Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Shine a light

Put up a video on YouTube here of me putting the 'roof' on one of my Chinese style lanterns.

I first started making these back in art school..They're based on an ancient Bizen piece I saw in a magazine in the Bill Robertson Library -  a six-sided slab piece with hand-cut designs, attached to a slab base with a wheel-thrown pagoda-style roof on top. Here's one of mine,  in red:

.And here it is at night with the candle lit:




Some of the geometric patterns were taken from a broadcast on China TV (like the one above) and others were based on swallows flying over foxgloves in the garden - something we see a lot of out here in in spring. Here's a photo of foxgloves from a summer or so ago, and the unglazed lantern beside it: 

3 comments:

Peter said...

I'm enjoying your blog! That is a nice red glaze on the lantern... do you remember what you used for that?
Thanks for mentioning the Potter's Co-op in the previous post, I really must do a blog page for the Co-op myself.

Danny Holland said...

Thanks Peter

Sorry for the delay getting back to you! That's a Copper Red reduction glaze - here's the recipe:

Dan's Copper Red

Aust. Potash Feldspar 78, Whiting 12.4, Frit 8, Tin Oxide 1, Copper Carb 0.3, Red Iron Oxide 0.3, Bentonite 3.

Results will vary depending on how you fire it though...

Cheers.

Peter said...

Hi Danny,

Thanks so much for the recipe,I'll give it a go next time I wood fire and let you know how I get on with it. It will be very interesting to see what it does in this kiln.

Best Wishes,

Peter