In the 1950's and thereabouts some commercial floor and wall tile glazes were various pastels with small, closely spaced patches of sparkly, almost crystalline areas across the tile. The background glaze would be a satin/matte, while the sparkly patches would be glossy. The overall effect was like an irregularly spotted tile, where the shiny patches were slightly darker than the background color (probably just due to the difference in reflectivity).

I want to reproduce this look and have no idea how it was done. I am experimenting with lowfire glazes and glass frit, although I imagine originally it was done with some more basic chemical.

Any ideas would be very welcome.

Views: 550

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

This has to be a possibility.

http://digitalfire.com/4sight/material/mica_1018.html

[quote]Mica flake is used in low fire clay bodies to add a sparkle effect. [/quote]
For some reason I'm unable to edit my last post - it says there's 12 minutes left to do so.

The edit was nothing important but I'm unable to do it for some reason, I've signed out, cleared my cache and signed in again to no effect.
Trouble with the page, I can't edit it either. Give it a couple of days and try again. Database cleanup may take care of it.
OK, thanks George.

I use micro crystalline glazes which I suppose are the opposite effect you are looking for.

Jen's Juicy Fruit will create tiny sparkly crystals. I didn't get a great rendition of sparkles here, but this is JJF with iron, layered on top of Randys Red.

An update on my experiments with low fire "sparkly":

1.  I have tried many forms of mica in low fire glaze (versus the tile body, as suggested above). Some outcomes are promising.

   a.  Using an already glazed and fired tile, gum was brushed on and mica flakes dropped into the gum. The mica did fuse to the glaze underneath, making the overall surface rough. For small mica bits (almost powder), this was rather attractive. The larger the piece or flake, the less durable and less attractive.

   b.  Mica mixed into colored glaze and low fired was not good: the mica merely formed lumps covered by glaze.

2.  Glass frit (fine) sprinkled onto pre-glazed and fired tile (after gum applied) and refired resulted in speckles of color that were lumpy but not sparkly. This look can be attractive but didn't achieve the objective.

Reply to Discussion

RSS

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Use These Links to Support Us

Low cost flat lapping disc can be used on you potters wheel if you, drill bat pin holes in it, and provide a trickle of water to cool it. At amazon.com, 120 grit for aggressive material removal. Click the image to purchase 

Members have had great things to say about John Britt's new book, Mid-Range Glazes. Click the image to buy from Amazon.com

Purchase Glazes Cone 6 by Michael Bailey, The Potters Book of Glaze Recipes by Emmanuel Cooper, or Making Marks by Robin Hopper, all available at amazon.comMastering Cone 6 Glazes by John Hesselberth & Ron Roy is now out of print.

Harbor Freight is a great place to find unbeatable prices for better HVLP spray guns with stainless steel parts and serviceable economy models, as well as detail guns, all tested by our members for spraying glazes, as well as compressors to power the guns. As yet no one has tested and commented on the remarkably inexpensive air brushes at harbor freight.

The critter siphon gun is a spray alternative that is well liked by some of our members, and is available at amazon.

Amazon is also a competitive source for photo light tents for shooting professional quality pictures of your work. They also have the EZ Cube brand favored by several of our members. You might also want to purchase the book Photographing Arts, Crafts and Collectibles . . .

If you are up to creating videos of your work or techniques you might want to invest in a flip video camera

Following are a few scales useful for potters. Ohaus Triple Pro Mechanical Triple Beam Balance, 2610g x 0.1g, with Tare $169.00

And finally a low cost clone of the OHaus. The Adam Equipment TBB2610T Triple Beam Mechanical Balance With Tare Beam $99.62

ebay is a great alternative for many tools and the equipment used in the ceramics studio - kilns, wheels, extruders, slab rollers are often listed there both new and used.

Tips for Members

If you just want to spout off, it is best accomplished as a blog posting. If you want to get more guidance and ideas from other members, ask a question as a new discussion topic. In the upper right corner of the lists for both types of posting, you will find an "+Add " button. Clicking it will open an editor where you create your posting. 4/16/2014

© 2024   Created by Andrea Wolf.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service