Introduction to glazing: half day course

This practical half day workshop will introduce students to the basics of applying glaze. Its ideal for those who've worked with clay a little before, but are wanting to have more consistent results with their glazing, or to feel more confident with using glaze. You will have a small selection of bisc fired pieces to work with (which we will make in advance for you - thrown and pressmoulded from different clay bodies with both smooth and textured surfaces). 

Using our stoneware glazes made in the studio, we will take you through the basics of different ways to apply glaze. You will learn how to better understand the glazes you are working with, thickness of application needed, how different clay bodies affect the colour, and how different forms impact what the glaze looks like and how it behaves in the kiln. We will cover using wax resist, oxides, underglaze pencils and crayons, and look at differences in matt, satin and glossy surfaces, and how glazes can interact. 

For those who are interested, and have a suitable space to do this, we can give you recipes to mix yourself and advise on equipment needed. We will also prepare some hand outs for you to take away. 

(Please note: this is not intended to be a glaze chemistry class, or how to mix glazes, but we can advise on where to get an online course for those who want a deeper dive!) 

We will show you examples of our own work, test pieces, and can discuss common glaze faults and how to minimize/prevent these. We can talk about test tiles and how to make the most of these, and also about making surfaces food safe where needed. 

Everything will be fired, ready to collect a few weeks later. We'll aim to photograph the pieces so all the students can see the groups finished results.