58 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
cent qualities of other lustres. A dark lustre over a light 
one simply amounts to about the same thing as if there were 
nothing underneath, but the thin Hght ones bring out 
greater radiancy in the dark lustres. The darkest effects 
are secured by putting on several washes of black lustre, 
and one of ruby, of course with a separate firing for each 
color, or wash. Finish by a wash of yellow lustre over all. 
In striving for dark effects, do not think that thick washes 
of color will help you. If you have ever found a film over 
lustres you may know it results from having used lustres too 
heavily. A thick wash of yellow lustre becomes semi- 
opaque, while merely a thin wash beautifies it all. 
When lustres rest within a crevice heavily they will not 
craze like a color, but will peel off like flour, leaving white 
china. Repaint with a thin wash. 
Freak things appear in lustres that can be accounted for 
only by gases in the kiln, and sometimes they are highly 
artistic. They may be radiant bits of colour that we cannot 
duplicate or repeat. These I would keep and cherish. 
If everything goes wrong with the work, however, you can 
take it off with eraser, and take off all the extraordinary 
finger marks that in some way have appeared at the same 
time. Use the eraser instead of the deadly hydrofluoric. 
But perhaps they will generally go right. The first 
colors look crude, but fine finish works wonders. The 
lustres are a very fascinating element in mineral painting, 
both in the results and the pleasure of producing them. 
They should always be used in designs so they make contrasts 
with colors. Making' a much higher glaze than colors they 
need to be toned down. Colors or gold may be placed over 
fired or unfired lustres. This gives opportunity to im- 
prove upon the coloring. Opaque grounds may be put over 
lustres as well as if the china were white, as there is nothing 
in the lustres to absorb the pigments. 
Silver lustre, the only opaque one, is like platinum, of 
itself too cold, too dead in eft'ect to be desirable for china. 
Use it as a foundation color, and enhance its value by paint- 
ing over with some other color, ruby or dark green, and 
with a final wash of opal or yellow. That beautiful yet 
somewhat illusive thing — success — that we are so earnestly 
striving for, is possible even with lustres. They are not 
unreliable, but are whimsical enough to keep from being 
monotonous; while we work with them, cleanliness, avoid- 
ence of dust, quick drying, strong firing, and an artistic 
sense of their fitness, insure success with lustres. 
One reason why keramic workers have been so suc- 
cessful is that they have painted beautiful things, things 
that people want and that enter into their daily lives and 
make home beautiful. Lustres are beautiful in themselves, 
not a fad of the moment. Strong individuality may be 
developed in their use. We do not all want to decorate 
alike, nor to paint and design the same things. To succeed 
in art we must be ourselves, do what we feel compelled and 
inclined to do, what is in our heart to do, not being slav- 
ish followers of others. Let us study technique, and de- 
sign, then be ourselves in our own work. 
SUMMER SCHOOLS 
The River School at Washington 'sCrossing, New Jersey 
will be open from July 12 to August 18, under the instruc- 
tion of Richard Farley, painting; Myra Burr Fdson, design, 
and Charlotte Busck, applied design. 
The Summer School of arts and crafts at Port Sher- 
man, Lake Michigan, will be open from July 5 to August 
30. The instructors are Forrest Emerson Mason, Burton 
A. Marr, Judson Decker and Elizabeth Troeger. 
The Alfred Summer School of Pottery, Alfred, N. Y., 
will open July 5th and continue until August 15th, under 
the direction of Charles F. Binns. 
ROSE DESIGN FOR PLATE No. 2— MAUD MYERS 
Narrow gold band on edge of plate, pink rose and two of deeper tone, should be painted in for first fire; pink ones 
with Carnation; deeper ones with Rose and Roman Purple mixed, second fire, tint band with light green, give roses 
wash of rose, foliage delicate greens. 
