Our Final Glaze Sneak Peek… Cream and Red!
The last two glazes in our palette’s line-up boast glossy surfaces rich in variation. The warm cream color of “Dappled Light” and the earthy “Iron Red” should break beautifully over texture. We can’t wait to try them out!
To round out our palette of colored glazes, we knew we definitely needed a white or cream, but we settled on one that is far from boring. “Dappled Light” by Standard is glossy and looks like it is going to offer some interesting and attractive surface variation. That was easy enough, but how to choose a red? There are so many different hues and shades, some with a little more blue in them, verging towards the burgundy or even purple, while others lean more towards crimson or orange. We opted for Standard’s “Iron Red,” an earthier brownish red, as you might guess from the name, though still glossy, with some intriguing breaks in color across the surface of the clay. We can’t wait to see how both of these behave on smooth and textured surfaces!
Mid-fire (Cone 6) glazes 1220 “Iron Red” and 1268 “Dappled Light,” both by the Standard company out of Pennsylvania
We are still deep in test-tile making mode and beginning to get to where we need to be, so we should be able to start testing all of our glazes on our studio clays soon!
Things are moving fast now, so keep watching this space!
The Colors of Giotto and Springtime: Our Third Glaze Sneak Peek
The two glazes featured in our third sneak peek are inspired by the Tuscan countryside and the colors favored by Proto-Renaissance artist Giotto, architect of the Florence Cathedral’s famous bell tower. Come read more about it in our latest blog post!
When I was studying art history in Italy, it was clear to see how the colors of the Tuscan landscape were reflected in the art produced by the land’s native artists.
Before the Renaissance had quite begun, there was Giotto, famous for his frescoes that adorn the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and many others, but also for his architecture. Most know him, if for nothing else, for his graceful bell tower, or Campanile, that stands next to Florence’s famous Cathedral, il Duomo di Firenze (seen here to the right of the cathedral’s façade).
The colored marble used to decorate the outside of the Campanile (and of so many other famous buildings of the time) is a green that reminds me very much of the hues of Tuscan olive groves and cypress trees, along with a warm pink, reminiscent of some seashells’ coloration.
(My little sister used to love combing the beach at Pisa for choice shells. I still have some of the ones that she collected for me).
So often do these particular shades of pink and green appear in this Proto-Renaissance artist’s frescoes and architecture that my first art history teacher used to call them “Giotto colors.”
It is a combination I have had a special fondness for ever since. When I see those two colors together, I can’t help but think of gentle Tuscan springtimes. How, then, could I resist pairing these two glazes for our Studio’s palette, when I saw that they were available?
So, here they are! Bellissimi! The glossy Mottled Green Transparent and matte Mottled Pink glazes, both mid-fire glazes from the Standard company out of Pennsylvania, like all the rest of our palette.
Standard 1225 Mottled Green Transparent and 1234 Mottled Pink mid-fire glazes against a backdrop of Tuscan countryside and the outline of Florence’s Cathedral, or Duomo, with its famous dome by Brunelleschi and its bell tower, or Campanile, by Giotto
Evviva! We can’t wait to try them out and, dare I say, breathe a little of that Renaissance spirit into our Studio.
Stay tuned for more news and for the last installment of our glaze sneak peek series, coming soon!
Glaze Selection Sneak Peek! We’ve got the blues (in the very best way)
We’re adding to our glaze line up! Check out these lovely blues. We can’t wait to take them for a swim on our new clays!
As we mentioned in our first glaze-sneak-peek post, where we previewed our warm browns, we are thrilled to have picked out our initial list of glazes to test with our clays. There are so many beautiful ones out there, it wasn’t easy!
This time around we wanted to show off the blues we’ve picked out. There are so many ones out there, I’ll tell you, it was hard to pick just two, but these are the ones we thought were the most inspiring additions to our collection, which we’re trying to assemble as a harmonious palette that works together rather than viewing each color as a standalone.
Standard Glazes “Tornado Sky” and “Mediterranean” are the blues we’ve selected for our palette! We can’t wait to take them for a swim on our white and brown clays.
These are part of the selection of eight colors we’ve chosen by the Standard company, out of Pennsylvania, along with a clear glaze and a really neat layering glaze specifically for creating interesting effects in conjunction with the others.
(For all of you folks who know your way around a glaze room already, we will be using all mid-fire glazes and firing to cone 6 in electric kilns.)
Stay tuned to see what other colors we’ve picked out for you. We are making sure that all of our glazes are food safe for functional ware!
Keep watching this space!
#stauntonclayground #comeandclay #letsclay #pottery #staunton #stauntonvirginia #potterystudio #claystudio #potteryglaze #midfireglazes #mediterraneanmist #tornadosky #standardglazes #standardblue #clayclasses #claymemberships
Glaze Selection Sneak Peek! Our Beautiful Browns…
We’ve picked out our first glaze line up! Check out these beautiful warm browns. We can’t wait to try them out on our new clays!
We are very excited to have picked out our initial list of glazes to test with our clays. We’re too eager to get up and running to start mixing up our own recipes just yet, so we’ve opted to start with a selection of eight colors by the Standard company, out of Pennsylvania, along with a clear glaze and a really neat layering glaze specifically for creating interesting effects in conjunction with the others. We thought we’d start by sharing with you the two lovely warm browns we’ve settled on, one dark and one light, because where else would we begin in a pottery studio but with the earth tones?
Standard Glazes “Brown” and “Walnut Brown” are the first two to join our collection! We can’t wait to test them on our white and brown clays.
Rather than choosing each color as a standalone, we have tried not only to select beautiful shades and hues but also to choose ones that work well with each other as a harmonious palette for your unique creations. Stay tuned to see what other colors we’ve picked out for you. We are making sure that all of our glazes are food safe for functional ware!
(For all of you folks who know your way around a glaze room already, we will be using all mid-fire glazes and firing to cone 6 in electric kilns.)
Keep watching this space!
#stauntonclayground #comeandclay #letsclay #pottery #staunton #stauntonvirginia #potterystudio #claystudio #potteryglaze #conesix #standardbrown #standardwalnutbrown #standardglazes #clayclasses #claymemberships #clay