Tags
cone 10, Em's Persimmon Glaze, Em's Tenmoku Glaze, Emily's Mossy Mahogany Glaze, Glaze formula, Glaze recipe, Green Leopard Glaze, Midnight Peacock, Moss Agate Glaze, Promethean Pottery, Prussian Peacock, Quartz Clear Glaze, Spruce Juice Glaze, stoneware, Verdigris Sage
The awesome thing about the internet is you can tell what’s going on out there. I mean, I can see what people are using as search terms to find our blog. Some things are immensely funny, and I really have to think how I possibly could have used those words during the course of the entire blog. Other things are fairly obvious.
So, when someone searches for “Tenmoku” and finds my article on Taxonomy of Iron Glazes, or gets to my Glossary of Glaze Colorants, I am really pleased by that. I hope that person benefited from the hours of research I did that enabled me to write those articles. I also hope they give me credit for consolidating the information if they mention it to their friends. Those kinds of things are a lot of work after all.
Then there are the searches for “Em’s Honan Tenmoku recipe” and “Mossy Mahogany recipe”. See, I name my glazes the way I do for a reason. I have worked very, very hard over the last few years to develop the glaze recipes I currently use. I lost count on how many glaze tests I had done after about 2500. That’s 2500 in less than 2 years. I am extremely proud of my glazes, so I give them unique and identifiable names like: Em’s Honan Tenmoku Black, Mossy Mahogany, Midnight Peacock, Spruce Juice, Verdigris Sage, Prussian Peacock, Emily’s Persimmon, Green Leopard, Quartz Clear, Moss Agate, Chalk White, and others. I develop my glazes from the ground up and take pride in the fact that I have educated myself on glaze chemistry as well as I have.
On one hand, I am flattered that people like my glazes enough to be searching for their recipes by name. On the other hand, I am dumbfounded that people would spend the time and energy hunting around on the internet instead of just writing to me and asking me directly. If you appreciate my work, please do me the favor of telling me so. I take it as a huge compliment. You can post a comment here, and I’ll respond.
There are exceptions to the “lurkers”, of course. Just last week a very nice fellow emailed me asking for recipes. It was a pleasure to talk to him and get to meet a fellow potter.
I come from a science background. When you do research, you publish papers in peer reviewed journals and get credit for your work. You’re recognized for the accomplishments you’ve made by others in your field. Someone can always go back to that publication and find out what you did and how you did it. The convention is, you give them credit for that work when you build on it. I find this is lacking in the field of glaze chemistry where studio potters are concerned. If you are using a recipe someone has given you, then give them credit for it. There’s no shame in using someone else’s glazes as long as the usage is honest and straightforward. The converse is also true. When you’ve busted your bum and worked out a killer glaze formula, you get the privilege of naming it and calling it your own.
So please, just ask. My recipes are not published anywhere by me, and I’m pretty sure Rob isn’t selling them on the black market. I look forward to meeting other artists and always enjoy discussing glazes.
Thanks Y’all,
Emily