Pottery - Crafts

You can have your pieces fired at a low cost either by the school where you studied or by some professional potter who has a large kiln. There is one difficulty, however, in having one of your pieces fired with a number of others. Different glazes require different firing temperatures. Twenty pieces of pottery may require a wide range of temperatures in order to produce the best results. In a mass firing of this sort, the kiln man has no choice but to strike an average that will be too cool for some pieces and too hot for others. The result may be that your pottery comes out a somewhat different color than you wanted, and the glaze may be entirely unsatisfactory.

The books on glazes will give you a wide variety of colors to choose from. But much of the fun of pottery-making comes from experimenting with your own formulae. Experienced potters, both amateurs and professionals, will give you general advice about mixing glazes. It seems to be an idiosyncrasy of potters, however, to be highly secretive about their pet formulae whenever they believe they have created something that is unique. A professional may be willing to glaze one of your creations with one of his secret formulae and bake it for you, but he will never tell you how the glaze was made.

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