Oxidation and Reduction firing of test tiles
Oct. 24-26, 2025
Are you ready to explore luscious and striking glazes?
Register now! There is limited space available.
Schedule:
Friday Oct. 24, 9am-4pm
Saturday Oct. 25, 9am-4pm
Sunday Oct. 26, 10am-3pm
Registration cost: $425 (plus $50 materials fee = $475 total )
This workshop will be a general overview of ceramic glazes, focusing on but not limited to cone 6 glazes. It is designed for beginner to advanced potters. We will discuss cones, kilns, firing dynamics and principles as well as applying those principles to various firing cycles. This will lead us into some basic classifications of glazes, like ash, celadon, temmoku, etc. We will explore how and why each type of glaze works and how you can achieve them, how to adjust your glazes and how to find new ones. John will discuss glazes from his new book: “The Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazing and Firing at cone 4 – 7”, but will go into more detail than the book allowed.
Each participant will create many cone 6 glazes and test tiles, half for electric and half for reduction. Test tiles will be made ahead by volunteers and be ready for testing.
– We will take a lunch break at mid-day each day.
– There are nice local eateries or you are welcome to bring a bag lunch.
– BPG will provide all the glaze recipes that we will be testing. You can decide which ones you really like and want to continue working with.
– Each participant will be given test tiles of porcelain, white stoneware, and a dark clay body.
– Each person will test a different base glaze and test 10 different color variations. And we will test them in oxidation and in reduction.
Required supplies:
Participants are required to purchase and bring the following supplies to class.
Hopefully you will have most if not all of them.
- OSHA-approved respirator or dust mask and a quart-size zip lock bag (with your name on it) to keep it in.
- Journal and pen, sharpie markers, high-temperature pencil,
- One pair of latex gloves
- Braun (or some other brand) kitchen hand blender (a.k.a. immersion blender)
- A small scoop for measuring out materials,
- 10 –Solo plastic cups (16 oz. Clear or blue or red party cups), and a couple of glaze brushes. Make sure the hand blender fits into the Solo cup! (There are different sizes some of which are too small and then the blender won’t reach the bottom of the cup.)
- Triple beam scale or digital scale – We need one scale per two students.
IMPORTANT – TEST YOUR SCALE TO MAKE SURE IT IS ACCURATE TO 0.1 GRAMS!! Many cheap digital scales won’t measure that small of an amount. Many like to stop at 2 grams! We need to weigh 0.2 grams or 0.5 grams. Also, test your scale against another triple beam or digital scale to see if it is actually accurate. MANY times, they are not.
John Britt is a master glaze teacher. We are lucky to have him in Boulder!
He is the author of the “The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glaze; Glazing & Firing at Cone 10” which was published by Lark Books in 2004, and his most recent book “The Complete Guide to Midrange Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cone 6” which was published October 2014. He also has and 13 ebooks including: “The Quest for the Illusive Leaf Bowl and Other Assorted Articles” and “Aventurine Glazes”, “Secrets of Oil Spot Glazes”, etc. He also has a 4 DVD’s including one produced by Ceramics Daily entitled : “Understanding Glazes: How to Test, Tweak and Perfect Your Glazes”.
Please note that by registering for this workshop or joining the waitlist, you acknowledge that you agree to our Cancellation and Waitlist Policy.