It's true, you are not a "Real" potter unless you mix your own glazes! To also be considered a real potter you must: -Fire Cone 10 Reduction, in a wood kiln, you built yourself. - Mine and process your own clay by hand. - Craft your own clay working tools by hand. - Build your own wheel. Seriously though, I've had this discussion with other ceramic artists, and everyone has agreed, you can't do everything in the process, and still actually remain productive, as an artist. Yet. for some reason, there is that belief, that "Potters need to mix their own glaze!" "Potters only do high fire!" Yet for some reason, no one expects painters to make their own paint, or weave their own canvases. Ceramic artists mix their own glaze, or build their own kilns, because it can save money, it gives them more control, over the product, and they just enjoy those extra steps, that make them feel more connected to the work and resulting wares. I am personally looking in to mixing my own glazes. For me, it's the latter reason. It's something I've never done, and i am interested in trying it out... Also, I bought a book on the process, so I HAVE to do it now!...

@Wrufus_Wilmot

5 жыл бұрын

HAHAHA! Spot on. Which book did you get? I bought John Britt's Mid Range and High Fire books. Just started the High Fire.

@benpatterson4452

5 жыл бұрын

@@Wrufus_Wilmot I got "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes" a few years ago, and just ordered John Britt's, as I have been meaning to.

@Wrufus_Wilmot

5 жыл бұрын

Ben Patterson I have that as well👍🏼 Found the hardcover used for cheap. Britt is awesome. Lucky to come after him and all the others that have compiled so much material. Way easier to learn with all the resources at hand. Good luck!

@daleglenny1133

5 жыл бұрын

Ben Patterson I mix my own glazes purely from an economy perspective. I’d rather make than test glazes if I can.

@nyotauhura7412

5 жыл бұрын

there are people who are obsessed with the process rather than the results....or maybe just like to show off how "real" they are.

I am 63 and make no apology in purchasing commercial clay and glazes. The options out there are endless to give you the exact combination you are looking for. As for me, I have about 20 glazes (in my small one-woman studio) but usually gravitate to my favourite few. I am also experimenting with two different glazes in several combinations, most of which give amazing results. My next task is triple layers and drips !!!

I know more about maths than pottery so: If you have 15 glazes and use 3 glazes for each test there are 455 different possible combinations of glazes and 2730 total when considering the different orders! That would take a while to test!

@karencruz3522

5 жыл бұрын

15x14x13 = 2,730 three-glaze combos without repeats, x6 different possible orders for each three-glaze combo =16,380 not 2,730.

@TheCruzanqueen

5 жыл бұрын

I think Alice is right because if you calculate combinations using factorials you get 15 nCr 3 = 455 or you could write it as C(15,3)

@soreloser6018

4 жыл бұрын

Alice is right, 15x14x13 is correct the first layer has 15 possible colors the second has 14 possible colors and the third has 13 possible colors, This does not however take into account technique (how much is glazed on each dip) Or mixing colors. More interesting is how much space these test tiles take up. Assuming 4 sqin per tile for filing purposes, runs about 76 sqft. That's quite a bit of space.

@kalaivanankrishnamoorthy6361

3 жыл бұрын

when we talk about combinations, there is also proportions which actually decides the color. So its infinite.

I've been battling with this exact thing! I'm so glad you made a video about it and called out the haters. Not everyone has the time or resources to mix their own. There are so many commercial options. Thanks so much, Jon! You're the best.

@julipolito7761

5 жыл бұрын

northwesternbelle, so true!

@skeeterburke

3 жыл бұрын

i totally concur with him, trying to be a chemist takes time away from your art

@nikkithiduong6134

2 жыл бұрын

I do want to make my own recipe glaze

Testing glazes is so much fun! I had a studio a few years ago (moved since then so I'm currently working on building my next pottery studio) and I had a TON of fun making test tiles and testing all of my little glaze samples with different clays. I used an extruder to make tubes and hung them up on a peg-board. I probably went a little crazy with it :) It was like its own art piece!

Exciting, can wait to see the combinations! I’ve always used premixed commercial glazes. Thanks for what you said about not feeling like a “real potter” if you don’t mix your own, I feel like that at times 😑 but we ARE real potters!

Haha my son's hears the song and I hear his scream of excitement, he ran over and he is with me now watching 😆😆 lol. Would be cool if he wanted to get into pottery too! 👍

Preach it! Seriously, there are so many different aspects of pottery and everyone can have their own focus! Can't wait to see your combos.😁 Had to giggle at the true magnitude of your task, and yet realized this will be ONLY in one clay body! You're awesome 🤩

Woo hoo! So exciting! Looking forward to seeing your test results!

the company that makes the glazes (continental clay) should make the labels peel-and-stick so you can pull them off the bag and stick them onto the bucket. critics say only people who mix their own glazes are "real" potters? People get snobbish over the weirdest sh*t.

I'm so happy for your success! I love that they gave you all those glazes to test out!

Ooo this is so exciting :) can't wait to see the combos you make!!

You are the best thank you... I can't wait to see the results!

Blue, pink, purple grey and black, white too...my Toyota truck had a splash of those colors... beautiful ❤️

Im soooooo excited to see the results!!!!! 🤗🤗🤗🤗

I just got my dream job designing tiles and this video rocks. So many new ideas are brewing. Thanks!

Awesome! I am so happy you shared this video! Looking forward to seeing the results and combinations. Hopefully Continental Clay will gain some new customers around the country with your awesome videos! I ordered the buttercream a month or so ago and am planning to mix it up and fire it this week! :)

Oh my gosh I'm so excited about this video and the glazes! You're the bomb for doing this video

I am in a ceramic class right now that is focusing on glazes. This week I made eight test tiles and 13 test cups. They go into the kiln tomorrow so I will get to see them Sunday

@Kusunoky

5 жыл бұрын

Thats cool. How it was ? Already 4 month haha

Yippee,new glazes! I’m waiting for some layers mugs/ planters to come out of the kiln...first time layering. Thanks for the inspiration!

Eeeeeeek!!!!!! Can’t wait!!! Hurry hurry hurry!! And wear a wizard hat when you open the kiln! It will just add to the magic!

Have you considers the financial aspects of mixing your own glazes? It’s cheaper in the long run to buy all the material and mix them your self. Plus it’s not much harder to mix from scratch. And there are tons of really great recipes that you can follow so you don’t have to understand or know all the extra chemistry.

@Will-am-i

5 жыл бұрын

Alyssa, how do I find out about mixing my own glazes? :-)

@sybillestahl8646

4 жыл бұрын

Alyssa May I have bought the 50lb sack of each of the 5 ingredients in the popular 5x20 glaze, and it cost about $250. So I can make base glaze for a dollar a pound. (Canadian dollars here)

@Cate7451

4 жыл бұрын

Will Merch John Britt makes some videos. I definitely trust him. There are some good books out there too. Ask him

this is exciting and i totally agree. there are already so many choices out there!!!! can't wait to see results...yes yes its is so magical! I love this part the best... its like christmas with every opening.....

I love your personality. You are such a fun individual to watch. The Snape comment at the end have me a giggle and love you all the more. Thank you for this video. It was a pleasure, as always.

Thanks for making this video man!! It is so helpful, for beginners like me 👌🏽👍🏽

What great timing! I just bought my first powder glazes last week! Looking at mixing them up this week

Thank you for being so fun to watch! I'm a 50 something potter who's exploring all over again after raising 4 kids and it's kinda hard... thank you for making it fun and exciting . I don't want to add to my creative process the stress of mixing my own glazes too! So thank you for this video and all the other fun videos! KEEP MAKING THEM PLEASE!!!

Ooooo....so many colors!!! First, I'd go all cool colors together and all warm colors together; then I'd go CRAZY and put the cool and warm together!

SOOOOOOO looking forward to seeing the new stuff! Wish I could be right in there helping!

OMG....read my mind JTP!! Fabulous video....thank you so much!

Thanks for this video!! I have John Britts books and have been thinking about making my own glazes!!! Great info!!

Love your enthusiasm!!!

Glazes are absolute magic! Magic made visible by fire!

I am so excited. I would be trying to mix so many of the colors. Gradient colors, can't wait

Can’t wait to see the retro blue green , twilight, denim and sandstone. Looking forward to seeing your results.

Thanks I've been looking for a glaze tutorial

Loving the Harry Potter reference! Look forward to the tests

French mustard, retro blue green, and twilight blue

You just made me dance when you said, "We're starting over"... Felt like, as if I'm here and there to do mix and glaze.. Thank you soomuch for making me happy 🙏🏼

I got THE German glazing bible for my birthday and I cannot use it at all. Pure chemistry, I understand every 3rd word. I find it perfectly fine to stir bought powders into water and get a result which somebody else has already tested for me.

This is exactly what I am needing to see right now! I've been mixing my own glazes (I'm retired from teaching college chemistry, so I really DO want to understand glaze chemistry!) but I'm curious as to which black you have been using in the past. I've thought I might be better off to buy commercial for that one, and then mix others to go with it. Good job on the safety stuff here. Dry chemicals are much less hazardous for our skin so I don't get excited about wearing gloves myself. But breathing the fine particles is definitely a hazard. Once it's wet, no problem with that, but the particles do stay in the air for a while if you don't have good ventilation. I have 8 glazes I'm testing now (impatiently waiting for kiln to cool!) and to do test tiles with the base and one rim dip of everything takes 56 tiles. If you are going to do 15, and 2 other rim dips, with every possible combination and permutation, well, you can do the math!!! Seriously, you will want to figure out a labelling scheme and keep very accurate records. It is easy to get confused and yes I have been there. Logbook! Can't wait to see how you decide which combos to do.

@SnraDePaloma

5 жыл бұрын

Check out lindaarbuckle.com/arbuckle_handouts.html. it is very informative and a great place to start. and ceramicartsnetwork.org/ is invaluable for info and great books. (requires membership) but very worth it.Two of the best books are Colour in glazes by Linda Bloomfield (a british gal) and The Complete Guide to Highfire Glazes by John Britt. (and a similar one for Mid Fire Glazes). John Britt is on You Tube. With your chemistry this should be a walk in the park for you. I had to start from scratch never having taken any Chem classes. Good Luck. hope this is helpful.

@SnraDePaloma

5 жыл бұрын

Just Checked and Linda Bloomfield also has some videos on You Tube!

Pottery videos are so satisfying love to watch everything you post 😍

i’ve noticed that you must put a lot of work into your videos with all of the different cool camera shots underwater or the glaze and it’s really dope. Also i love how the videos are set up too with the intro, little funny bit at the end, and just everything...keep em comin😁

I always wanted to learn how to mix. I have always used the commercial glaze available in school. I will try both options someday I hope I love color

Interesting topic! I'm inspired to explore and try out new stuff :-)

Awesome!! Cant wait to see the combinations. Are you logging the tiles? What camera and software do you use for recording and editing?

Thanks for that...I’ve been buying the ready made bottles and it’s such a phaff! I’m off to look at the powder packets now. 👍

Lmao you were saying you're excited but you just looked overwhelmed 😂 ugh and that's how I feel about grad school

You always have the snobs in the studio! Lol Also different studios have different vibe. They don’t like it when you mix your own glaze, buy your own kiln, do glaze tests. Oh yes one guy said I wasn’t potter unless I had 3 books of clay glazes I created. Lol he is from Sacramento. I think you know him. Lol

I did some pottery way back, and my favorite part was glazing. It was Christmas every kiln opening

I'm looking forward to your tests

These are my favorite glazes I always buy from continents clay !

We are just starting glaze making in my ceramics class and I hope I can get something to turn out halfway decent. I’m trying to get a purple or magenta because we don’t have any of that in the studio at my college

Also get the book by John Britt on Midrange Glazes. He is my Guru!

When I took a ceramics class in high school, I dipped the top of my mug in black and the bottom in honey luster, the end result was great. Shiny black with small specs of honey luster, with teal green where the two meet, and the bottom half was a bright honey luster (yellow marble color). I love dark to light transitions in art, contrast is amazing.

@sybillestahl8646

4 жыл бұрын

Glazes on their own may look good, but the different effects you can get by layering glazes are on a whole higher level!

Awesome Jon! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!! Fun fun fun! I need to go do some more testing too! A friend of mine wants like a blue iridescent like mother of pearl look, so I’m gonna try to achieve that with out actually putting mother of pearl lustre in the piece. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

@GambolingwithMonique

5 жыл бұрын

Lynette's Opal layers well over other glazes. I believe it is in a J. Britts book.

@ataliemitchell3606

5 жыл бұрын

1brewermd I actually think I made a sample batch if that I’ll have to try. Thanks! Love John Britts book!!

Jon, don’t forget to test each combo over and under because they will interact differently

Love your videos Jon! Thanks. Just a few questions about mixing glazes. I was always taught to use distilled water to avoid random chemicals in your glazes. Second I was taught to put the water in the bucket furst. Lastly i sieve the glazes theee times. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks. Donna

Do you not have to screen ( sieve ) the glazes before using them ? Great video BTW !!

If you need an assistant around the studio I’m totally down. I don’t have any pottery experience but I’ve watched like 12 of your videos so I think that’s enough, right?

Loved making my own clay bodies and glaze a few years ago but getting lazier as time goes by. Use some 'ready-mades' now and it's ok to still call myself a 'real' potter! TFS!

How excited are you? 😄😄. Do you sieve the glazes before you first use them? I hope everything goes well, I can't wait to see what you produce, think of all the combinations you could do, mind boggling. Have fun. Cheers Bob 🇬🇧

@rhondavalverde2405

5 жыл бұрын

Robert Cole I had the same question about if you use a sieve with commercial glazes.

I know you are going to be having a lot of fun! Thought of you last night as I broke my stained glass pieces with a hammer and loaded them onto the coasters. (No gloves, no cuts; but then we do not wear gloves in stained glass class either). Am hoping for nice surprises when the kiln gets unloaded tonight. Keep up your great videos.

Hey Jon! I'm loving the new glazes already! Can't wait to see what combinations you come up with. Caramel Cream, Luster Green, and Sandstone all sound like they could make something pretty sweet. I've enjoyed seeing the little spots of red that you've been throwing into your work lately. (Haha, get it? Throwing!) 😂 I'm more of a fan of maroon type reds, but I do like the brighter red in little spots.

It's a dream! A lot of free glazes to play.. 😍

I am very happy you are doing this! I love testing the combo! While I have all materials at my use and the facilities glazes are made from scratch, I have often thought about just buying my own. I do enjoy the chemistry (of course!!!) but having a consistent product is also attractive. Thank you for the safety tip about the respirator, it will stop all the comments : ) Also, as a chemistry professor, it is safety first, last, and always! You are AWESOME for sharing all this!

I mix all of my own glazes but I don’t care if other potters don’t. Just like some potters make slab work while others throw on a wheel. There’s plenty of ways to do it all. Just have fun and do what you do. Good for you not letting the pressure to do it the “right” way deter you.

Soooo wish you were here in the uk doing your stuff. We really need a guy like you 😁

I think the retro blue-green (aka teal) and red will be amazing together! And you totally need to pull a wand of clay and "use it" to "alohamora" the kiln. 😉

you should try the retro blue green on top of the new albany brown, in my potery class whenever i mix and blues with the albany slip color it makes some very good green colors

Was there a second video to this?? I can't seem to figure out what one it is

Great Video! Have you thought of using an inexpensive electric kitchen Immersion Blender since you are using small buckets? Got mine at Wal*Mart for like $18.- Saves time and blends much more efficiently, instead using that hand mixer. Also once submerged it'll create a vacuum on the bottom while on...just go gentle on the speed at first and then swirl.

Well said

@Jonthepotter did you put them through a sieve or just mix them well?

So, I just went to Continental Clay's website to see what they have & check the prices. All their house brand glazes are listed as "TEMP UNAVAILABLE" due to material shortage. That'sa bummer. 😥

I feel like Retro Blue Green and Nutmeg could make for an interesting combo! Layering that combo with Rouge Red and/or Graphite Black makes me think it could be galaxy-like. I've never been so eager for someone to post a follow-up video before! Good luck!

What is the name to the follow up video? I would like to see what you have created with your new glazes.

Where did you get the stamp that you use for lettering?

What's your plan to keep the test tiles marked so you can reference the glaze combos? Would an underglaze pen work on the bottom of the tile? I don't know if it would stick onto the shelf while firing.

Thank GOD i got so worried when you started gettibg out all those buckets. So glad you put the labels on them cause i got scared u wouldnt XD

I am so excited!! Can not wait to see all the combos you come up with, again I am so excited!! 😜 ....oh ok the combos I would like to see. All over Black with a drippy mustard. All over blue with a sandstone drippy rim. Green with a black and blue drippy rim. Adding in a little hint of white to the rim on any dark colored body.

did you use regular tap water? I'm new to mixing my own glazes and yes I'm doing it from scratch because I want to try it. I was told to use bottled or r/o water.

Great Video, Do you sieve your liquid glazes or not?

Where do you buy your buttercream glaze? I looked on Continental Clay’s website and putting buttercream into the search didn’t come up with any results

I'd like to see each glaze used individualy then decide which colors to try layering.

Hey Jon,great vid,I'm in the process of starting up my own studio again being doing pottery for 30 years, it's alot cheaper buying raw materials and making ur own colour glaze,and their is many glaze recipe's on the internet to follow, jamie

Can you tell me where to but those glazes ? The link or shop or it's name please

please can you show how you label the tiles so you know what went on it in what order?

I'd like to see the mint colored glaze layered on the rust colored ones and vice versa.

Always add glaze material to water to avoid creating clouds

Do you suggest adding anything, like Bentonite, to your glazes? After many years, I'm FINALLY getting back to my Pottery.

Looks like Christmas!!! :D

What size buckets are you using ?

hi! could you please link the video with the testings? thank you!

Hey, Jon! An FYI and a couple comments: The link to the throwing sponges goes to Amazon's home page - not to sponges specifically. Thought I'd let you know. I DID NOT KNOW ONE COULD BUY A KILN ON AMAZON! Good gravy! Re: glazes My late mentor was a master potter! She mixed all of her glazes, had a walk in gas kiln that she and her husband built, and she fired everything to cone 10. When she saw the results I was able to get at cone 6 oxidation with commercial glaze combinations, she said to stick with it! Albeit, once a piece was in the bisque state her interest waned; some potters are more interested in form, others surface, and still others (me, and I think you?) are in it for the entire process. The way I see it, commercial glazes are relatively new in the history of pottery, so it follows that the "old school" sense of creating pottery includes mixing one's own glazes. I agree with you, and many of the other comments, that we each choose for ourselves what works best for us, and whether it makes one "less" of an artist somehow? I guess my point is, that, according to my mentor, no, it does not. Use the resources available and create, by whatever process is meaningful to you! BTW, I would love to see the Denim Blue paired with the Rouge Red, the French Mustard and/or the Sandstone. ;) And, you're a Rockstar!!

Here's my suggestion: Work in a grid, 15x15 (so you'll need 225 test tiles), and just try each one on top of each one, this won't take too long If you do it systematically. Check out John Britt's KZreads on systematic glaze testing for inspiration. His videos are more about making / refining individual glazes, but I'm super interested in what you're doing, can't wait to see more :) Cheers, Alex

@chemdmiller

5 жыл бұрын

Also you don’t need a double, like Denim over Denim, probably. So you can subtract those 15. 😉

Nothing at all wrong with using prepared glazes! You've got to try Amacos potters choice glazes (if you havent already) for layering they're amazing! I cant wait to see the results you get with your new glazes this is going to be fun!

I would love to see some mostly white mugs with blues and greens drip

Will you test all of these variations that you result with to make sure there is no leaching when used in your mugs? This is the part that makes me nervous about playing with layering combos, there are so many opinions on the matter. What's you process?

Not everyone has the space to keep all the chemical in their work space. Plus it's time consuming... thank you for doing this video! I've mixed glazes at work and at school. I've learned about some of the chemicals, but throwing and creating with clay is more fun (IMHO) than chemistry. Keep doing what you're doing Jon!!!