Glazing Porcelain

Glazing methods for fine porcelain by Sandra Black

In July '97 I attended for two weeks an International Summer School for the Arts at Lester B Pearson College of the Pacific, Metchosin, British Colombia in Canada. Robin Hopper had promoted this school on his visit to Australia in 1996. I enrolled in the course in exchange for running a weekend porcelain workshop. The College is sited on Pedder Bay Inlet creating a picturesque harbour and refuge for seals, deer and other wildlife including the racoon that climbed through my bedroom window in the middle of the night!

It is some distance from the city of Victoria and close to Metchosin where Robin Hopper and his wife Judy Dyelle have their studio gallery and a most extraordinarily beautiful garden.

The Summer School has a broad range of courses covering poetry, photography, sculpture, brushwork, printmaking, life drawing, watercolour, painting, quiltmaking, colour theory and some different ceramic courses. A total of 25 courses were run with around 200 people staying in College accomodation. All meals were provided which made for a very convivial atmosphere. At night there were slide presentations, films, talks etc.

At the time of my enrolment in Robin's course I was interested in Cone 6 glazes fired in an electric kiln. Participants had to indicate their area of interest some months beforehand so Robin could prepare individual programs for each workshop participant. Some 16 people had enrolled and were split into two groups, one working in low and midfire glazes and the others into high fire reduction glazes. Students came from Canada and USA - I was the only Australian and made a great fuss of.

Classes ran from 9am - 4pm but studios were open until midnight which most of us took advantage of. Workbooks were handed out and included individual programs for each participant and glaze testing procedures. We had copies of others programs for cross reference.

I had 15 base glazes with various additions to test. With all the variations over 1500 combinations could have been made but I only got through around 700 tiles. Many students got through lots more tests and our final day between 16,000-17,000 tests were displayed.

For information about the Summer School contact : Robin Hopper c/- Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts Lester B Pearson College of the Pacific RR#1, Victoria, British Colombia V9B 5T7 CANADA Fax: 1-250-3912412 email: admin@pearsoncollege.vwc.ca

 

(continued) As a period of intense research I found it both exhausting and incredibly rewarding. It's not often that one can take time out just to experiment without the usual home distractions. Strong commeraderie and friendships developed that have continued plus a methodology for rapid glaze testing that has assisted me in ongoing research.

I used some of the cone 6 glazes developed by others in the course but after running a series of tests on matt glazes I moved on to highfire reduction celadons and crackles.

Have fun trying the glazes out. *

*More recipes and hints for glazing porcelain by Alistair Whyte, Aleida Pullar and Sandra Black included in the Dec issue of Pottery in Australia.

Pierced Bowls and tumblers with infill celadon glaze. Limoge Porcelain. Photograph by Victor France

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