Chickadee Clays

Engineer by trade; potter every other moment. Working from my home studio in Batavia, IL has allowed me to delve into the chemistry of ceramics with crystalline glazes. Crystalline glazes are not like typical glazes. I formulate my own glazes which I fire to 2250F, then rapidly cool to 1860F. The kiln holds the glaze firing between 1800F and 1900F for one to six hours. The amount of time and the temperature determine crystal size and color. A crystalline firing that spends 10 minutes at 1800F, 10 minutes at 1900F, and repeats, will produce crystals with concentric dark and light rings, much like a tree. A glaze firing for 3 hours at 1900F will produce large, light crystals. The color of base glaze and crystal are determined by the color additives: copper makes green, cobalt makes blue, manganese makes blush pink. Hundreds of test firings and small batches of glazes have helped me develop very specific color formulations: grey with blue crystals, purple-grey with pink-blue crystals, white with gold crystals, and more. Crystalline pots are messy: each piece has to be glaze fired on a ring and a drip tray to catch the runny glaze. Using a blow torch, pieces are cracked off. Each piece then goes through multiple grinding and cleaning steps: 80grit, 120grit, 240grit, 360grit and more. Finished pieces are unique: no two pieces can ever be the same since crystal growth is random. Opening a crystalline glaze load is a new surprise: pieces can have thousands of crystals or they can have none. Crystalline glazes lend themselves to round forms like vases and bottles but also look phenomenal on functional and decorate wares. Each style of piece is prototyped and perfected through use in my own home. Functional: mugs, teacups, tumblers, bowls, chopstick bowls, bud vases Decorative: trinket trays, miniature Clanimals (clay-animals), sculpture pieces