Glaze Workshop Results

My head is still spinning with ideas after the glaze workshop I took with John Britt last week. He has a fantastic new studio near Penland in Bakersville, NC that was built with classroom use in mind. The class was pleasently casual and extremely informative. John is a walking encyclopedia! And he's hysterical!

[John looking over notes for the triaxial glaze blend we did.]

Before this class, my glaze knowledge was very limited. Though I mixed my own glazes, I bacically could only follow the recipe. If anything went wrong, I had no idea why or how to fix it. It was like baking a cake without know what flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda were.

Call me a dork, but I found glaze chemistry fun! It has been years since I looked at a periodic table or thought about chemical formulas. But John made it both easy to understand and practical - explaining how it was relavant to ceramics and glazes. I learned even more than I expected to! Though it will be quite some time before I'm able to recall or recite all the information with ease.

[Tiles from the ^10 gas reduction. A line blend with increasing amounts of iron oxide, and a base glaze with various oxides and stains in the back.]

Because our class was small, we were able to focus specifically on the areas that interested in us. We fired both a ^10 gas reduction kiln and a low fire ^04 electric kiln. So, we got quite the range of glazes. I cant wait to incorporate some of these crunchy, crawly textures into my work!

[Some of the ^04 glaze tests that will be making their way into my work.]

Since then, I've literally been dreaming about glazes. Last night I imagined I mixed the most beautiful terra sigillata! I cant wait to get back into the studio and try out some more of these ideas.

I stayed with my good friend and pottery Joy Tanner while I was in North Carolina. We had a great visit - up late talking and laughing every night! Thank you Joy!

[Friends and potters Joy Tanner and Will Baker. We hiked up near Roan Mountain Friday night after class and watched the sunset. Perfect ending to a great week!]

I'll be in Atlanta this week with family before heading back up to Asheville for the Studio Stroll.

Be back when I can! Thanks for stopping in!

Best,
Meagan
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