WHAT ARE CRYSTALLINE GLAZES?

The surface of clay work is covered with glaze that is a mixture of various materials. Under the influence of temperatures generated in a ceramic kiln, glaze gains permanent colors. One of the glaze type is a crystalline glaze, which, thanks to the proper combination of raw materials and firing cycle, can produce crystals that look like shimmering flowers. You can never know where the crystals appear, it is a random process that representing the uniqueness of objects made by this method. All glazes I create by myself from raw material like frit, zinc, silica ant many others. Crystals can grow in many different shapes, colors, structure, this can compared to form of ice structures saw on cold days. However, in ceramics world, the temperature needed to grow crystals is very very high …

DEMANDING FIRING PROCESS.

To create visible crystals I need to give special circumstances such as proportions of chemical components in glaze, thickness, proper clay body, temperature in the kiln and many other small thing that almost alway matter. Firstly I mix the raw materials and when the glaze is ready I will apply it on ceramic pot. After that, everything goes it to the kiln and I will fire my pots to very hight temperature (even 1290°C / 2354 F). When the kiln stops splitting fire it need to cool down to temperature where crystals can grow. Sometime growing crystals can take few hours. Then I need to wait for the kiln to cool down totally and it also take a while…

AND WHEN I OPEN THE KILN ...

Only then do I know if I was able to meet the intended effect. Sometimes something goes wrong and there are too many crystals or none at all. Opening the kiln is very exciting and addictive, the thrill is what motivates you to continue creating. Discovering new effects, finding out what caused them, is very demanding task. Knowledge of this technique is the quintessence of knowledge about nature and how doe it work. I can only help nature in finding a way to creat more and more beautiful effect. I always say that it was nature that created the result, I only provided the right conditions for it.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT CRYSTALLINE GLAZES:

1. Patterns in the shape of "flowers" that you see on my ceramics are not hand painted, they grow like ice crystals but at high temperatures.
    
2. Crystals are durable and can last for hundreds or even thousands of years, you can compare them to the age-old minerals enclosed in the depths of the caves.
    
3. The glazes that cover the ceramics consist of basic chemical materials such as quartz, metal oxides, ceramic frit, etc., which are in the form of powder.
    
4. One chemical composition of the glaze can give different colors of crystals and backgrounds, e.g. blue crystal and beige background (these are not several different glazes applied on one object!).
    
5. I develop the chemical composition, (i.e. the recipe), through testing that is the most difficult task, which is why I do not publish the composition of my glazes on this page.
    
6. Although every artist working in this technique goes his own way, it happens that they make similar results in the creation of crystals.
    
7. Crystals during firing grow in random places and always have a slightly different structure / size / shape, hence such a great difficulty in obtaining repeatable effects.
    
8. There are many factors that influence the process of creating crystals (temperature, firing time, enamel thickness, surface type, furnace atmosphere, etc.).
    
9. Due to the specificity of crystal glazes, the objects covered with them are not intended to come into contact with food products (hot liquids). That is why I cover insides of household ceramics with other types of glazes, intended for contact with food (white, black, blue glaze).
    
10. There are no two same objects covered with crystal glaze all over the World. Maybe they seem similar but crystals always grow in a different way.
     
11. Having an object made in the crystal technique, you can be sure of its uniqueness and uniqueness! :)