend all day chasing shadows and backgrounds. It's flash inside combined with two types of other lites in the kitchen that is the problem, and really, only w/ reds. I think generally my pics look pretty darn good!
I'm thinking of moving some junk in the garage next year and actually setting up a permanent photo area ( the laying a black cloth on table and clipping side lites on cupboard doors is getting tiresome). If I set up a nice photo area next year I'll use a more photo-friendly shade of background paper.
Dale

__________________
________________________________
If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
__________________________________________

Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
____________________________________________
Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

Victrinia_Ensor

For some I think those thoughts would be very helpful. Give them more effecient methods to produce pots with predictable results. But for Dale's purposes I'm not sure it applies.

I don't know if Dale uses a lot of mechanical equipment to gain the unique asthetic he achieves in his art. But I'd be concerned that with all that equipment one's effort might get into the mass produced, like something everyone else has available anywhere, looking pots.

Personally I enjoy the hand made, one of a kind quality he's able to give each peice. And by and large I believe he is successful in this effort because of the time and attention he is willing to give each peice worthy of his name. As Dale said he used a fan to encourage the process of drying, but something would be lost if air guns/brushes/booths got involved in his kind of pottery.

And don't worry Dale... If you do use mechanical means to get that hand done look... I'll only be more impressed. And I won't have a clue how you managed it.

Yours,

__________________
Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

www.elandangardens.com

Victrinia_Ensor

Dale -

I think the finish is fun... It reminds me of the iced Americano I get every morning right when I pour in the cream. I looove my coffee in the a.m. so you can imagine how appealing the finish is.

Yours,

__________________
Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

www.elandangardens.com

Dale Cochoy

Vic,
Thanks,
Perhaps I should call this layered/drippy finish "Ceramic cappucino(sp) ala Chef Dale"

I hate to admit ( now) that I use a fan sometimes simply because I just don't want to stand there holding a hair dryer

and, yes, I use an airbrush for some stuff. One "tool" I saved for 32 years from custom painting my chopper wife and I built in 1974.
I KNEW I'd want it again some day
Life is a circle....
Dale

__________________
________________________________
If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
__________________________________________

Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
____________________________________________
Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

Joanie

Ms. Vic, this is a discussion that the potters have all the time. You can take it to extremes either way... what's the difference between a kick wheel and an electric one? Is it the same kind of difference between blowing on something to dry it and using a fan or a blow drier?

Many of the best potters, truly innovative and creative people making one of a kind work, use air guns and spray booths and drying cabinets, just like they use electric kilns and electric wheels and slab rollers....

You absolutely must use ventilation when blowing glaze because it contains silica, which is terrible for your lungs.

I won't argue the mold thing, because I am a moldmaker and make a very good living at it. I don't do bonsai pots, I do limited edition sculpture to a very specific high-end collector base. But I do wish that people who put down the use of molds would try using the same kind of phraseology on themselves. ("anyone who uses aluminum wire instead of copper isn't doing real bonsai... if you buy yamadori instead of collect it yourself you aren't a real bonsai artist... etc") There's nothing wrong with handbuilding, but there's a lot of room for different ways of doing things out there, and molds go back for hundreds of years. In fact, Egyptians used molds. So please be considerate of others when we get on that particular rant.

Joanie

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Victrinia_Ensor

Hi Joanie...

I have no doubt that you make a very good living with your pottery. As a matter of fact I think highly of anyone who can make a decent living at their craft. I certinally don't think there's anything wrong with using techniques to speed up the process or make as I said more predictable results. The only point to my comment was that with Dale's work there would be a risk of something being lost if he employed that same process to his work. If you look back at his threads there have been times that the question is asked if he could reproduce some particularly wonderful glazing/finish work. More often than not the answer is "sorry it's one of a kind". That uniqueness appeals to many, myself included.

To be certain I will be respectful if you, or any other person, rant about "to mould or not to mould", that's just a productivity issue. One of which I would not be qualified to comment on. I simply made a case for the hands on approach Dale takes, as being intregal to the overall asthetic that makes his work stand apart from others. And as with all subjective things, when looking at how an artist's work is precieved by the viewer, it's all about how it impacts that individual. Which therefore in this case allows me to have a distinct point of view without having touched a potters wheel since highschool.

The best to you and yours this Christmas,

__________________
Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

www.elandangardens.com

Joanie

Yes, the people who do hand work create some enchanting results and we all regard them highly. I now own two lovely Sarah Raynor pots, and enjoying the pots is a hobby too. I also have some lovely molded work, which is both sublime and masterfully finished. They each have value... it is how the pot speaks to you, and not the tools that went into its making, that really count.

Some potters don't believe that buying pre-mixed clay is the mark of a true potter. Some only formulate their own glazes from the basic ingredients. Some use pug mills to mix and reclaim their clay, some use their students. Big gas kilns use safety shut off valves to keep them from blowing up if the flame goes out.

Tools are the way we achieve our ends, and it is the user of the tool in whose hand the success or failure of the work lies. An eye for form and color, for shape and style, is the most important part of making functional ware. Nothing... no tool, no book, no elaborate set up.... can make up for a lack of eye.

Cheer of the Season to you and yours....

Joanie

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