Over the last year, I’ve been interested in artistic methods using natural resources, i.e. materials that have not yet been subjected to the numerous refinement procedures, those that allow a certain isolation and uniformity of raw materials. In the world of ceramics, these practices center, among others, around the collection of wild clay1, the making of glazes using a variety of organic and vegetable ashes2, as well as the confection of glazes from different rocks and minerals3. For me, it was the rocks and minerals that sparked my curiosity.
More precisely, it was the aesthetic possibilities offered by the use of unrefined materials that caught my attention, namely the different textures, tonalities, irregularities and even unpredictability inherent in rocks (see images below). And that, even in its robustness, stone can become an glaze with ephemeral properties, expressing a unique fragility, personality and beauty. I believe that my interest in this type of glaze also stems from the fact that using rock glazes in an electric kiln opens up the possibility of producing, at times, results approaching those produced by firing with wood, soda or salt. Thus, this type of approach is particularly interesting for artists whose circumstances limit their use to an electric kiln and that are possibly seeking a more “rustic” appearance.
In a way, the aim of this project is not so much to reproduce the finishes found in commercial glazes, but to receive what nature offers, while giving it a new body, a new meaning. In other words, to let the rock “speak for itself”. Having said that, I think it would be interesting, for a future project, to carry out chemical analyses to better identify the characteristics of the rocks, i.e. their chemical composition. This would not only help me to understand how the rocks can be transformed into durable and functional glazes, but also to anticipate the possibilities in terms of their textures and tones.
A set of rock glazes made from a small sample of rocks found around the house during the summer of 2023.
Rock glazes : a series
The publications that follow this one will document my glaze-making experiments using, as the main ingredient, rocks that were collected in the summer of 2023, processed in the fall of 2023 and prepared for firing in the early winter of 2023/2024.
This series will include:
- An overview of the processing methods used to transform rocks into fine powder;
- A reflection on the potential of rocks to become glazes by turning our gaze to geology;
- A discussion of the various glaze recipes used;
- And, of course, plenty of videos and photographs of the results.
I’ll leave you with an overview of the 15 rocks used in these experiments.
Thank you !
N
- Levy, M., Shibata, T. et Shibata, H. (2022). Wild Clay: Creating ceramics and glazes from natural and found resources. Bloomsbury Publishing. ↩︎
- De Montmollin, D. et Buté, P. (2020). Pratique des émaux de grès: Minéraux et cendres végétales. Ateliers d’art de France. ↩︎
- Sutherland, B. et Wood, N. (2006). Glazes from Natural Sources (2e édition). University of Pennsylvania Press. ↩︎
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