Andie Carpenter on fri 10 nov 00
Since I posted my results with Laguna Pre-Mixed glazes at cone 6, I've
gotten almost 2 dozen requests that I post other bought glaze results to
the list. I'm going to post them in separate emails by brand, to keep
them shorter.
: ) Andie Carpenter
Handful of Earth Pottery
www.andie.net
-NOTE: These are my opinions, based on my firings to a hard cone 6 in
oxidation. Tested on Standard's 208 brown Stoneware, and Grolleg, where
noted.-
-OPULENCE GLAZES-
ALL of the Opulence glazes, in my experience, need to be sifted several
times, and often will settle into rock in the bottom of the bucket
within a day or two. Also, I both dip and brush, depending upon the
piece, and they don't often do very well when brushed.
Muted Gold: A nice, fuzzy, semi-matte brown, more cinnamon for me than
gold. Brushes okay, dips really well, a keeper.
Burgundy: Really nice true burgundy, but burns out completely clear at
cone 6, really best fired to cone 5 cone sitter. A big plus, though, is
that it stays pretty red if layered over another glaze, looks cool
splattered over the calico.
Grape: I never got anything but a lumpy mess. Not very true purple, just
horrible. Where do these glaze chemists buy their grapes, anyway? I've
yet to see a true, deep purple that really resembles the essence of
grape. Or maybe we just have mutant fruit out here by the ocean. Who
knows.
Real Teal: Good coverage, brushes & dips well, no lumpiness, dependable
color. However, the color is truly teal - and I'm personally not crazy
about it. But if I were into that greenish tinged blue teal, this would
be heaven. It's almost a persian blue - very bright, very teal.
Turquoise: I never got anything with this but a lumpy, globby, settled
out, baby blue. Hate hate hate this glaze.
Celadon: Again, never got anything but a globby mess. Also, not so much
celadon as a very light sage green. If I had the patience to sift and
sift and sift and mix and mix and mix, I might have kept this one, but
it wasn't worth the incredible amount of time it took to keep it in
suspension.
Dark Spruce Green: See celadon above, except the color is an awfully
happy crayola green to be called spruce.
Goldenrod: Gorgeous, very bright sunny yellow, but as with burgundy,
will burn out at cone 6. But if you fire to cone 5, this is an awesome,
good coverage, happy yellow, and it layers very well.
Antique Iron: I made this glaze work once, all opalescent and purple to
reddish to brown, but it never happened again. Now I get flat, matte
brown. Not my favorite, but a dependable ruddy brown.
Autumn Frost: Neither autumnal nor frosted, in my experience, but
instead a pinkish peachish globby mess. If this is "autumn frost", I'd
hate to see their version of, say, "winter snowstorm".
Calico: Not bad. Kind of a nude pantyhose color with a frosty shimmer to
it. Sometimes glossy, sometimes more matte, depending on where it is in
the kiln (hotter = glossier). Not my favorite color, but good coverage,
dependable, both brushes and dips okay. My best friend likes to call it
"naked lady glaze". This would probably be really cool on sculptural
pieces.
Blue Monday: This glaze, needs sifted, mixed, and then that process
repeated about four million times. If it is then applied within fifteen
minutes so the glaze doesn't settle out, and if it's the fifth Tuesday
of the month and a full moon and the stars are in the proper alignment
and you have good karma coming to you, well, then this is a stunning,
runny, glossy light to dark, deeply contrasted, perfect glaze. The rest
of the time, however, it is an ALMOST perfect blue with pinholes, big
drips on the kiln shelves, and weird lumps. I still have a big bag of
it, but quit testing it as my frustration level was causing me to think
evil thoughts about the glaze, the kiln, the pots, and the company that
makes the glaze, ruining any good karma I had saved up and thus assuring
that it will never work for me again. Good luck to you.
Sarah House on mon 13 nov 00
>Just to keep from discouraging anyone from testing them as well. My mother
>uses opulence glazes for all her tile work. She uses a white stoneware
>(somewhat yellow in ox) Wonder White from Highwater.
>
>She brushes everything and while i agree that they bruch pretty bad the
>addition of glycerine helps a lot. and they do settle a lot. but my mom is
>the kind of person who can remember to stir a little before every dip of
>the brush. As for colors with two exceptions Grape and Midnight blue (all
>the things andie said and more, bad application, settling, mega crawling).
>
>all the colors turn out much like the opulence color chart. (the old one,
>with fewer colors listed, the new one doesn't seem at all acurate) Antique
>iron has to be thicker than sometimes would be safe on a verticle form and
>Blue monday does have it's difficult days runny, pinholes. she hasn't tried
>the celedon yet. and autumn frost is a pretty nice one too see waht i said
>about antique iron
>
> But the main thing is she fires to a very hot cone 6 and hasn't had any
>colors fade out. So if you've already bought some don't dispair (yet). and
>if they've got a color you like try it! I think (not sure) they will send
>samples.
>
>Sarah
| |
|
