Finding My Colour, August 2021
Finding My Colour, August 2021
In July of 2021, I taught a Beginners Glaze Workshop down in Sydney. During the course I had this realisation that I wasn’t quite happy with my current glazes ( is it something we can ever really be fully satisfied with, I think maybe not)!?
Upon my return, and unpacking yet another kiln which left me underwhelmed, I decided it was time to devote some of that hard learned knowledge and find some recipes which reflected the pots which I had swirling around in my imagination.
I fire a sweet little gas kiln to cone 10, in reduction. At the time I was using a celadon, a Nuka ( sort of a synthetic Nuka as there was no ash in it), and a traditional ash glaze. I had recently discovered the exciting world of rare earth oxides and was experimenting with Erbium, which makes a beautiful soft pink.
It seemed that although these glazes on their own were interesting, together they lacked cohesion. The tones and surfaces were very different. The one thing they did have in common was that they were all glossy. It felt like these glazes were handed down to me. In my past I spent a lot of time wood firing, using these traditional glazes. I never questioned them. I knew they were beautiful, elegant, spoke of history and tradition, but were they reflecting me as a potter?
I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think they were. It was time for a rethink.
A Nuka Glaze, fired in reduction to cone 10
An Erbium based glaze. I wanted these pieces to be pink and for the glaze to represent the quirkiness of the objects. Looking at these pieces I decided it was time to do some research and perhaps allocate time to redeveloping my glaze palette.
I began by gathering inspiration. Of course it all started on Pinterest (where a lot of ideas begin to take shape), and very quickly moved to my sketchbook, photographs, phrases and anything to get the juices flowing.
I started to question how my pots sat in the world, and how the surface can enhance their presence, their quirks, and ultimately me, the maker.
I was lucky enough to stumble upon Gwendolyn Yoppolo’s recent online glaze workshop, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, I purchased it. It was brilliant. She asked us to write down some words which captured what we were wanting to express through our glaze palette. This got me moving. Thank you Gwendolyn Yoppolo!
What I knew I was looking for:
Playful, Soft, Nostalgic, Fantastical, Whimsical
Surface variation, Suprise
Since I make a lot of sets, I wanted the colours to work together. This could be achieved by using a single base recipe throughout.
Matte buttery surfaces which were not reflective.
Food safe and durable.
I was already adding iron speckles into my clay body, so I knew I wanted a glaze which could enhance those.
Soft, muted colour palette. I wanted to explore colours but preferred them to be of quieter tones.
Glazes which can develop through different firing cycles (something I am very keen on at the moment).
A page from my notebook, thinking about colours.
It was very important that the glazes complemented each other - Nuka glaze and an Erbium gloss glaze.
Thanks to a super rainy weekend, I spent 2 solid days with my nose buried in my sketchbook, lots of chai, and many, many glaze recipes.
I kind of knew what I was looking for, and was beginning to recognise trends in glaze recipes which I was after. I had to keep in mind that my kiln is made from ceramic fibre, and cools down incredibly fast, I’m talking 6-7 hours. It’s wonderful when I’m doing everything last minute, but in terms of surface development, my glazes come out quite glossy with no sign of crystal development. I knew that if I wanted to begin exploring matte surfaces, I would probably need to downfire my kiln, holding it at around 1060-1100c for an hour or so (time to be tested). That prospect really excited me. It was a chance to play around with firing cycles and I felt up for the challenge.
Testing Base Glazes
I began by carefully selecting 3 base glazes.
I wanted to see how each base glaze would develop and respond to colour. In order to compare them, I needed to add the same colouring oxides to each base. I decided to test 2 colours to get a better idea. For example, below is how I organised the tests for Base Glaze A.
Base Glaze A
1A - Base glaze on its own
2A- Base glaze + cobalt and copper oxide = denim blue
3A - Base glaze + cobalt and copper oxide = lavender colour
Each base glaze had the same colouring oxides.
All tests were then fired to cone 10 in reduction:
Base Glaze A- Pretty, but way too glossy. They lack depth for me, and I didn't see much room to improve these with downfiring etc.
Recipe found on glazey.com
Base Glaze B- the one on the left looks almost like an ash glaze with the streakiness. These weren’t giving me the colours I wanted, although the green on the right is quite lovely and rich. They were nice and matte so this gave me hope that it was possible in my kiln.
Recipe found on glazey.com
Base glaze C- Matte, silky smooth surfaces. This is a calcium rich glaze the colour palette is quite muted.
Recipe taken from ‘The Potters Palette’ by Christine Constant and Steve Ogden. This was the very first glaze book I bought when I was at University. It was comforting to return to it for guidance.
It was amazing to be reminded of how the base glaze effects the colour so much. Little did I realise, the lovely lavender colour on the left would become a huge learning curve for me ( I’ll write this up in another blog, it’s to do with achieving even reduction in my kiln, sigh, golly golly gosh).
What came next?
I studied these results for a while, trying to imagine them on my pots. How do they catch the light, how do they feel in my hand, and how do they enhance the pot? I decided to go with Base C. I loved the smooth silky surface and the muted colour palette. They felt playful, yet sophisticated. When I looked very closely I could see tiny crystals so I hoped there would be room to try grow these through saturating the glaze and downfiring. This is something I am currently working on, so I’ll share more info when I have it.
Next I knew I needed to develop more colours. I wanted 4 colours, each one representing a season of the year and a season of my life. I am still developing this, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. I did a triaxial blend consisting of 45 tests, and from that I found the 4 glazes which currently make up my palette.
A Triaxial blend fired in Oxidation to Cone 10.
A close up of a super speckled mug with erbium added to my base glaze. I love this version of my pink!!
“Playful, Soft, Nostalgic, Fantastical, Whimsical”
I went on to develop a few more colours. I love how they look like one family. Soft, pastel colours creating delicious little cups.
Phew, I did it! I am so much happier with my colour palette then I was before. I love how the pots feel in my hands, how they play together. Taking the time out to explore this has opened up a lot of doors for myself. I am now taking on a project where I experiment with microcrystals and creating a varied surface, much like soda firing.
I’ll keep documenting and write up as I go :)
Much love,
Lucy be xxxooo