When pottery is fired in the kiln potters often say ‘it’s now up the kiln gods’ for a reason. Glazes are made from chemicals. Each chemical has its job of allowing the glaze to melt on pottery in the high-temperature kiln, transforming it into beautiful colours. As a result, there is an endless choice of colours and textures of glazes available to potters.

I have my favourite glazes that I use a lot because I like how they behave on the surface of my pottery.

One of my favourite glazes has 3 colours – mint green with sandy brown and blue accents. Green is the prominent colour, most of the time. Occasionally the brown or blue upstage it and become the main colour. This glaze always turns out nice, but not always the same colour. Depending if I use white stoneware, brown clay, or porcelain it can affect the colour. My old kiln gets hotter in the center and top and cooler in the bottom and near the walls. The temperature difference can also affect what colour is prominent, as glazes melt at different temperatures.

Here are the varied ways this glaze turns out.

One time my mugs turned out a beautiful blue. Unfortunately, I have never been able to reproduce this colour. Maybe the clay body I used was porcelain which could have made the blue come out, but I’m not sure why. I want to try it on porcelain again, but I get sidetracked in my studio and forget to. It might also have turned blue according to where I placed it in the kiln or the batch of glaze I bought from my pottery supplier had more blue colourant in it. I might never know why my cups turned out blue instead of green.

The instructions to apply this glaze is to paint 3 coats on bisque ware. One time I was in a hurry and dipped my cups in the glaze instead of painting them. This could have been a disaster and turned out horrible. Always follow the instructions. Fortunately, it wasn’t a disaster, instead, brown became the prominent colour and it had a more mat than glossy finish. I wasn’t fond of the colour, therefore, I have never dipped them again. The cups have sold so someone liked them. Perhaps I’ll dip them another time, but probably not. If I don’t like it I don’t make it.

It is always nice to try new things, which is a blessing for potters. Do you like to experiment with new things, paint new art, create new recipes, make new wood projects or experiment with clay glazes? What is your passion? Let me know your happy experiments.

This pottery and more can be bought on my Etsy site. Click on the button below or message me.

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