Testing, testing 1, 2, 3

I have this love/hate relationship with making my own glazes.
At the academy of fine arts, we used to make lots and lots of samples and while all I wanted to do was clay, we were 'forced' to make test tiles. Ugh!
I know it's a learning process that we had to go through but it is so time consuming that it kind of turned me off to make my own glaze. I never really intended to be an Alchemist and get to know the secret world of ingredients so it was more of a pest then a pleasure...
But when I set up my studio, I decided to buy all the ingredients so that I could experiment if I ever got the urge or need...


The urge is kind of a statement so lets just say that it's the need that calls for experimenting right now. I made these porcelain plates and glazed 'em with transparant glaze from the brand 'Welte'. Since I don't own a spraying room, I apply all of my glazes by hand which is rather time consuming but it also adds to the charm of the profession.
To cut a long story short: I really, really, really dislike the glaze I use. I have never managed to apply it evenly as it just sucks itself into the poreus bisquefired piece so quickly that I'm hardly ever satisfied with the result. No matter how thin I make it, it's horror!


So here is where the bare ingredients come in handy so that I can test and make my own transparant and more fluid glaze. I got out my glaze recipes from art school and sweet Anne also send me a few to try out. Thank you, Anne!


I need to be really organised and write down each and every recipe and number all the samples so that I know which recipe to use after they are fired. It's a chore but hopefully one with satisfaction in the end. *sigh*


The hardest part of making your own glaze is waiting for the fired results...
Even though I know they will all be transparant, it is still exciting as there are so many different kinds of transparant.
Besides, with one of the glazes, I used my gut feeling and changed the original recipe by replacing some ingredients and that is really triggering my curiousity.
I'll have to wait until thursday when I unload the kiln. The patience a ceramicist needs to have...

Oh puppies!

I bought this Dachshund cookie cutter a while back as I thought it was mighty cute.

I pressed it into clay slabs and fired them. When they were bisque fired, I applied happy colors of glaze to them. Guess what I exclaimed when I opened the kiln?

Oh, puppies! :)

I'm wondering if I should make brooches or magnets from these...
What would you prefer?

I love red!

My favorite color is without a doubt green. Mossy, lime, dark, light,... green makes me happy.
But I have a deep love for red too. Up until now, I have been searching for a nice red glaze and I have not been satisfied with the ones I bought in the past.
Red is a very difficult color to glaze in general so it's always a surprise when I make samples of a new red glaze. I was in for a nice surprise when I opened the kiln last week. I love this deep and dark red. Do you like it too?

How to make colored glaze?

The easiest way to get a glaze is buy a ready made one in your ceramic supply shop. For those who like to experiment a bit more, you can mix 'em yourself.
That's what I often do. It's a bit more work but it's cheaper and the surprise is bigger when you open the kiln! :)
I never tried to make a red glaze yet so I decided to try if it would work with red iron oxide.
Here is what you need:
Transparant glaze powder (also that you can make yourself but at the moment I use ready made), oxide/pigments/stains, a sieve with a very small mesh, water, containers with a tight lid, a protective mask, a brush, a spoon, some paper and a scale.I usually make small amounts so I can make a test tile first. Weigh 100gr of transparant glaze powder.
Then add pigments, body stains or oxides. All three have a different effect on the color. While the result of pigments or body stains are more obvious, the use of oxides is less predictable. So sample tiles are in order before making large amounts.
I usually take 3 or 5 grams to 100 grams of transparant glaze. For the red glaze I'm trying to make right now, I'm going to use red ironoxide and I take 10 grams to 100 grams of glaze because I'm afraid that I will get a pink result if I use less.
Put a piece of paper on your scale and weigh the pigment, body stain or oxide on the paper.
Then add the color to the glaze.
Add water & mix the glaze.
Then put the glaze through the sieve in a container. Using the sieve prevents lumps and makes sure that the color is mixed well with the glaze. I use my brush to push it through the sieve.
When you're done, write a label on your container so you know what you mixed.
Then make a sample tile and fire it. If it's too dark, add more glaze to it or a bit of tin oxide (which makes it lighter).
This is the result when it's fired... ouch, not quite what I had in mind! LOL
More experimenting is in order for sure! :)