Glaze Course - Lesson Summaries
Home
Line Blends
Lesson Number 10
The technique of blending glaze recipes and or raw materials has been used by potters and glaze researchers for many years (perhaps we do not know how long). The technique is called line blending and involves the mixing of materials in a carefully structured way in search of new or sometimes quite predictable results.

The emphasis with this approach is structure. The process must be carefully planned and executed so that the multiple effects which come from the test firing of the samples in the blend will be able to be reproduced.

Line blending is essentially a technique used to explore change in a glaze. Often we know roughly what changes should be made to a glaze in order to achieve a particular quality but just how much change should be made is a much more difficult decision to make. Line blending enables the researcher to "bracket" the change i.e. we go from a small change to a large one in the hope that the blend will reveal more exactly what degree of change is actually necessary.

This unit looks at the planning and construction of various kinds of line blends and suggests how they can be used to assist in the design, and manipulation of glazes.

Full lessons contain content and activities not listed above. More lessons will be added to this list as they are completed.
Back
Next Lesson

Contact: Lawrence Ewing - 1015 Ellis Rd, Five Rivers, RD3, Lumsden, Northern Southland,
New Zealand
Email: lawrenceewing8@gmail.com