Test Tiles and Glazes

I found Amaco Potter's Choice glazes that fire to cone 6 in the Nasco catalog. I wanted to test how the glazes look and react to the three Highwater clay bodies I am using: Desert Buff, Brownstone, and P-5 Porcelain.

To make test tiles I threw bowls without bottoms and sliced them into individual tiles. I set them out to dry in the driveway:

 

I chose 8 glazes, so in order to have all the glaze combinations I needed 64 tiles of each clay body. In total, 192 test tiles!

Glazing the test tiles was a long process, and I thank my lovely "studio assistant" Mrs. Merrell for spending time to help with the glaze work. The test tiles would be the first firing of the new kiln, and after a few struggled attempts at wiring the kiln, it was up and running!

The result was a lovely range of glaze colors:

 

 

Brownstone Clay

P-5 Porcelain Clay

Desert Buff Clay

Firing #1 was a success!