Saturday, February 19, 2011

Glaze Testing Cone 6 Coyote Sample Pack Best Selling Colors


Ever since Marsha Minutella of MarshaNeal Studio began writing her 3rd Friday Cone 6 Glazing blog for Beads-of-Clay, I have been feeling like I would like to try some myself.
The occasion presented itself when my friend Cait Throop wanted to make some buttons.  She thought she would like to glaze them in colors.  Since they were made with a white stoneware clay, what other choice was there than to get some of those cool Coyote Glazes.  I chose the Best Selling  Sample Set #3, Coyote’s 12 best selling glazes in 4 oz jars

Shino, Gun Metal Green, Really Red, Desert Sage, Archie’s Base, Red Gold, Mottled Blue, Oasis Blue, Black, Eggplant, Pam’s Blue and Pam’s Green ( which were on sale at the time).

About 2 weeks ago I glazed up some test pieces.  I dutifully wrote on the back in underglaze pencil the name of each glaze I painted onto the clay pieces. ( per Marsha's instructions)  I am not usually a good record keeper but glaze testing has to be the exception.  I fired the test strips at Cone 5 Speed Fast Hold 16 minutes in my  Caldera Kiln.


I made my test pieces with a deeply stamped pattern so that I would be sure to see how the glaze "breaks." The two pics above are of my samples.  Now that I have seen how they came out, I may have coated them too thickly.


But the day of the first glazing of the buttons we took that into account.  This is the Shino with 2 coats.  It turned a wonderful rich and golden brown.  A real keeper.  That beautiful fibre is Cait's handwoven scarf that the buttons are being made for.In her Etsy Shop now.

Here is the Mottled Blue on 3 of Cait's buttons.  I love this one also. Not sure if it has 1 or 2 coats of the Mottled Blue.

The green beads in this picture have 1 coat of Gun Metal Green.  I wet the beads first since the glaze got so powdery.  I think some may actually have more than 1 coat but certainly not a full 2nd coat.

This picture shows the test piece for both Oasis Blue--3 coats and Shino 2 coats.  The three coats looks too heavy to me.  I know that I am a heavy glazer so I am cutting back to 2 coats in the future.



Some of Cait's buttons being glazed.  This is our 2nd session and they have not been fired yet.  These are not as heavily coated as the first try.  We will see if it makes a good difference.

Gun Metal Green and Desert Sage

Our first try using the glazes on buttons.  They came out quite true to the test strips.  We learned the hard way that the holes fill up easily even if you clean them.  We were able to salvage almost all of the beads from the rods.  I redrilled some of the holes with a diamond drill and water.

Hope you could find some useful info in this first run of Cone6 glaze testing.

20 comments:

  1. I love the colors and glazes from Coyote! They look good!

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  2. Still finding my way with these glazes. I love them but many pieces get lost. I am not sure that they work the best on beads because they pool to the bottom, even with two coats. But love the color so I am willing to give them another try. The buttons are beautiful and her work is amazing!

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  3. Hi Marti, Thank you for writing in. They are sure pretty on Cait's buttons. As Yoli suggests, we are having probs with it being too heavy for the patterns to show and we did have one button get a pretty blob on the bottom part.

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  4. Yoli, I am also experimenting with just one coat, like those green disk beads I glazed. I have more to fire that have less on them. Thanks so much for sharing that these glazes coat heavy and flow a bit too much. We had problems with the button holes too, as I mentioned.

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  5. Anonymous19/2/11 20:05

    The buttons are great and thanks for sharing your tests with those glazes.

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  6. Totally fascinating to see what goes into this. I am always amazed at how one glaze can produce multiple results. Thanks for sharing the inner workings of your creative process. Enjoy the day, Mary!
    Erin

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  7. I love seeing all the results! And how different they look on a stoneware vs porcelain. It's funny how all those glazes have such different personalities too some want to be thicker, some thinner.

    When you have a piece that looks like it is too thick, wet your brush with distilled water (ok - I just use tap water for this, but to be "true" use distilled) and wash it off a bit by brushing and wiping until you can see your texture again. Sometimes I wipe/brush off too much and have to apply a very thin coat. But because it is wet, it usually acts better.

    Some of those glazes just need to be thinned out too. I've noticed that since Coyote does not seal their pints with that inner layer like some of the other glaze companies, they may need some thinning right from the start. You'll get to know their personalities!

    Wonderful post! Thanks for linking up to BOC…
    SO excited that they will be in your friends Etsy shop. She has beautiful work!

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  8. I love to see processes like this - since this is a medium I know pratically nothing about - it is absolutely fascinating! Glazing ceramics is alchemy - really!

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  9. Anonymous20/2/11 04:38

    Love those buttons. The colors are georgeous. Thank you for sharing -

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  10. When I see all this eye-candy I always have the wish to try it myself. But when I think about my lampwork-station I haven't used for months I know I should stay with just admiring your achievements:-)

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  11. Anonymous20/2/11 09:10

    I love Coyote's glazes. I swear by their celadons. I've used the shino's and only like a few of the colors for bead-making. I just purchased one of the glazes you used so good to know that three coats was too heavy. Can't wait to see what else you make with them!

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  12. Marsha, Thank your for the tips on thick glaze. Very helpful. Also I didn't think about the difference between stoneware and porcelain. I have a pkg of Frost which we may try.
    Interesting comment about the coyote packaging. So glad you set this up for feedback.

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  13. Hi Sandra, Thank you for writing in about the glazes. I hope you get a chance to try them or show us some of the glazes that you use. Such fun trading info this way.

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  14. Erin, so glad you find this glazing info interesting. Glazes are really like alchemy as Stregata says--or so it seems. I can't wait to see what happens when I load up and fire today. We are both trying some new ideas for these glazes. Its so good to get to a few really well. I am so used to my cone 06 glazes and they are so so different that this is a real exploration into the unknown for me.

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  15. Hi Renata, Love your comment that it is like alchemy--indeed it is. And the glaze called red gold has so many wonderful gold colors swirling around in it. I didn't show those results as they ran more than any other and the holes plugged up and they weren't too cool. But we are doing more of them in today's firing.

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  16. Hi Inge, Thanks for writing in and telling us you like the button colors. Love the feedback.

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  17. Hi Stefanie, You are so wise!! I do tend to get into too much!! Glad you love the colors.

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  18. VintageBlueSTudio, I so appreciate your comments on the glazes. Which Celadons do you like. Do you have to put them over another color to get good results? I would also love to know which shinos you like. Th is one is so great and apparently it can get into deep browns with an undercoat. Will try that for sure.

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  19. Wow, Mary! Love the pictures of our buttons on my weaving!! Your studio is always so inspiring and I can't wait to see the new firing--I'm excited! And my thanks to all who commented on the weaving, too!! Give me a call when you have time! xoxoxoxo

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  20. Hi Cait, I am so glad you got to see this post and the comments. Many wonderful tips on how to use those glazes and super feedback on your work. I guess I trust my new kiln, since I went ahead and fired it last night. It is cooling now--can't wait for later this afternoon to open the lid. Will call when I do.

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