My Favourite Art Supplies – Adding the Flavour To The Fire

Glazes:

These were usually private mixes from the studios I worked in. I never asked for the recipes. When I graduated to the private studio, under the mentorship of porcelain master Marie Cote, I used her clear glaze as the base for all my experimentation and mixes. It was the most robust and versatile glaze available and allowed me to mix in pure pigments and metals without runoff or kiln incidents. Make sure to ask your local supplier for a stable clear glaze and play with it.

Mostly I mixed raw pigments, engobes, stains, and metals into my base glazes.

Stains, Engobes, & Underglazes:

Most of these come from Pottery Supply House, or Sial. This is where you need to play a little.

These are the ones I’ve played with the most to make my own:

6005 – Pigment – Crimson – 125gr:

6025 – Pigment – Coral Red -125gr:

6305 – Pigment – Teal Blue – 125gr:

6300 – Pigment – Mazerine Blue – 125gr:

6385 – Pigment – Pansy Purple – 125gr:

6464 – Pigment – Zirconium Yellow – 125gr:

K648 – Pigment – Dark Green:

H378 – Pigment – Amber: 

R140 – Pigment – Camel Brown:

431 – White – Opaque Stain:

454 – Rust – Opaque Stain: 

476 – Black – Opaque Stain:

475 – Charcoal – Opaque Stain:

953 – Bronze:

954 – Copper: 

956 – Silver: 

958 – Blue:

BLACK IRON OXIDE:

RED IRON OXIDE:

COPPER OXIDE:

CHROME OXIDE:

MANGANESE DIOXIDE:

You can play with Other Raw Pigments, but make sure you ask for what’s in them & if they can mix with your glazes. Certain minerals and metals will cause your glazes to crackle or drip off the surface during firing, and some may cause explosions.

Miscellaneous: I also mixed into my glazes and onto the surface of my clays, asphalt, beach sand, glass beads & marbles, good, silver, & copper wire, and a variety of metal dust. Some came from pottery supply houses, some from hardware stores, some simply found.

Warning: I don’t suggest you use any of these without supervision or the go-ahead from an experienced kiln technician or master potter. Some of these release gases in the kiln that causes other glazes to change color, drip off the pieces, and they may even explode in the kiln. I used my knowledge of chemical reactions combined with the careful study of firing mistakes to create my results. And, I always had the benefit of masters advising me on the potential dangers.