Glaze Tests!

A couple of days ago I created some clay tiles in the ceramics workshop and had them fired shortly after. Some time later I then applied some Contem underglazes and stoneware glazes to my tiles. These were intended to be early glaze tests so that I could figure out what glazes I would like to put on my finished salt cellar. However, these glaze tests came out of the kiln far better than I could have ever expected!

Above are my first four test tiles that used four different Contem underglazes, (red, blue, yellow and purple) I wanted a red which was slightly more orange, and a brighter purple that was far closer to magenta but I have had to make do with the colours available to me in the workshop. If I had more time on this project I would definitely consider investing in some different glazes for my work. After applying the underglazes these were then finished with a transparent stoneware glaze.

Above is a second set of glazed tiles that I made. They use the same underglazes as the first set of tiles but feature a different glaze. Instead of applying a transparent stoneware glaze on top of the underglazes, I have applied a turquoise/red stoneware glaze. One way to dtell is that on these tiles the stone at the top has a turquoise tint to it that the previous tiles don't. I prefer the deeper colours that have been produced in this second batch of tiles and intend to use many of these combinations on my final work.

The yellow on the second batch oddly looks green and yellow at the same time, particularly as the finish is a little patchy. I think that while this was an unintended effect, it looks really effective and does match some of the colours found in Yuncheng Lake. I have tried to get as close as possible to many of the colours found in the lake but I have been limited by the colours available. I would like to try and mix some underglazes in the next couple of weeks if I can to try and get even closer to the original colours I was looking for, however it will all be dependant on how much time I have and how fast pieces are being fired in the workshop.

More to come on my salt cellar soon. I have also just started some work in the metal workshop. I am very excited to show what I have been up to!

- Samuel Sant