Saturday 15 June 2013

Musing About Glazing



I have a thing for glass. As a kid I even had a phase when I wanted to be a glassblower. I was so fascinated with the process of transforming the glowing mass of molten glass into beautiful vessels just by blowing air into it. 

I didn’t become a glassblower, but a potter instead. Still, I am dealing with some kind of glass when glazing the pots: Ceramic glazes include silica which is also the main substance of glass. In a few days I will be glazing the recently bisque fired pots. So, lately I was thinking a lot about different glazing possibilities. 

Glazing can be tricky. If you choose a wrong glaze you may aesthetically destroy the most beautiful vessel. However, sometimes a good choice of glaze can rescue a failed vessel. If you use transparent glaze, you are generally on a safe side. The transparent-glazed vessels retain the most of their origin look; somehow they are still naked, yet protected with the translucent layer of glaze. The transparent glaze is applied thinner than the coloured ones. Even though, the glaze is clear, any mistakes can be detected easily. For example, if you apply to much glaze, it may become milky. Here you can see it: 



Since I really like the smoky and opalescent look of it, this time I want to make a little experiment: I will apply the transparent glaze as thick as the bisque-ware can handle it. I am so curious if I can turn this accidental glazing mistake into something really spectacular. Wouldn’t it be great to achieve the depth and opalescence similar to this Art Nouveau beauty?