Post #594442 by swizzle on Tue, Jun 21, 2011 6:20 AM

Thanks Wendy.

I only used the lead based glaze because red was requested, Beachbumz. I personally don't like red myself so i wont be using it again. However.....

I picked up another two mugs today and this first one has the same lead based red glaze. The friend this mug was going to wanted it in his football (Australian Rules) teams colours, which are red and black. He wanted the mug red on the inside and black on the outside with the red flowing over the top like lava. I was happy to try that effect but as he really wanted to drink out of the mug i told him i'd have to do it in the reverse so he could use it. I glazed the red within an inch from the top and then added the black drips. Unfortunately the red didn't work quite as i had hoped (see the brown mug with red inside above) and my teacher said that this particular glaze could behave strangely during firing depending on number of coats and heat of the kiln, but i think it came out great. It has ended up with a very unusual finish.

Although all my mugs so far have gone to friends and have been test vehicles for me to practice glazing and with different colours, this mug was a true experiment. When it was poured it was using the last of my slip and it didnt fill the spare so i had to keep tipping the mold over and pouring slip around the top. Although the mug ended up its full size it ended up very thin at the top. For that reason i decided to keep it for myself to play with and i added some clay to make his nose bigger (compare with above) and also some Fu Manchu style bits to his beard/goatee. I also played around with the glazing. Initially i had painted the eyebrows and goatee black ang glazed the blue over the top hoping that the black would show through. ( The teeth and eyes were done in white as you can tell.) When it was fired the black didn't work how i wanted at all so i reglazed it again, and touched up a few other areas at the same time, and had it refired. This is how it came out.

I have to say i dont love it, the blue is very patchy and has bled into the white and there are a few places it has actually gone a green metallic colour, but the marbling effect that occured with the black after being refired is quite interesting and given me something to play around with on some other test glazes.

During the week i also bought some powdered glaze i mixed with water myself so i can practise dip glazing. I'm hoping that, besides being quicker than brushing it on it will also give me a far more even and consistant finish, which is what i'm really after. The colour at the front is Italian Blue and it is the dip glaze. It is also a crackle effect glaze. The green at the back is a brush on glaze called Italian Green that i dipped also just to see how that worked in comparison. When i dipped the blue you could see it left a coating on my test piece with a noticable edge, (You should really be able to see that in the pictures) whereas the green appeared to soak in. It was actually really interesting. You can see the edge in the second pic also. The #1 signifies it was dipped once and the #2 twice.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these come out and will post pics when i have them.