All Things Glazes

Glazing is an often overlooked but essential part of the pottery journey. For some, a necessary evil, for others, the whole point of the exercise.

Glaze is alchemy, mixing chemical elements, minerals and metals to create a glassy impermeable coating for ceramics. A dizzying number of raw materials in the form of fluxes, silicas, alumina, oxides and opacifiers are available along with thousands of recipes to follow. In the face of this, your friendly potter must morph from Artist to Chemist, trade clay-smeared apron for white coat and respirator (these chemicals are pretty unpleasant) and go forth into the unknown. Gone momentarily is creative play, replaced by accurate measurements and detailed note taking.

There is no certainty in glaze production, each clay body, kiln, firing schedule and even tap water can alter an outcome. Kiln test firings often result in joy, surprise and disappointment in equal measure.