Glazing, or coloring, a piece requires an enormous leap of faith. The raw colors look nothing like what they do when fired to temperatures of around 2000 degrees (I guess, what does?).

On a recent piece, I decided to have a little fun with a pool of color. I knew this particular green was sparkly when it was thick. It also runs, or melts, so I had to control the effect I wanted by keeping it contained. As most of my pieces play with a seabed image, I wanted this one to be sitting in a puddle of color.

The first picture below shows the piece bisqued and glazed but unfired. What a yucky looking pool of raw glaze. The second is lustrous, though more so in person than in a photo.  I’ll be playing around with this idea some more.