I
will admit, I have been a bit busy and thus remiss in regards to getting some
overdue testing done. To that end, I was doing a line blend test a short while
back and at the extreme of the tests was an attractive, ever so slightly (!)
milky clear glaze that I have decided to act upon. Though this was an
unexpected outcome, I have wanted to work out a less shiny clear that had some
softness to its appearance and with any luck I can get there through this
formula with a few tweaks along the way. I sat down and threw a few small
teabowls and once tooled, I covered them in black and white slip to see how
these extremes look under the new glaze
though I am going to run more test pods through the upcoming glaze fire before
committing to making up 2000gr of the formula and the potential for just
ruining the small bowls. It strikes me how differently I work today as opposed
to the all in, devil may care attitude I had regarding the process when I
started. I guess that every kiln load of liver ware (supposed to have been
copper red), twister ware and other smashing failures reinforce the prudence,
patience and multi-phase testing process are the best course of action to save
time, energy, money and yes, even a few extra moments of sleep!
As you
can probably tell from the before and after photo, the test came out a bit more
milky (and blue) than expected. I think making up a small batch of this glaze
has paid off and I suspect I know exactly how to get it to where I want it in
the next glaze test. Simply put I will try two additional variations, one in
which the glaze is just used in a thinner consistency and the other in which I
alter the gerstley borate quantity. With any luck, I should get pretty close to
what I am after in the next round of testing.
"Cats have it all,
admiration, an endless sleep and company only when they want it." Rod McKuen
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