I had somewhat foolishly combined together two claybodies (different types of clay) before throwing these bowls. Normally this is not an issue for cheap low-fire earthenware clay types used in an elementary school classroom. As long as the clay fires at the same temperature range then it’s all the same for making little ceramic ghosts or rattles. But I was trying to do something a little more sophisticated. I didn’t thoroughly mix together these two claybodies. Instead, I wedged them together, like kneading dough. Wedging is what you do to prepare the clay for the wheel. You not only squeeze any air trapped inside the clay out, but you also align the clay particles in a spiral, which aids in throwing as well as drying. Wedging is an effective way of mixing claybodies too. But I suck at wedging, always have.

The two claybodies look almost identical, but they have slightly different properties. One is more plastic, able to be pulled and stretched slightly further without cracking. The other is slightly stickier, forming strong connections with conjoined pieces as it dries. They both fire to a pinkish white ceramic. So when I spiral wedged these clays together the resulting ceramic had an imperceptible banded pattern throughout the bowls. The two claybodies also have slightly different porosity, which eventually affected the glazing process. 

Pictured: The blue glaze on this bowl absorbed more readily into the more porous ceramic, creating bands of thin, white glaze.

Never being a fan of that ugly pinkish white color, I re-fired the bowls to cone 05 (~1030C) at a slower firing rate to drive out some more of that pink. It worked alright. This additional firing also burned off a layer of dust that had accumulated on the vessels since this fall. It’s crucial to remove dust from pieces before glazing as well, though re-firing is a bit of overkill for that. I put the bowls in my kiln with a load of student projects though. 

Pictured: Ceramic tiles for testing glaze combinations. On the left are two “frankenglazes”. On the right are three separate glaze combinations.

On to glazing. You can think of glazing like applying a thin layer of glass onto ceramic. I often tell my students that ceramic is waterproof, but glaze is water-tight. I tested several combinations of glazes and applied them with blushes on a banding wheel. I simply do not have the resources or space to justify creating my own glazes or the quantity to dunk my pieces. I instead brushed on commercial glazes onto the surface. In college, pouring and dunking pieces and creating my own glazes was like my thing. I ruined a kiln self one time trying to make a crystalline glaze. The chemistry and precision and controlled chaos is what attracts me to ceramics still. It’s been a long time since I’d brushed glazes onto a piece like this. Even if you think you have good application, brushes can hide unevenness.

Pictured: A ring of dark brown glaze quickly fades into lighter brown below it, created by differences in the number of coats.

The glazes I have access to are low-fire and very bright. They are friendly for beginners. I attempted to mute the vibrancy of the colors by mixing complements and layering coats. To varying levels of success. The resulting palette of the bowls also benefitted from a “frankenglaze” concoction I’ve accumulated over the year as students use up jars of different glazes. The test tiles pictured here were my attempts at mixing and laying different glazes. I do think I should have stuck with the middle dark slate color I created, as it has a subtle mottling that I really like, but I wanted each bowl to have its own character. I originally wanted to create a speckled blueish green (like a variegated blue), but couldn’t quite get that to happen without ordering some different fluxes and oxides. 

In my opinion the ramekin on the left is the best overall, but I’m not wild about the brilliant orange that has shown through on the rim. I love the maroon red of the middle one, but the inside has many flecks of glaze that were not properly mixed. The blue one on the right has a lovely swirl on the inside. However the outside clearly shows the different porosities of the two claybodies I wedged together, evidenced by the banding. 

I also wish these glaze were thicker and more opaque. Although I do like seeing the glazes break clear over the subtle texture on the surface of the bowls.

I’ve honestly not had time to throw many since. I need to get a better workflow in my classroom to do more, but the school year is almost over. I’m already packing everything up. Second semester goes fast, loading and unloading and reloading and unreloading my kiln multiple times a week. Maybe next year I will throw more next year between hand building extra projects for kids who were absent on during their clay lessons. Depends on what I want to focus on teaching next year. I’m notorious in my district for amassing a lot of clay and actually doing ceramics justice. But recent changes in my district have changed how supplies are purchased for the art program. I may have to part with a good portion of my accrued clay to help out other schools. 

Which is fine. Ceramics should be experienced by all. It is archival and enduring. A ceramic pitch pot will last long after the five-year-old who made it grows old and dies. It’ll last thousands of years. If I don’t get to make some bowls next year because I have to share supplies, I don’t care. Just as long as more kids get to experience one of the most foundational mediums of our shared humanity. In myths and legends, humans are formed from clay. What other mediums can we claim to vitrify? To literally make true?