Test Tiles

Purpose:

• To create four equally formed tiles

• To demonstrate the effects of layering glaze colors

• To develop glazing skills

• To contribute to a test tile wall for current and future ceramics students

Reflection:

There are many different characteristics of quality that artists use to bring their own uniqueness and style to their craft. More specifically when you look in the realm of ceramics, things like smooth surface finishes, even glazing, thoughtful form and proportions, consistent thickness, and attention to detail in decorative elements all contribute to the quality of the piece. The artists can mold these tools to fit their artistic style and specialize pieces to convey different meanings. Some ways I tried to express the quality of my pieces were: spending a considerable amount of time focusing on the shape and thickness of my tiles, making sure they followed the wooden guides, and remaining in clean rectangles I cut them. Later in the process, I focused more on the glazing of my tiles, getting as even of a coat on them as possible before painting on another. I also did my best to wipe off extra glaze from the sides, but moss green was especially tricky to try and clean up. Once I had glazed my tiles and they were fired, I noticed different things about each tile and how the glazes reacted to each other. My first tile was Moss green with Tawny, and it created a very beautiful streaky, drippy pattern where the lighter surface of moss green came through the autumn tawny and created a lovely mixed hazel color. My second tile was Moss green and Sapphire, somewhat contrastingly to my first, the sapphire that sat atop the moss green had an almost feathered pattern to it. There is a noticeable line where the sapphire started to be painted on which differs from my first. The third tile I completed was Moss green with Turquoise. Similarly to my second, there is a very distinct line where the turquoise was painted, it seems to be a common theme with my blue glazes. This glaze sat right on top of moss green and stayed more of a vibrant blue with brown moss green specks poking through. My fourth and final tile was Moss green with Bluebell. I noticed that as more bluebell was added, the streakier the glaze became. What I like about the bluebell is that you can still see the moss green behind it but the blue streaks add highlights to it, enhancing the layers. All of my tiles surprised me a bit because I haven’t experimented with glaze a lot and it was awesome to see how different glazes react to others and how they sit on the clay. I learned a lot from this experience, as I mentioned I haven’t got to work with a whole lot of glazes. These tiles taught me the different types of ratios you can create with glazes, as well as more knowledge about the resources we have in class! Something else I learned was patience, these tiles required a certain amount of attention and if you weren’t careful you could end up doing more work than you needed to.