So I’ve been testing Crystalline Glazes to use later for the special forms that will be inside my portrait busts. This weekend I unloaded my first test kiln and it felt just like Christmas! I began with four different bases and used a single colorant (copper carbonate) just to see how each would react. I now have two bases with great results to continue testing with different colorants. From left to right each photo represents copper carbonate percentages of 0%, 0.75%, 1.5%, 3%, and 6%.
Dan Turnidge’s MFE Base
Ferro Frit 3110 50%
Silica 22.5%
Zinc Oxide 22.5%
Lithium Carbonate 5%
This had nice large crystals with clear visible backgrounds.
Fa’s Base
Zinc Oxide 25%
Dolomite 5%
Ferro Frit 3110 51%
Silica 19%
I also added an optional 3% Lithium Carbonate
This one had large crystals, but they were also overcrowded and didn’t have much background.
Fa’s #5
Zinc Oxide 27%
Talc 5%
Ferro Frit 3110 50%
Spodumene 4%
Silica 14%
Add in 2% Titanium Dioxide
This came out with nice uniform coloring, but the microcrystals were too small & caused everything to go matte.
Helen’s Base
Ferro Frit 3110 48.40%
Zinc Oxide 24.35%
Calcined Kaolin 1.52%
Silica 17.95%
Titanium Dioxide 7.78%
Add in 5% Lithium Dioxide
This last one was the most interesting because something in the base caused a bit of yellowing in the colorant. I liked it because it also had very clear large crystals with a good background.
My favorite’s so far are the results from Dan Turnidge’s & Helen’s Bases. I cannot wait to see what the other color combinations bring out on my next batch.
Allora Jay 