Creating my own glazes
I created three of my own glazes in an attempt to create a metal-like result for the base of my box
The results are a mixture of oxidation firings and reduction firings- The aim of this was to discover potential glazes for my set of boxes and to also see how some of the textural elements incorporated in the clay would work alongside certain glazes.
Olive wood ash glaze (glaze created following a recipe)
Recipe: Reduction firing recipe, cone 8, 1250’c
Wood Ash 38g
Potash Feldspar 30g
China Clay 20g
Flint 12g
Applied to three pots as one will have trans glaze and the other will have white glaze applied, whilst the last will have no additional glaze.
Pots all glazed ready for firing
I used a pre-mixed glaze from the university called Green Speckled Satin Matte and then I added Iron Oxide Yellow onto the textured areas
Fired at 1280’c in stoneware oxidisation firing- Unfortunately I fired the lid separately (Rookie error I know) and the sides of the box caved in slightly so the lid does not fit now…
This was in a stoneware reduction firing and it was Iron Oxide Yellow and Copper Carb with a white stoneware glaze- I liked the result.
I used the oxides as I wanted them to quickly sit in the marking of the leaves and texture. It’s turned out almost a murky brown so next time I would like to add more contrasting oxides to deepen the glaze.
This was my Bronze Glaze recipe and I love it!
It was exactly as I was hoping- it was in the reduction firing and I’m going to use this on the base of my first box.
This was the first pot I ever made on the wheel and I finally glazed it
It was in a pre-made university glaze called Satin Matte Off White and it went into the reduction firing.
This was my Olive Wood Ash glaze with no white or trans glaze. It was in the reduction firing. I really liked the result of this glaze and texture it provided, this would be a great glaze to use on my boxes.
These are my test tile results from the reduction firing. There’s a couple of areas that provide interest. The granular feldspar activated rather well in the reduction firing and surprisingly, the sawdust tiles came out really nice too. The glaze application could of been better thought out to really get some meaningful results.
The three glazes I made
Olive Wood Ash glaze (Recipe to the left)
Dry Metallic black/bronze glaze- Cone 8-10, 1260’c-1280’c
Red Clay 40g
Potash Feldspar 30g
Manganese oxide 26g
Copper Oxide 4g
Bronze Glaze- Cone 2-6 1160’c-1220’c (Earthenware)
Red Earthenware Clay 20
China Clay 10
Manganese oxide 60g
Copper Oxide 10g
The results of my textural elements applied on the surface (See previous blog post)
Black slip turned out more brown- could apply heavier next time, be more generous with transparent and white glaze as I could barely see a difference.
This were less informative than I imagined.
This was the Dry Metallic Black Glaze I made in a stoneware ox firing- I could have applied it thicker but I wasn’t sure how drippy the glaze was- There’s no trans or white glaze on here.
This slab box was glaze in an experimental way-
It was fully coated in the university Green/Black S/W oxide glaze and then
Side 1- White Glaze
Side 2- Copper Ox wash on top
Side 3- Trans glaze
Side 4- Iron ox red wash on top
Overall- I like the results, it will be a nice experiment to refer to for my boxes as the oxides would sink into the texture and the glaze would create a green/natural colour palette.
This was a university pre-made glaze called Azurite Glaze and it was in the reduction firing. Half of it was covered in trans glaze and the other was in white.
The results of the white glaze side are incredible- I loved the deep drippy blues running down the piece and i’ll definitely be incorporating that into my final box.
These pinch pots were also in the Satin Matte Off White and reduction firing.
This is also the Olive Wood Ash glaze but with a transparent glaze. I also really liked the result of this in the reduction firing.
This was the Olive Wood Ash Glaze with white glaze. It was also in the reduction firing and I don’t like the result of this. The white changed the colour of the glaze and turned it into an orange/brown.