Ellen Currans on tue 9 nov 04
Some of us are just glaze freaks!
We like tweaking the glazes we have and making better ones. It sounds to me
like Mel does lots of glaze testing - he just skips the 100 gram bit and goes
straight to larger amounts and puts them on bowls. My experience is that 8
out of 10 glaze tests don't quite make it. Why waste 8 bowls?
I test everything I find that sounds like it will work in my Cone 10, MFT
kiln firings, on the clay formula we have been mixing ourselves for 24 years, and
that will complement the functional, textured pots I make. It is not a big
deal. Mix it up with a Drink Mixer and pour it on broken bisque in several
thicknesses, and make three or four of each so you can put one in a cold part of
the kiln, one in the hot, and the second set in a second firing. Label each
on the back with the glaze number in RIO and keep good records in a notebook
so you can find the recipe card and the results when you need to. It is great
fun to open a kiln with about two dozen new glaze tests in it. Sometimes it
is just a matter of changing the oxides or amount of clay or feldspar in a
glaze I already use.
Sort through them, make notes in your notebooks, discard the absolutely awful
ones and store the possibles in boxes labeled by color or type. Start with
shoeboxes and get larger as needed.
When you find something you like, make a bigger batch of 1000 grams and put
it on pots, before you move on to buckets. It takes time to get a glaze just
right for your clay and firings.
When I feel the need to add to my glaze palette, I take down the box with
all the yellows or iron reds, and sort through them looking for the glaze that I
now see with different eyes. If you throw them out immediately or put them
on pots you sell, you have nothing to refer to. Sifting through them in a box
brings to mind combinations or changes that you wouldn't think of otherwise.
I actually only use about 5 basic glazes with 5 others for certain pots, but
the 10 I use have changed over the years as my work has changed and as the
market has changed.
Ellen Currans
Dundee, Oregon
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