Cardinal Sin

One of the worst days of my teaching assignment at Sheridan is the day we end up in the glaze lab with hundreds of bisque fired pots wanting to be glazed. I tell them before they start making that they should know what glaze is going to be used before they make the pot. They can build in ridges for a glaze to pool or high points for a glaze to break, a smooth area for some brush work etc, etc. Well, it doesn't happen. They're still trying to center and pull up and bow out. They ain't there yet! So glazing day has them double dipping, splattering, putting shino over temmoku( shino first is the golden rule) and all kinds of horrid scenarios. The first kiln loads are wasters and lots of valuable learning takes place. Heck, I've learned more from my mistakes than my successes.
So Teach made some big tiles with no idea how he was going to glaze them- Cardinal sin according to Clennell. I scratched my butt, walked in circles for 2 hours and decided to spray them with laterite and then I applied a dry white crackle glaze. My thinking was landscape, snow and ice. We got the kiln loaded by 2pm and I'm firing it throughout the night. You'd think I was 27 again.
P.S Those sure are bad hats. You'd think being in Italy they'd wear Borsalino's.