|
My pottery mostly
features pooled glazes. I found these almost by accident having
always been interested in glaze effects resulting from layering one or
more glazes on each other.
Pooled glazes are
sometimes called glazes on the edge. This is because they are
inherently unstable, their beautiful effects resulting from them
running down the surface of the pot. Often they pool in the
bottoms of bowls and other receptacles.
Traditionally pooled
glazes were thought to be of limited use because they are very
difficult to control on vertical surfaces. I have experimented
with my glazes in various combinations until I now know (most of the
time) how to judge their application just right.
Too thin and the pot
looks wishy washy and uninteresting. Too thick and
you are chipping the pot off the kiln shelf. A pot sitting at the
centre of a pool of glaze on a kiln shelf has a certain beauty, but is
of little practical use. Get it just right and the result is a
variegated glaze in vibrant colours that radiates a confident and
unmistakable quality.
Sometimes a pot will
have a few small globules of glaze intruding onto the foot ring.
This is inevitable using pooled glazes on vertical surfaces. If I
feel these are too intrusive I grind them back but often I just leave
them as signs of a process frozen in time. I regard them as marks
of a noble birth. They never detract from the integrity or the
beauty of the piece.
Download a pooled glaze wallpaper by clicking here.
|
