For potters, prepared glazes are starting to hurt control and independence. Many potters are losing very basic abilities and concepts. Some potters are unaware of even what weighing out a glaze is! Some do not know how to recalculate a recipe total! Or even what a gram or milliliter are. Or the purpose of ceramic materials like a frits, feldspars, kaolins, or silica. Or even where to buy them? Or the difference between a suspension and a solution. Or what specific gravity and viscosity are. Is this a trend we want?

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.
Yes. In this case, the entire outside and inside of the mug need an evenly applied coat of glaze. For hobby, this makes sense. But in production, cover brushing makes less sense. The right pail has 2 gallons of G2934Y base (the most expensive one we use) with 10% Cerdec yellow stain: $135 (in 2023). Cost of brushing jars with the same amount: $600+! And each jar logs 10-15 minutes of painting time plus waiting between coats. The one in the pail is a true dipping glaze (unlike many commercial dipping versions that dry slowly and drip-drip-drip). This one dries immediately after dipping in a perfectly even layer (if mixed as a thixotropic slurry).
Veteran potters never thought they would see the time when people would have never learned or even seen how to weigh out and slurry up a glaze. But it has happened!
| Articles |
What is the Glaze Dragon?
At Digitalfire we use a Dragon to personify the kinds of thinking that prevent potters, educators and technicians from understanding and therefore controlling their ceramic glazes. |
![]() PayPal | No tracking, No ads, No paywall, No transient content! Just organized, concise information constantly updated and improved. Was this helpful? Consider supporting me. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk