Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Teapot by Pete Pinnell. Wheel-thrown and altered stoneware with weathered bronze glaze, fired in an electric kiln to cone 6.
A third thing you can do is apply the
glaze in the way that shows it at its
best. If the glaze looks best when
applied very evenly (like a celadon,
for instance) then you many need
to mix a larger batch of the glaze so
your pot can be glazed by dipping. If
droplets of the glaze look best then
you might want to experiment with
dripping the glaze on or even flinging
it on in handfuls. Remember: the
best way to apply a glaze is in the
way that gives the best result.
Sometimes the secret to glaze
application may be more subtle. At
an earlier time in my career I used
a lot of cone 10 reduction copper
red glazes, which tend to be quite
runny. Despite their tendency to
run, I wanted to apply these glazes
all the way down to the foot so
that I wouldn’t have a white foot
showing below the red glaze. After
a lot of testing, I found that the
best way was to dip the pot while
holding it straight upside down.
That way, the top entered the bucket
of glaze first and departed it last,
resulting in an application of glaze
that was thickest at the top of the
pot and thinnest at the bottom.
During the firing, the glaze would
move downward, resulting in a
fired glaze that appeared to be all
the same thickness. When I got it
just right, the glaze would cover all
but the bottom eighth of an inch,
yet (most of the time) not run off
the pot.
Speaking of glaze thickness, the
application of glaze also plays a
CLAYTIMES·COM n 20TH ANNIVERSARY • AUTUMN / WINTER 2015
the surface of the pot underneath
the glaze. A closer look will often
reveal that the glaze looks best
over certain parts of the pot. What
were those? It may be where the
glaze breaks over an edge, pools in
a depression, thins out over a bulge,
or collects in a droplet. Whatever it
is, finding the spot where the glaze
looks best will provide you with
some clues as to how to treat the
surface of the clay as well as how to
best apply the glaze.
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