The glaze chemicals that I “inherited” when buying my gas kiln were in a variety of container and marked, but it was hard to work with them.
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So I put them in newer plastic containers and labeled them. So good! Now I could easily see what I had, didn’t have, and what I had to work with. Amazingly, I’ve had to buy only a few chemicals to mix the glazes I chose to try.
I also “inherited” lots of tools for mixing glazes. Great savings!
This is a view of the shelf with the 36 glazes that I decided to test.
All nice and clean and lined up!
I glazed the inside of some test bowls one colour each and the outside of the bowl another colour. Thinking this would give me a good idea of the way the glaze would “fit” the piece.
I’ve learned since doing this a couple of things:
1. Number each bowl
2. Take better notes on what you do to each bowl or test piece-exactly!
3. What “fits” on the inside isn’t necessarily what will “fit” on the outside.
4. The overlapping areas are sometimes the most interesting.
5. I must do more tests, on more pieces, do more overlapping, take better notes! and number each piece with info on the clay type as well!
After the glazing and firing, the buckets aren’t quite as pristine and clean, but what the heck!
I’ve done test tiles and attached them to most buckets. All in all, it was a great exercise. I’m learning more and more about glazes, mixing them and testing them. Onward and upward.
