Playing with Glazes

FileMaker Pro - Glaze Database

Inquiry & Experimentation:
Another thing that I really enjoy experimenting with is glazes.  As I mentioned in the intro to this Blog, I began my Clay education working in a studio that fired Cone 10 Reduction (San Jose City College).  Since then I have been virtually obsessed with the results that can be achieved through different types of glazing processes.  When I started going to UC Berkeley, I learned that the studio only fired to cone 04 because the clay that they provided was a low fire clay.

When I started working with my own clays I chose cone 6 because most of the kilns at Cal are electric, and because it is more economical to fire cone 6 than cone 10.  I could also get the same type of clay, generally (B-Mix with sand) and the body was still really strong.  The only problem was that most cone 6 glazes couldn't do what reduction could do.  So I made it a mission of mine to find glazes that could replicate the cone 10 reduction results. I found some great recipes in books like: Mastering Cone 6 Glazes and Electric Firing (Both found at Clay Planet in Santa Clara). Although these books have provided me with some awesome glazes, some of which I have remade multiple times, I have still yet to find exact duplicates for some of my favorites: Copper Red being the main one. 

All of this testing and retesting, led to a stack of journals and sheets of paper full of glaze recipes. Some of them tested others left untested due to missing ingredients.  This in turn led to my Glaze Database....

Organization:
Last year, I got FileMaker Pro in order to organize my research for my Thesis.  Since then I have been virtually obsessed with database making.  the latest being a glaze database (above).  This database allowed me to be rid of the slips of paper and have all the recipes in one place, complete with images of the glaze tests and the last date that I mixed the glaze. I've only used it a hand full of times since its creation, but I'm pretty much loving it.  Then again I'm a nerd.  If you're a nerd too you should think about something like this for your glaze organization.