Creating an Ash Glaze

To begin with I returned to the location where I dug my clay and gathered a bag full of fallen branches that appeared to be from the large oak tree that bridges the river. There wasn't enough time to let them dry out so it took a while to get the fire going, but eventually the wood stove got hot enough and they burnt really easily. Once the ashes cooled down I bagged them up and took them to college.




In the ceramics room, we referred to the cone list and this book to find a suitable recipe for the glaze, and worked out the measurements.



I had to sieve the ashes, first to remove the big chunks, then through a finer mesh to make a really clean powder, then all I had to do was measure out the other stuff and mix it together. It made a really nice grey glaze that dried out nicely after applying it to some earthenware test pieces and my clay bowl, but the colour it will be when it has been fired is a mystery which is really exciting.













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