Sunday, April 29, 2007

The REAL Blue

I've been experimenting with some blue color variations of the Waterfall Brown glaze. The recipe for this glaze is included in "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes" by John Hesselberth and Ron Roy. Like many other potters out there, I'm a big fan of this book.

The first tile, shown below, is what I used to call Waterfall Blue, since it had some lovely subtle blue tones, thanks to the Rutile.
Yesterday, while firing a load of glazed tiles, I mixed up a few small batches, trying to find a nice green that would go well with wood. I did a tri-axial blend with 3 oxides, and I think I may have been lucky enough to hit a home run. Now THAT'S what I call Waterfall Blue.
These samples are about 3 inches square, and since I place them on a pegboard display, I put a small hole in them for hanging.

Friday, April 13, 2007

More Tile Medallions

Sometimes I feel like Richard Dreyfuss in"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" when he loses his mind with his mashed potatoes. I've been working on these medallions so much, I'm seeing circles in my sleep. The glaze on this first medallion resembles granite, it's deep and gorgeous.



Although texture adds a wonderful dimension to these tiles, the glazes allow them to stand on their own. All of these glazes are based on the WaterFall Brown recipe in the book "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes" by John Hesselberth and Ron Roy. I've said it before- this book is worth every penny you spend on it.



All of these medallions are roughly 7-12" in diameter, and remarkably flat. I'm heading out to the woodshop now, to inlay one in a table that I'm making. I'll post pictures when it's finished.