The Sixth Assignment

For the sixth assignment in my ceramics class, we worked on thrown and hand-built plates and platters. For these two, I used a wooden mold for the forms. I glazed them in Malcom’s Red Shino (the same glaze that is on the planter below) and fired them in the studio’s gas kiln. I’m not sure the red markings work with the shape of the plates, but the effect is wonderful. There is a lot of mystery to shino glazes. Depending on how the glaze is applied, dried and fired, the results can be extremely varied. In this case, once the plates were dipped in the glaze and just as the wet sheen disappeared, I brushed on wax resist where I wanted the deeper red to come through. The blackened areas are where the glaze trapped carbon during the firing. I’ve come to really love this glaze and have already made a batch for myself to use in my friend’s gas kiln over the summer. Next time I’ll give a little more thought to the design now that I know how this technique works. I have a feeling though, that the same results might be difficult to achieve in a different kiln, but it will still be fun trying.