Abstract-Glaze Testing: Methods and Results

Floating blue is a glaze that appears to have a blue layer floating over an earthy undertone, giving it the illusion of depth. The base of the glaze floating blue was taken aside while its original colorants (rutile, red iron oxide, and cobalt carbonate) were added in different increments with other ones to get different hues. The main goal was to produce a green version of floating blue, that is, a glaze that has the same textural and visual effect as floating blue that instead has a green hue. This was tested by replacing cobalt carbonate with copper carbonate, while adding different amounts of the other two colorants, red iron oxide and rutile. The base of floating blue was taken and separated into groups, and the decision of what percentages of other colorants to add was made by using a triaxial blend method of charting out and keeping track of different colorants. These test glazes were then applied to test tiles made out of stoneware. The results did not meet the expectation, but did show that the goal might have been met if a higher percentage of red iron oxide and rutile had been used, and if I had a richer green colorant to work with. Further testing would be required to meet this goal, and my timeframe made this impossible for the time being.