My Favorite Glaze Recipes

Older test tiles for different soda fired glazes.

I am quite happy with the glazes I use. Of course, if you know any artist, anything we might be happy with tends to change quite frequently and dramatically. But for now these glazes are very satisfactory to me and their visual quality seems long-lived.

Keep in mind I fire in a hot cone 10 reduction atmosphere with iron-bearing clay...usually with lots of grog.

American Shino:

50 Nepheline Syenite

25 Ball Clay

25 Spodumene

0-2 Soda Ash

I formulated this glaze by studying quite a few American potters' shino recipes. I began by testing many recipes and noting both likes and dislikes of each glaze test. Noticing patterns, it became obvious to me that I really enjoyed a shino that included the ingredient Spodumene. BINGO! I also enjoy simple recipes with few ingredients the most, so the recipe came quite easily after the testing. Enjoy!

Notes:

• This is a cone 10 glaze that likes a hot firing.
• What I love about it: it fires from creamy white to dark orange, thick to thin; it pinholes beautifully where you trim; it has a wonderful feel; it doesn't crawl.
• What I am unsatisfied with: It crazes a bit too much; it is too shiny; it doesn't crawl :).

American Shino - One of my favorite bowls. 

American Shino - The variety of colors with this glaze are fantastic!
Creamy whites, dark oranges. Mmmmm!

American Shino - Notice the pinholes on the trimmed foot! Wowza!

American Shino - Finger swipes. Mountains and valleys. 

American Shino - More sexy pinholes!

Yellow Matte:

50 Nepheline Syenite

25 Epk

25 Whiting

As you can see, this is another simple recipe. It came from my love of Warren Mackenzie's Mackenzie Grey Matte that is so prevalent. I simply substituted ingredients and it came out so very differently it is another glaze entirely. 

Notes:

• This is a cone 10 reduction glaze
• What I love about it: The matte quality in this glaze is fantastic (if it works); the yellow color is also a very gorgeous soft earthy yellow; it fades to a black rocky color when thin.
• What I hate about it: The glaze settles VERY fast; the yellow color comes only if you're lucky; it tends to have a greenish hue; if you dip too thin it comes out a washed out stony black color that is very rough to the touch (but I sand it down and it is actually really nice after being sanded!); it is inconsistent as of yet...needs some tweaking.

Yellow Matte: The variety of colors with this cup are wonderful, albeit
difficult to see in this lighting.

Yellow Matte - The underside of the cup. I love feet :)

Yellow Matte - Notice how much drier this cup is compared to the top one.
I had to sand this cup heavily inside and out to make it good for use.

Mackenzie Grey:

50 Custer Feldspar

25 Whiting

25 EPK Kaolin

This is Warren Mackenzie's famous matte grey glaze. An excellent, simple, and beautiful recipe that I formulated my Matte Yellow glaze from.

Notes:

• Cone 10 reduction glaze
• What I love about it: The grey is variable from thick to thin, going from brown to red to greenish to grey and sometimes even a wonderful sea blue; it's a beautiful matte glaze that feels wonderful too; great for pouring over large pieces.
• What I don't like about it: Not very durable--metal marks from silverware, acidic drinks left inside overnight will etch the glaze; crazes

Mackenzie Grey - A thicker application with finger marks.

Mackenzie Grey - Very thinly applied with finger dipping marks. Notice the reds coming through!

Mackenzie Grey - This jar shows the glaze off really well. It has blues, greys, reds, browns and greens! 

Temmoku:

48.38 Custer Feldspar

20.14 Flint/Silica

11.64 Whiting

8.05 Red Iron Oxide

5.40 EPK Kaolin

2.24 Barium Carbonate

2.24 Zinc Oxide

This is a Bethel University classroom glaze graciously given to me by professor Kirk Freeman. Thanks Kirk! This temmoku is shiny and true black, and breaks to a beautiful coppery red/brown on edges and around handles. 

Notes:

• This is a cone 10 reduction glaze.
• I dip my mugs one time only but for 20 seconds each. This ensures a nice thick coating that is not globby and gives a fantastic color.
• What I love: The temmoku has a beautiful black color and the copper breaks are AMAZING; it doesn't run when you dip for 20 seconds, even at cone 10.5; it looks amazing with coffee inside a temmoku glazed mug.
• What I don't like: the dried raw glaze can easily transfer from your fingertips to a white glazed pot without you noticing, and then you have red fingerprints on white pieces. But that's about it!

Temmoku - Notice the wonderful coppery reds? Mmmmmm

Temmoku - Notice it outlines my signature stamp VERY well.

Temmoku - The blacks are deep with this glaze, my young padawan.

Chun Clear:

42.50 Custer Feldspar

26.55 Flint

8.85 Gerstley Borate

8.85 Dolomite

4.45 Barium Carbonate

2.65 Tin Oxide

1.75 EPK Kaolin

1.75 Zinc Oxide

This is a Bethel University class glaze graciously given to me by Kirk Freeman. Thanks Kirk!

A clear glaze with a slight blueish hue. Beautiful on porcelain and stoneware, but very different on both.

Notes:

• Cone 10 glaze reduction
• What I like: a beautiful glaze I love for porcelain mostly but can be really great with iron-rich clays too; crazes beautifully; very subtle and a lifetime of visual pleasure.
• What I don't like: sometimes it scums a little bit on the inside of cups or bowls. 

Chun Clear - Over a buff stoneware, works beautifully
with light surface decoration, in this case combing. 

Chun Clear - A slightly oxidized firing, this chun turned a
milky white on the right side. Over fireclay stoneware.

Chun Clear - Over a buff stoneware, notice the fine crazing.