ZAN Ceramics Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 My glaze testing process: I was fortunate enough to have taken an in-person glaze workshop with Ian Currie when he was alive. It was an incredible eye-opener for me back then. I then proceeded to make a zillion of his style glaze tile grids. I still I use the my old Ian Currie glaze tile grids in another way now to test all my glazes on both white and buff colored clay. I think it’s just as important to create a log or record to cross-reference it all. I use an underglaze pencil to write the firing date and the tile number directly on the clay tile grid, believe me, it comes in handy years later! I wish I had done this years ago instead of having to retest the older ones now! I test a lot. Last year I did my own version of a “glaze workshopâ€, (with myself, in my studio) – using tons of recipes I liked and collected from my favorites like: Virginia Scotchie, John Britt, James Lovera, Lana Wilson, etc. I’m STILL trying to get a good crater glaze with big crater homes, so some of these tests pics are those. From the 90 glaze tests, I ended up with 8 new final glazes. I’m picky, what can I say. Here’s my process (with pics) in case the little details are helpful to anyone: 1) I make the small test amounts in labeled (w/ Sharpie pen) plastic cups Label with: — Glaze reference number cup #83 V5 — Glaze name (this refers to the glaze recipe origins) — Cone ^ #6 2) On the Ian Currie style glaze grid tile I write: — May 2017 ^6 Tile #7 (important when you have a lot - and over the years you will!) 3) Then in my cross-reference notebook I write: — May 2017 ^6 Tile #7 — Grid space numbers 13-14 — Glaze cup #83 V5 ( — Glaze name (this refers to the glaze recipe origins) (the actual glaze recipe is in another part of the notebook or in a book, in which case I ref the book and page number) 4) After the firing tests yield the results: — I take a photo of the glaze tile — I write all my notes for that glaze test — I add these print-outs to a physical notebook that I keep in the studio (I have digital files too but don’t usually feel like referencing digital when my hands are in clay) — even the glazes that I do not like are important to carefully note, because years later I may use it and test in a different direction, these are sometime the most valuable ones! — If it’s a good test, I make it one of “my†glazes and name it how I want — add the recipe to my card file/digital files (with reference of where the recipe originated from) — make a big bucket of my new glaze! 5) I continue to test versions, V2, V3 etc… on smaller test tile pieces until I get the result I like or interesting combo results over other glazes and underglazes. 3a)Glaze.test.ref.notes.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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