This past month I’ve focused alot of attention on testing glazes. I’m still not entirely comfortable with using colored glazes on my tiles and vessels. But this is the year of conquering my fears so I think it’s time to start addressing the issue.
My biggest problem with colored glazes is their unpredictable nature. This can sometimes lead to nice surprises but more often than not, I’ve been disappointed by them. The most common problem: they obscure details. When one has worked hours on carving or sculpting a piece, it’s a drag to see a glaze smother the effort.
The good news is that I’ve discovered a line of celadon glazes from Amaco http://www.amaco.com/t/glazes-and-underglazes/high-fire/celadons. I’m not sure how long these have been around but I wish that I’d known about them sooner. There are two things that I really like about these glazes. The first is that my favorite glaze (aside from clear) is Potter’s Choice Celadon PC-40. It’s the beautiful bluish green glaze that I use on most of my tiles in photographs. The reason I like it for my work is that it pools in lines, accentuating rather than obscuring detail. While I love the color of true celadon, I’m glad there are other color options that will give the same effect.
The second reason I like these glazes is that they’re mixable. This might not seem like a big deal but it really is. Mixing colors in most mediums is a fairly straight forward process. Not so with glazes. In the past, mixing two glazes would usually result in something completely unexpected and frequently undesired. Being able to blend colors, as well as, creating tints and shades is very exciting.