feathers on ceramics
Does anyone have any experience in using feathers on ceramics? I've been told that the effect is usually blurred unless the feather is stiff?
HI Myra, thanks for stopping by. Hope you will come back again and again......lol. It really is good to have you here.
My sister is the resident ceramic specialist. She does everything from making the model for molds, making molds, making 3d wall murals out of tiles, selling finished products,,,ect. ect. I'll ask her to come over here and see if she can't help K? It may be a day or so, before she can, cause she has a lot of orders to get out right now, but hang in there.....that's a very good question.....I'd like to hear the answer myself.
Sandy
Re: feathers on ceramics
Hi Sandy. I have to confess I don't do ceramics - I have potential customers that are asking me about the feathers. We have an emu farm. Any advice that your sister can pass on that I can pass on will be appreciated. What I have gleaned so far is that the feather is applied directly to the pot as it comes out of the kiln, it is sucked onto the pot and the as feather moves - towards the tip end, it blurs. Emu feathers are very flexible, the ones near the breast are very soft and the closer to the tail you get the more straw like they become. I am wondering if the stiffer, straw like feathers would do better. If they would be the ceramic feather of choice, I could separate them out for my ceramic and pottery customers the way I separate out the ones the fishermen like. Does your sister have a web site I could visit?
Re: feathers on ceramics
This isn't a technique I've ever used but I would imagine it depends one what the artist wants to do, as to how downy the feather should be.
I would offer 3 choices. Heavy, breast and down. I think you'll find a market for all. There are other techniques used in ceramics, that might need one weight while another uses another weight.
Re: feathers on ceramics
Hi Judy. Actually there is no down. Emu feathers have basically two feathers the same length coming out of one quill - which is why it should make an interesting design on pots. The smallest of these is aound an inch while tail feathers get up to 18 inches long. We sort out the "minnow" sizes (1 to 3 inches) for fishermen and earrings, then do the body feathers (3 to 13) and tail (up to 1 . What I am thinking is that I need to sort out the body feathers one step further for my ceramic customers and pull the stiffer, straw-like feathers out for them. I'm waiting to hear from someone I sent samples to - will report back to you guys.
On the eggs, yep - very large. The average emu egg is 10 to 12 times the size of a chicken egg.
Re: feathers on ceramics
well hi judy and sandy...
glad i stopped in here... judy has those great ceramics... i didn't know that you two were sisters.. cool... i am now going off to look at the mural done with tiles.. i Love ceramic tiles..
anyway thats the problem sandy, i get tripped off and forget how to get back here...LOL!!!!
blessings
raine
Grace teaches us in the midst of life's greatest comforts, to be willing to die, and in the midst of its greatest crosses, to be willing to live.
update on feathers
Ok, I am finally back with an update on using emu feathers on ceramics. This is all hearsay since I have no practical experience and am just repeating what my customers have told me.
First you have to understand that emu feathers are double-plumed, you basically have two feathers coming out of the same shaft. They are very flexible because of the overall "build" of the feather being different from goose, chicken, etc. Now, when the pot comes out of the oven, it is very hot. When the end of the feather is touched to it, it is sucked out of your hand and onto the pot. The ends of the feather will be blurred because of the motion at the end, but the first part of the feather will be very detailed. If you use a stiff feather, the detail will be better. Emu feathers have a straw-like feather on the tail, and these seem to be the best to use. Which is great for us farmers, because that is the feather that has in the past had fewer uses. Unfortunately, there are also fewer of them to sell, so for the potter who wants to use them, it's going to be harder to find. To the good though is the fact that they are usually packaged 50 to a bag, so that will take care of a lot of pots for the money.
Raku pottery only, as near as I can tell. I guess if you try to seal it with a glaze after applying, it will burn off or "wash" off?
Sandy, these pop-up windows are dreadful! I have 5 on my screen right now! I heard about a new free program to eliminate those, I'm going to check it out and provide the info to this group, if it pans out!
Edited by: Myra Charleston at: 8/3/02 8:39:55 am
....last count anyway!
. What I am thinking is that I need to sort out the body feathers one step further for my ceramic customers and pull the stiffer, straw-like feathers out for them. I'm waiting to hear from someone I sent samples to - will report back to you guys.
update on feathers
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