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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Glazes and Test Tiles


There are as many different feelings about glazes and glazing as there are clay artists and potters. Many go so far as to say they hate glazing. Others love the time spend delicately painting intricate patterns or dipping madly away. Some dislike the chemistry or testing and just want a 'proven' recipe while others are happy to put together a triaxial grid or use some other format for testing numerous combinations of chemicals.

I fit into the group that feels time in the hot garage painting and dipping glazes is not my favorite part of ceramics. That may have to do with living in South Florida where almost anytime of year is hot and humid in our garage. I do however enjoy studying the chemistry of glazing and wish I had more time to spend creating and testing glazes. I've kept many of the hundreds of test tiles I've done and without space to store them in the studio some of them created a unique installation sitting on a low side table in our dining room!
Yesterday I decided I need to mix some glazes and thought I'd test a few new ones. I picked out these reticulating glazes thinking they could be fun to use on some sculptural work. So once I get the garage cleaned up I should have room for a few more buckets of glaze. It always comes down to space and time!

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