Sue McLeod Ceramics
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Exploring the art and science of ceramics. Sue McLeod Ceramics, Victoria, BC. Exploring the art and science of ceramics. Sculptural teapots, translucent porcelain glow candles, glaze workshops.
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
Glaze results on the thin side? As a studio technician at a busy pottery studio, it’s my job to mix and maintain 20 different studio glazes. I’m also the one studio users often go to for help when their glazes don’t work out as they had hoped. Every now and then…
The post Are You Mixing Your Glazes Well Enough? appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
The post Understanding Cone 6 – NCECA presentation 2018 appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
When I was in school and learning to mix my own glazes, I was warned: “Make sure you add bentonite to the DRY materials and mix them together BEFORE you add any water.” It was good advice. The reason for the warning is when bentonite gets wet it swells and gels and…
The post How to Add Bentonite to a Wet Glaze appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
Kiln wash is a material that you can paint onto your kiln shelves. It looks very similar to a glaze when being applied. It acts as a barrier to prevent unexpected glaze runs or drips from ruining your shelves. Kiln shelves are made of a hard material that is similar to...
The post How to Make a Good Kiln Wash to Protect Your Kiln Shelves appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
If you have too much clay in a glaze recipe, you might have issues with your glaze crawling during the firing. Crawling is where the glaze pulls away from the clay body due to a combination of shrinkage, poor adhesion and high surface tension.
The post How to Convert Kaolin to Calcined Kaolin appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
I receive a lot of glaze questions and the first question I generally ask in return is "What did the cones look like?" Knowing whether the kiln was over- or under-fired is important for diagnosing many glaze issues. Sometimes I'm told a kiln temperature in response. But…
The post Temperature vs Heatwork – Why We Use Witness Cones appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
Are you ready to start mixing your own glazes? Perhaps you’ve reached the point in your ceramics journey that you want to start understanding the materials you’re working with and what is actually happening when you put your pottery into the kiln.
The post Start Mixing Your Own Ceramic Glazes – A Shopping List appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
As clay artists, we’re so lucky that we can reduce the amount of waste we produce by reclaiming or recycling our unfired clay. When we make something that cracks, warps or doesn’t look how we wanted it to, we can reclaim our clay, bringing it back to its original state so...
The post A Low Tech System for Recycling Clay Scraps appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
I use a graduated cylinder for measuring specific gravity. A slender container is going to have smaller increments than a wide container, giving higher accuracy. You could compare this concept to using a scale with 1g increments vs 5g increments. The smaller measurement is…
The post Why I Use a Graduated Cylinder for Measuring Specific Gravity appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more
Sue McLeod Ceramics
4M ago
I didn’t always know about measuring specific gravity. Of the 10 years that I’ve been mixing glazes, I’ve only been measuring specific gravity for 3 of them. It wasn’t a technique I learned in school. But… I had heard about it enough times that eventually I used it to try…
The post Why I Don’t Use a Hydrometer to Measure Specific Gravity appeared first on Sue McLeod Ceramics ..read more