Along The Glazing Trail

My recent success with Daniel Rhodes' glaze #18 as a base with #15 as an overglaze has given me the courage to branch out and experiment. Am still trying to achieve red, orange and pink.

Also, i have a healthy respect for Alisa Clausen's work with glazes in Denmark. Her openness to share the results of her intensive research attests to her sterling character so much so that i would believe anything she says!

Thus recently (yesterday) spent the whole afternoon (6 hours) trying to combine some of the results of Alisa's research with the proven Rhodes' formula's to achieve different colors.

By 6:10pm, there were little dabs of glaze mixtures in marked containers all over the kitchen, with bags of oxides scattered on every counter surface and the inevitable dust and spills from mixing the stuff repositing on counters, floor, table tops and me!

And wouldn't you know, i was hungrier than sin! Cooking supper entailed quite a gymnastics feat, trying to move food directly from the fridge to the pan on the stove without allowing it to touch any surface. It was a first for me -- cutting meat -- literally 'in the air'!

All this to say: when working with copper greens, be aware that a "perfect" metallic celadon-type green will change color if it's refired !!!
Broke my heart.

Now many ceramic/potters test fire glaze colors on tiles. They run a line glaze to see what varying amounts of oxides will produce. Which is all fine and well if one has a use for tiles! However, at this point in time, i'd rather run a line test on bowls. Just think -- if i accidently obtain a spectacular color on a rather nice bowl -- i can sell the durn thing!

So far, that hasn't happened.

But it will !!! xxxx It will . . . . xxxx I'm just sure it will.

It nearly happened on the bowl below. The white and green contrasted nicely on the flute-rimmed bowl and were pleasing. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Except
The test colors on the flower and leaves lost color (and shading), becoming rather blah.
Decided to refire. (Cheated a bit here by using Duncan glazes on the flower.)

Why is it so hard to add shading with glazes? Even known colors (like Duncan) don't seem to blend at all nor create the subtleness of nature's harmonious soupçon of tonal variations. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


All this to say: a lovely green with even a hint of copper metallic will become mostly metallic-blackish when refired.
xxxxxxxxxxxx

OK. So the two bowls glazed yesterday are in the kiln today. If they are not "too horrid", i'll post the results either tomorrow or the day after.

Cheers
Chae