Glaze, The amazing Glass

When silica melts,

it makes a glaze

"So what makes a glaze?"

you might ask

Silica melts near

3000 degrees.

Firing a kiln that hot

won't be a breeze.

So add a liitle flux

and you will see

silica melts sooner

and happy you'll be.

But molten silica

when it is hot

runs down the sides

and off of your pot!

So if you want

that that silica to stick,

Alumina is the one

that you should pick.

Silica plus alumina,

add in some flux,

getting the right ratio

is really the crux.

Silica makes glass,

alumina helps bond,

flux is a melter,

of these we are fond..

​These three things

will make a good glaze.

Get the right ratio,

and you'll be amazed.

By Chic Lotz

Chic's YouTube Video about applying glazes will give

you an idea of how much she can pack into a workshop:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3RSJcOfhw8 

Chic Lotz presented “What Makes A Glaze?” for teachers at NCECA (K-12 Forum) in 2007. She taught Glaze Basics for Developing Color and Surface at MISSA in Vancover, BC. in 2012 as well as at the Mendocino Art Center, the UC Davis Craft Center, Ruby’s in San Francisco, Alpha Fired Arts in Sacramento,the Sonoma Community Art Center, and at Clay Planet in Sunnyvale, CA. Her glaze articles have appeared in Clay Times, Pottery Making Illustrated, the Potter’s Council newsletter, the ACGA newsletter and the Oregon Potters Association newsletter. Chic has been teaching ceramics for 40 years and loves to make it easy to understand glazes.

​​Perform hands-on mixing and firing of simple line  blends to learn how to achieve different glaze surfaces and colors  for sculpture or dinnerware. ​

  •  Discover how ​ varying the ratios of 3 major glaze components     affects   stability, color, firing temperature, glaze fit and glaze surface.  

  •  Learn about each ingredient & its function in glaze,

  •  Discover where to find the 10 fluxing oxides & which one

     is needed to develop specific colors.

  •  Which ingredient can substitute for another.

  •  Develop glossy, matte and textured surfaces.

  •  Leartn to analyze, alter, + create your own  recipes.

  •  How to and bring ^10 glazes down to ^6.

  •  The difference between recipe %, weight %,  and the

      Unity Molecular Formula.

We will be firing  ^6 oxidation even tho the same basic glazes principles apply to ^10 reduction.    You'll leave the workshop organized and empowered to continue experimenting in your own studio.