TO ALBANY AND BACK

I am currently making up a large number of tests which includes an ash line blend trying to combine my old ash glaze with several glazes I am currently using as well as several  glazes empirically formulated to be equivalent to Albany slip formulas. As for the ash glaze, I am using one of the first recipes I ever used, a dependable formula that works in solo or combo glaze applications; the purpose of these tests is to try to introduce it in varying percentages in to formulas that use other existing glazes I currently have in rotation. Over the years I have had some great results by combing two glazes into one formula and am hoping to get a few results that at the very least show some promise or potential. In regards to the Albany tests, though I have been able to squirrel away a nice supply of the material, I am constantly working on glazes that exhibit the same results and surfaces without using the nearly irreplaceable chemical. Over the years I have had varied results and the glazes made out of my terra cotta body with various additions has come the closest to the result I am after with each series of tests and alterations I get closer to the "end result". Always testing, I doubt I can leave things well enough alone and hopefully this series of ash and Albany-esque tests will be reason enough for all the effort.

Illustrated is an Albany celadon teabowl with a brushed slip surface and stamps placed at four points of the bowl. The rich glaze pools and presents as a dark glass on the lip and the base just prior to the bowl form tapering down to the foot. The richness and visual depth of these glazes made Albany slip one of the greatest materials I have ever worked with along with spodumene and lepidolite. With any luck and lots of testing I will be able to recreate this glaze without using the material itself and if all else fails, I have the actual chemical to fall back on.