Traditional Glazing: David Fry explores ancient glazes of China, Japan & Korea

 

 

David Fry-Vase with a beautiful pale chun glaze and a splash of cooper red, with combed and drawing work beneath.

 Vase  with a beautiful pale chun glaze and a splash of copper red, with combed and drawing work beneath.

David Fry

 

For more than 37 years David Fry, has experimented with  recipies gleaned from the ancient glazing techniques  of the East. Combining extensive research and intuition he has successfully reproduced their form and styles. He has developed  a ‘Lang-Yao’ or  Flambé, a copper red glaze, a rich blue ‘Jun’, a green Celadon, and a Black ‘Tea Dust’ Tenmoku along with  Shino and Wood Ash glazes.

Using a 40 cu.ft gas fired kiln,  which he built himself,  his prime firing technique is “Reduction” firing. ie. he reduces the amount of oxygen entering the kiln and  introduces wood to to create a smokey atmosphere at the end of the firing process. All his glazes contain some wood ash, which are utilised to introduce Phosphorous and Calcium. ( absent form standard glaze materials.) This wood ash is obtained from burning recycled wood and hedge cuttings ( Wild Rose & Hawthorne ). Each pot is overlayed with up to 5 glazes to enhance their colour depth and variety of colour mixes.  The firing takes about 24 hours, where a temperauture of 1340C is reached , followed by a cooling stage of 48 hours. During the cooling stage , changes still occur in the colour tones of the glaze as the crystals oxidise. Some of his glazes have a crackle pattern within  the glaze structure, much loved by collectors of Oriental ceramics.

David claims that “my glazes or materials do not contain any toxic materials, and the  glazes have  a high percentage of Silica and Alumina being fired at high stoneware temperatures. The principle fluxing element in my glazes is Calcium combined with smaller amounts of Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium. Therefore my work is safe for the user, the maker, and the environment .The colours of my glazes come from very small amounts of copper and iron in the glaze mix – reduced copper turns red and iron blue/green.”

David Fry is currently based in a sudio at the new Arts Centre in Newcastle, Britain.  He is continuing his quest to discover more exciting colours and textures,  drawing his inspiration from the endless variety of unique outcomes he attains from his combination of glaze mixtures and firing methods.

 

ancient ceramic glazes by David Fry - copper red glaze overlaid with ash and iron.

8″ dia. jar , copper red glaze overlaid with ash and iron.

 

 

David-Fry-bowl polychrome glaze bowl

 Current work – David Fry

 

 

 

David-Fry-pottery pressed platter, with a gold Shino and copper red glaze.

14″ sq. pressed platter, with a gold Shino and copper red glaze.

David Fry

 

Selection of stoneware tiles by David Fry

Stoneware tiles –David Fry

 

 

 

shaped vase rich mix of wood ash and iron over a copper red glaze - David Fry

 Shaped vase 9″ high, in a rich mix of wood ash and iron over a copper red glaze – David Fry

 

 

 

Woodfired ceramic vessel by David Fry light olive green with orange motifsWoodfired ceramic vessel with twin handles – David Fry

 

 

 

 

Rolled and pressed clay dish with a rather nice chun and iron glaze by David Fry

 Square dish rolled and pressed clay with a rather nice chun and iron

 

 

 

David Fry polychrome glazed vessel - green, brown, red highlights

David Fry footed bowl

 

 

 

David Fry red Inglewood Jar

The Inglewood Jar. on display at Hutton in the Forest

 

 

 Jar with handles, with a copper red glaze overlaid with wood ash.

Jar with handles, with a copper red glaze overlaid with wood ash to get a nice run.

 

 

 

lavender and green colour glaze pencil pot - David Fry

Pencil Pot – David Fry

 

 

David Fry vase gold and orange glaze

Small bottle vase – David Fry

 

 

 

David-Fry jar

David Fry jar

 

 

twin handled vase with overlaid glaze by David Fry

Double handled vase with overlaid drip glaze – David Fry

 

 

 

glazed plate by David Fry with red-purple-blue and green glaze

Polychrome plate – David Fry

 

 

Square dish with abstract design by David Fry

Square dish – David Fry

 

 

photo-Chris Madge-with David Fry

David Fry having a sitting with Chris Madge

 

 

potfest2013

David Fry display at Potfest 2013

 

prague2010 David Fry red ceramic bottle with flared rim

 Red Ceramic bottle – David Fry

 

 

 

David-Fry-ceramic vase

 David Fry current work

 

 

 

david-fry-cup white with a blue rim and green and pink motif

David Fry footed cup, blue rim

 

 

rich glazed vase in red and blue- David Fry

 David Fry footed vase, UK

 

 

See more at www.davidfryceramics.com

1 Comment

  1. Vikas goel
    Posted March 26, 2017 at 5:01 am | Permalink

    Good morning
    I am vikas from india, I like your product and glaze , I want to meet u
    I am coming Tokyo 4th April
    How it’s possible
    Advise me

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