Celedon

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was working on a faux celadon glaze. Celadon glazes can be traced back many centuries to Korea and China and are still very popular today. I call this a "faux" celadon because traditional celadons are made by firing at very high temperatures in reduction atmospheres. Since I don't fire at high temperatures and use an oxidizing atmosphere, the closest I can come is through appearance.

Some may say this doesn't look at all like a traditional celadon, but the color of the real thing actually varies from a very light green to a gray color. So I didn't feel the need to duplicate anything too closely.

This vase also represents a new foray into products that are exclusively Lowell Hill Pottery and not Rowantrees reproductions. While my dedication to that great tradition hasn't wavered, it's nice to travel off in different directions and see what I can think up on my own. The design was created through a process called water etching. The design is painted on a dry pot using wax resist. Once the wax is dried, the pot is blasted with water using an air gun (which I normally use for glazing). Areas coated with wax will resist the spray while areas of bare clay will etch away leaving the raised design.

This represents a work in progress and was one of the first vases of this type to emerge from a firing. I already know what I need to do to improve this and take it to the next level, and I'm going to test that theory in the next kiln. Stay tuned!