Introduction to Making Glazes with Marc Sauvage

Course objectives:

During this course the trainer will:

• By way of lectures, discussions and demonstrations, introduce both theoretical (chemical and physical requirements of a glaze) and practical aspects of glaze making (weighing, slaking, mixing, sieving and applying to test tiles).
• Provide recipes for student use as well as directing to both online and text sources.
• Outline the role of colourants, opacifiers & additives in glazes.
• Supervise and assist with the process of discovering new ways to create and mix glazes.
• Fire student tests on a weekly basis and discuss subsequent glaze results with students.
• Run chosen tasks in small groups to expedite results.
• Emphasise safety practices.

By the end of this course, the student will:

• Confidently be able to create any glaze from a recipe.
• Have tested and created between 15-20 different glazes from recipes, whilst also discovering new glazes from mixing experiments.
• Complete a colour run on a base glaze, creating 6 new colourant variations.
• Use the triaxial blend method, and working in a group of 3, mix 3 different glazes to create 21 new ones.
• Learn how to turn any glaze recipe into a brush-on glaze.
• Understand the 3 basic components of all ceramic glazes and be able to identify materials as Glass formers, Fluxes and Stiffeners.
• Have completed tests for over/under glazes as well as materials melt tests.
• Work with group shared glazes, both brush-on and dipping/pouring, to finish a number of small experimental pieces they have made.
• Be able to observe safe practices while mixing glazes, both at SCArt and in their home studio.