Third Friday Commercial Glazes

Welcome to the Third Friday Glaze Post.

This month I'm continuing to pull glaze colors that compliment the seasonal Color Inspiration palettes from Brandi (see yesterday's August 2012 post).

BrandiGirlBlog: Wine In The Afternoon

BrandiGirlBlog: Birthday Palette

I love that Brandi's palettes give off vibes about the upcoming fall season here in the US.

Here are some Cone 4-6 glazes that I feel really reflect these palettes she has inspired us with:

Marsha Neal Studio Commercial Cone 5/6 Glaze Tests

When you are working with glazes - either a base recipe that you are adding oxides to and creating your own custom blend, or you are using or mixing commercial glazes - you are creating a palette for yourself to use in your work to help express your vision.

As a ceramic artist you can strive to master glazes which may give you consistent results so that you can carry out an idea that is in your head or you can just let go and go with your gut feeling for glazing your work.

Either way you could be extremely happy about how your work comes out, and try to achieve that again. Or you could be entirely disappointed.

I work all over that spectrum of creativity.

I do like to have some control over my understanding of glaze colors and how they should look when I brush them on (meaning puddling, not running - seeing the texture, not having it disappear).

I enjoy trying to mix glaze colors as you would paints.

Some can be mixed to create a lighter version of a glaze,

for example in my first set of glazes, the first two yellow glazes:

GLW21 (Georgies Raw Honey) was mixed with PG641 (Georgies White cloud) to get the pale yellow (my test #G27).

It is helpful to try to experiment like this - starting with a 1:1 ration of mixing glazes.

By changing the ratio of glaze color with just a few good colors and a nice white glaze to mix them with, you could come up with an entire glaze color palette that really works for you.

Technical Glaze Info:

Marsha's photo test tiles from Top 2 Photos

Top Row Left: MNS Test G27: PG641 + GLW21

Top Row Middle: GLW 21

Top Row Right: Coyote 032

Bottom Row Left: Coyote 061

Bottom Row Middle: MNS Test CT9: Coyote 74 + Coyote 43

Bottom Row Right: Coyote 047

Marsha's photo test tiles from Bottom 2 Photos
Top Row Left: Amaco PC59
Top Row Middle: Spectrum 1106
Top Row Right: Georgies GLW22
Bottom Row Left: MNS Test CT2: Coyote 74 + Coyote 61 + Coyote 33
Bottom Row Middle: MNS CT8: Coyote 74 + Coyote 44
Bottom Row Right: Coyote 25

Thank You Brandi for the color palette inspiration to try out some of these color combinations with glazes so that we can give those jewelry designers some great items to work with for their seasonal jewelry designs.

I look forward to seeing what our BOCPAT team members come up with for next week (August 23, 2012) reveal here on the BOC Blog.
Make sure you check back soon!

Commercial Cone 6 Glazes: July Pier Palette Inspiration

Welcome to the Third Friday Commercial Cone 6 Glaze Post.

For a bit, I'm going to be putting out color palettes of Cone 6 glazes that relate to the monthly Color Inspiration blog post created by Brandi Hussey of BrandyGirlBlog for our Beads of Clay group.

Next week, on Thursday (July 26, 2012) you can see a bunch of our Beads of Clay Professional Artist Team member items that also show off their interpretation of this monthly color palette.

Brandi Hussey's Pier Palette Color Palette.
This palette is our July 2012 Beads of Clay Color Inspiration Theme.

Although making your own glaze allows you to be a bit more in control of your glazes once you have mastered your recipe and understand how to change colors based on it (or other recipes you may have in your notebook), I prefer to start with commercially available glazes.

For my studio situation, what I create, and how I like to work - commercial glazes are ideal.

And besides - they have artists and chemists that do the base work, and test things out, then label them according to safety, handling, and firing instructions.

I like to mix, apply, and test by mixing and layering to see how I can get more from what comes out of that jar...

That is why I love to glaze.

I do not enjoy the actual measuring, and mixing of dry materials and figuring out the chemistry side of things (besides the cost and upkeep of all that dry material - just not my thing).

So from all the glaze testing I've been doing in the last few years, I grabbed some of my test tiles to come up with a palette of glazes that I have on hand, that I feel captures the overall feel of Brandi's Pier Palette Color Inspiration.

Marsha's color palette for BOC July 2012.

The Commercial Cone 6 glazes I used above are from Left to Right:

Georgies: PG607 (Nassau Blue)

Marsha's Test Mix: Coyote 74 +67 (Alabaster Satin + Light Blue Shino)

Marsha's Test Mix: Georgies PG624 + GLW08 (Ripe Apple Red + Copper Patina)

Coyote 25 (Yellow Orange)

Coyote 33 (Turquoise)

Marsha's Test Mix: Georgies PG641 + PG635 (White Cloud + Black Patent)

Going for matchy-matchy can be pretty hard to do with glazes.

But it is always interesting to see what you come up with.

Especially once you start mixing glazes to come up with cool new colors (I usually start with a 1:1 ration of the wet glaze out of the jar and go from there).

Every firing can be different due to a number of things:

Application of glazes.

Interaction of glaze with your clay body.

The way the glaze moves over your texture (or lack of texture).

The size of your kiln, the way your kiln fires, the atmosphere in your kiln, the barometric pressure outside, and so much more.

So after looking at Brandi's photo and going into the studio to pull out some test tiles to then go and glaze up some pieces so I can submit some for our BOCPAT follow up post next Thursday, I also decided that there were a few other colors I could pull from her image that I was drawn to in glazes that I really like to work with.

The first two rows are the same glazes in the photo above.

The third row shows:

Marsha's Mixture: Blue Brown Glaze (Coyote 42 + Coyote 43)

Clear glaze on porcelain to create "white".

And Georgies GLW47 (Kalamata Black).

I'm curious to see how I can work these colors into pieces that can be used as components for someone's finished jewelry project.

A similar summery beach palette was selected for the Beads of Clay Summer Design Challenge.

Make sure to check back here on July 26 to see what our BOCPAT members have to show off for this palette inspiration for your next project!

Commercial Glazes: Comparing Colors with Pantone Fall 2012

Welcome to my monthly post about Cone 6 Commercial Glazes!

Last month, I touched on some glazes that were in line with the Spring 2012 Pantone Fashion Color report. 

This month, I'm focusing some tests on the trending "Fall 2012 Pantone Fashion Color Report".

And just a reminder - these glaze colors do not match the Pantone colors exactly - because glazes aren't that consistent through the application and firing process, but rather, these are mostly glazes that I have on hand that I could grab and use and have some pieces that fit into these palettes to offer to my customers (handmade jewelry designers).

And it is fun to have something to focus on to come up with new color palettes.

Marsha Neal Studio Glaze Tests inspired by Pantone's Fall 2012 Fashion Color Report.

Reverse side of MNS Glaze Tests (with glaze codes).

Pantone Fall 2012 Color Names and Commercial Glaze Codes.

 So as I keep looking at glazes I have, and the pantone chart, then test new colors, then think about how things all relate - it all gets overwhelming...

But really - can one ever have enough glazes?!

Some Variations from new tests.

Summer 2012 Retail store mens t-shirts.

 And just the other day I had to run some errands, I decided to take a quick photo of the summer display of these colorful mens t-shirts that just jumped out to me as fitting the Pantone Summer into Fall 2012 fashion colors. Perfect timing!

Then as I was looking over the color I had picked out for Fall 2012, then changing some after I read the descriptive page from the Pantone Fall Fashion 2012 pdf I've got downloaded and put some of these color combinations together. 

Suggested Fall 2012 color combinations.

 And where does this lead me?

To lots of glaze tests...

Combining colors, layering, mixing, trying various things to see what colors I can get and how consistent the results are so I can update my website with color choices for my beads, pendants, buttons, cabs & shards.

And by the time I'm done - I've got a whole new color line.

Which just today I really realized - was really long overdue.

Which I am totally excited about getting things updated (only one more glaze firing to go!)

What new glaze projects are you working on?

Commercial Glazes: Comparing Colors with Pantone Spring 2012

Welcome to my monthly post about Cone 6 Commercial Glazes!

This month, I'm focussing some tests on the trending "Spring 2012 Pantone Fashion Color Report".

Not that these glaze colors match the Pantone colors exactly - because glazes aren't that consistent through the application and firing process, but rather, these are glazes that I have that I could grab and use and have some pieces that fit into these palettes to offer to my customers (handmade jewelry designers).

Marsha Neal Studio Pantone Spring 2012 Glaze Test - Front.

Marsha Neal Studio Pantone Spring 2012 Glaze Test - Back.

And for those of you that use Cone 4-6 Commercial Ceramic Glazes,

Here is a list of the colors that I picked because of the way they looked on my clay body.

Wonder how they would look on yours (or what glazes you have in your stash that are similar?)

Marsha Neal Studio Labeled Glaze Tests.

Some of these will be showing up in the Fall palette post.I sorted through all these glazes to get the final ones above.

Marsha Neal Studio Glaze Tests for Spring and Fall 2012.

I wanted to get down to just one of each color.

It's hard sometimes. Downright frustrating.

And trying to be exactly matching with ceramic glazes - ugh!

I would rather have palettes based on something than try to make them exact.

Marsha Neal Studio - First round of choices.

So I took my notebook, my test tiles, my scrapbook paper (my photo background), and my fast version of printed out Pantone color palettes and referenced my internet via phone for better color pictures to pick out the final pieces. Getting to the final stages was fun!

Marsha Neal Studio Getting set up for choosing palettes and photographing...

Fun because I was able to play here - in my studio with all kinds of glazes.

Something that my regular daily activity keeps me away from.

Glazes are picked based on thsese quick printouts from the Pantone Website.

It's good to have deadlines to work towards,

because being self employed - it makes you keep a schedule.

And look at all these great beads that were sorted and started to be glazed...

Marsha Neal Studio - The next step. Make work with these palettes in mind!

And now with this palette in mind - there will be some nice fresh colors added to my bead line.

Marsha Neal Studio Pantone Spring 2012 Color Choices.

So what glazes do you have that you find work in this palette?
Do you use glazes alone?
Do you mix some?
Use underglazes?
I'm curious to know...

I can't wait to show you the ones I picked out for the Fall palette!

What other kinds of things inspire you for picking out certain colors to glaze with?
See you in June!

Commercial Glazes: Coyote Shino Tests

Written by Marsha of Marsha Neal Studio

As I was working through some of my previous tests for this monthly glaze post, I thought I would give some of the Coyote Clay Shino glazes I had on hand a test.

This is one of my favorite color combinations:

Chocolate clay body (cone 4-6) with Coyote's #42 Shino (applied by dipping, then wiping off excess drips).

Marsha Neal Studio Chocolate Clay Donut Pendants in Shino Glaze

Marsha Neal Studio Textured Beads.
Chocolate + 042 Shino on Left. Porcelain + 042 Shino on Right.

Here is a quick photo mosaic that I created of the original test tile, and the sample bead sets that were all fired in the same kiln to Cone 5. 

The back of the test tile (the second set) is marked with the number code for the Coyote Glaze.

Marsha Neal Studio Cone 5 Glaze firing with Coyote Shino Glazes Test Results.

As usual, some of these tests need to have the glaze mixed more or applied a bit thicker for better results, but this gives an impression for a great starting point for some glazes that will give you great fall copper and rust with a flash of some other color - color tones to add to your glaze palette.

Commercial Glazes Cone 6 Tests Georgies Pt. 5

Welcome to the Third Friday Commercial Cone 6 glaze test post.

This is part 5 of testing some Georgies Glazes.

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here.

This 5th part is testing some combinations of the base glazes on beads instead of pendants.

This time in both a chocolate clay body and porcelain - fired Slow Glaze, Cone 5 in my L&L computerized and vented kiln.

I was pleasantly surprised at the way a lot of these glazes looked on the textured beads versus the textured pendant. This was also true for a few of the base glazes from Part 4 of this Georgies glaze series.

Maybe due to them being fired horizontally vs. vertically or the way the glazes puddled...

For "practical" applications with layering of glazes, it is easier to mix the glazes together ahead of time into one new glaze instead of painting on layers of the glazes in the mixture (which can give you uneven layers - but that might also be something you are looking for - so set a goal, and be ready for surprises).

"Practical" being that if you want a certain glaze color and you want to keep your production costs down you've got to speed up certain parts of your process so you can increase your profit margin, not your retail pricing.

Here are two photos of my test glaze notebook with the color combinations.

The test # is circled.

If you are mixing dry glazes or glaze materials from scratch, you can get a pretty consistent and precise measurement of how much of each glaze goes into the mixture.

However with mixing liquid glazes - it is a whole different ball game.

This is where knowing your glazes is important.

How thick or thin are they & what is the stage where they look best.

Is it a 1:1 ratio? or more like a 2:1 ratio?

Sometimes is matters a lot, other times, not so much - it all depends on the glaze and how much of a control freak you want to be with being able to reproduce consistent results.

Or if you have a customer that wants to order a lot of a particular color, and you are willing to take on the task.

How are you going to be able to provide consistent results?

I have lots of experience with this sort of thing from having online stores carry my pendants.

And let me tell you - it becomes "work" at that point. You take on "production" & those big wholesale customers usually want very consistent pieces because that is what their customers want - that piece that they see on their website. Every piece has got to be good enough, or they will return it.

That is a whole other topic though isn't it?

This photo shows the original #13 layered glaze test tile and the other two are results of two test mixing of the #13 test (PG624 + GLW08).

Left = Layered Test.
Middle = 2:1 ratio (2 of PG624 to 1 of GLW08).
Right = added more GLW08

What I did was mix a rough 2 to 1 ratio because I had been putting the PG624 on the piece first in 2 layers. Then the GLW08 on top of it in 1 layer. This result was too purple for what I was trying to achieve (but I ended up with a nice muted purple).

I wanted that green look closer to the test tile, so I added more of the GLW08 to that mixture and got too much green.

At this point, working with small mixtures, this glaze would become a OOAK color, and I would try again from scratch to see if I could get better results. I would also be happy with not offering this as a color to anyone that wanted it reproduced - it is what it is, get it on the pieces you see for sale or you might not see it again.

Do you like to mix glazes?

What kind of glaze projects are you working on?

Next month - I'm jumping over to some Coyote Cone 4-6 Shino Glaze Tests.

Commercial Glazes Cone 6 Tests Georgies Part 4

Welcome to the Third Friday Commercial Cone 6 glaze test post.

This is part 4 of testing some Georgies Glazes.

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

This 4th part is testing the base glazes on beads instead of pendants.

This time in both a chocolate clay body and porcelain - fired Slow Glaze, Cone 5 in my L&L computerized and vented kiln.

This is where I start to put glaze colors into my production line because I'm familiar enough with them to know if they are too thick, thin, need to be fired to Cone 6 or are better in the larger or smaller kiln.

It is a good place to be...

Marsha Neal Studio glaze testing underway.

Making sure to keep beads with their labeled test tiles.

Beads added to wires, put in a specific order (to make my life easier after the firing).

Labeled test tiles are put in the order of the beads in the tray.
Organization is helpful with this many tests.

Wires are laid out onto kiln posts in order.

View of kiln after the glaze firing.

Beads are removed in order and placed with their test tiles.
This was simple at this stage because I kept them all in order.
No second guessing glazes that are very similar.

Getting test tiles ready for photographing for this post.

And here are the results of the base glazes on a small chocolate clay bead and a larger porcelain bead:

Next month will be Part 5 showing the results of the combination of layered glazes.

Want those combinations? Check out my notebook from the bottom of the first post.

As always, work smart when handling glazes.

Wear gloves, particulate dust mask & safety glasses when necessary.

So what kind of glaze tests are you working on?

Commercial Glazes Cone 6 Tests Georgies Part 3

Welcome to the Third Friday Commercial Cone 6 glaze test post.

This is part 3 of testing some Georgies Glazes.

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

This third part is running the same tests, in my larger kiln, fired to Cone 5.

Left = Sm. Kiln Cone 5. Middle = Sm. Kiln Cone 6. Right = Lg. Kiln Cone 5.

The photo above shows the single glaze tests from the three different firings.

Below are the detail shots with the same firing arrangement:

Left = Sm. Kiln Cone 5. Middle = Sm. Kiln Cone 6. Right = Lg. Kiln Cone 5.

GLW03

GLW08

GLW10

GLW25

GLW41

GLW42

GLW46

PG614 

PG616

PG629

PG634

PG641

For some of these base glazes trying to mix them better and find the perfect brushing application stage seems to have helped. The larger kiln under computer controlled firing and slightly slower cooling (because of the general size difference) and the flow of oxygen (it is a direct vented kiln) during the firing allows for more glaze "frothiness" in puddling areas.

Left = Sm. Kiln Cone 5. Middle = Sm. Kiln Cone 6. Right = Lg. Kiln Cone 5.

For these above mixes there was some great stuff that came out of the large cone 5,

Let me show you...

Both on the white background and on my hand...

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

Test 4

Test 5

Test 6

Test 7

Test 8

Test 9

Test 10

Test 11

Test 12

Test 13

Want to see what glaze combinations I used for these tests?

Check out my previous post where you can see an image of my glaze test notebook.

As I continue to create these monthly blog posts on glaze testing, I'm curious about what you are up to in your studio and what kind of testing you are doing. Not only that, but I wonder what kinds of clay you are using, and how any similar tests might look on your clay body.

So I'm looking for a few BOC members to send me some Cone 6 clay bisque pieces,

(bisque fired to Cone 04). 

I will need to know what clay body you are using,

(manufacturer name and clay name or number, firing range). 

And I would like the test tiles to be of the same dimensions, 

(no larger than 1"wide x 1.75"long and no thicker than 4mm so they are light weight).

Also, the pieces will need to be suspended to be fired to be comparable to the tests here, so there will need to be a hole at least 2mm in diameter near the top of the piece.

I also prefer to have clay that has some sort of texture to it so you can see how the glaze breaks.

These pieces may be used in a future BOC blog post.

If you want them returned to you, you will need to pay postage & for any kind of insurance, etc.

If you are interested, email me: Marsha {at} MarshaNealStudio.com

*This is a limited offer*