Glass Glazing

[TaurusStrength]

Hey guys

So decided to take ceramics in college to accomplish 12 hours, and came apon the very interesting technique of glass glazing done by some other students and it caught the attention of me a few other class mates. Currently we're using those little colored glass beads usualy sold in a small net sack obtained from Hobby Lobby or Michaels, and been kinda experimenting with it, trying to find out which colors would come out clear, and which would hold their own color after firing. So far we found that green and blue work, but red will turn clear, so instead went for orange hoping for a better result. We also currently have 6 others under test, 3 firing with glaze under the beads, and 3 without glaze under the beads to see if there's any effect in color or at all. I have heard clear glaze under the beads would make it much stronger though, but found very little info the net, so a lots still unclear as how this works.

So hopefully to gather some more info on this glaze technique, can anybody here maybe offer a heads up as to which color of beads will hold their color and which will turn, and some proper techniques to use when doing it?

[lofnwench]

I am no expert in this but have made some tiles using glass. The red beads sold at michaels are NOT red glass, it is clear glass with a coating of paint. Blues and greens are fabulous....wine bottles are good for blue and green glass. I have gotten scrap glass at stained glass studios and used it, too. Red glass can be fabulous but careful that it is not too thick. When colors run together, they have a nasty habit of turning muddy, therefore Multicolored glass is not advisable.

[pemichongan]

I did a little experimenting - but was unprepared for how 'runny' the glass would be, ruining a shelf. I was using the same kind of small craft glass beads. I found browns to be true to color. Green came out yellow. Red also lost color. I took a workshop from Keven Lehman in Lancaster PA who makes very very large pots and uses broken bottle glass as part of his glazes - wonderful technique, and true to color - limited to green, brown, and blue mostly. (www.klpottery.com)

[pemichongan]

Lofnwench - that's really pretty. At what range do you fire?

[lofnwench]

I fire to cone 6 electric

[TaurusStrength]

So got some results back today, and both the green and blue are coming back very vibrant and holding their color. Orange i've yet to see still, but have some pieces with a sickly brown cracked bottom, so im thinking unfortunetly these could be the pieces done with the orange =(. I'll be able to confirm this on tues.

On another note though i was hearing not to use glass from bottles, as the quality is very low, but then again i guess it depends on what kinda bottles you use. As for the red turning out clear with the beads, i spoke with the ceramics teacher about this, and was told it happened because the beads had 'Cobalt' or something; not sure?

So what kinda bottles are we talking here, cuz other then hobby lobby, im clueless as to where i could find blue or red glass bottles

[lofnwench]

If you scratch the surface of the red glass beads from Michaels, you will find the color comes off...it is paint, not cobalt, and that is why they turn out clear. though I have never found red glass bottles, some wines come in amazing cobalt blue ones and the colors are stunning. I have found you need to be careful putting glass over colored glazes because I usually get sickly browns when they mix.

[TaurusStrength]

Ok so back. for anybody else interested, here are some of the found following results for using glass beads in ceramics:

After firing:

Dark blue beads hold color
Dark green or forest green beads hold color
Red beads turn clear
Orange beads turn to a brown blackish non transparent color

Next we'll be trying out purple and yellow, and post the results once we have them. hopefully this will at the very least serve as a good heads up to some, for future reference