Majolica Glazing Techniques
Majolica glazing is a pottery decoration technique that requires only a single firing. Unlike other glazing techniques that are often done blind, majolica glazing allows potters to apply visible stains to the pottery so that they're able to see the design as they create it. This allows potters to treat the piece the same way a painter would treat a canvas rather than applying a clear glaze that only shows its color after firing.
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Things You'll Need
- Bisque fired/bone dry pottery
- Terra sigillata
- Base glaze
- Stain pastes
- Brushes
- Sponge
- No. 2 pencil
- Wax resist
- Bucket
- Electric kiln
Instructions
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Instructions
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1
Apply a thin layer of terra sigillata to any part of the pottery that won't be glazed. This will help to make the pottery watertight and also give it a rich sheen once the piece is fired.
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2
Mix your base glaze in a bucket deep enough to submerge the entire piece. Pour some of the glaze into the interior of the pottery first before submerging the entire piece. Keep the coating thin in order to avoid pinholes and air bubbles as the glaze dries. Wipe away any of the glaze that touches another surface (bottoms of jars, lips of lids) with a sponge. Let the piece sit for a day so that the glaze has time to cure.
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3
Map out your design using a soft no. 2 pencil. Keep the pencil strokes very light so that they can be easily covered with the stain paste.
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4
Mix stain pastes in your desired colors. The pastes should have the consistency of thinned glazes so that they can be brushed on smoothly without running.
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5
Paint the foreground part of your design first. When glazing your pot you always need to apply the stain to the base glaze.
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6
Protect your foreground decorations with a coating of wax resist before applying the middle and background coatings. You can apply as many different layers of design as you want, coating them with wax resist in between each layer.
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7
Brush the background glaze evenly over the entire piece. Apply this coat in even strokes so that the background appears consistent. Don't worry about painting over the foreground designs since any excess glaze can be wiped off the wax resist with a sponge.
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8
Fire the pottery slowly in an electric kiln for no less than 12 hours. This gives the glaze time to even out and for any gasses remaining in the clay to burn off. A slow firing also helps keep the colors even and prevents any pinholes from appearing.
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Tips & Warnings
After mixing your overglazes, test them out before using them on your finished piece to make sure the color and consistency is correct.
When using wax resist, it's best to wait 24 hours after the application to touch it since it may stick to your hand and remove the underlying stain.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
