Hints About Firing Colors and Crystals

Odd things happen, when you're firing colors such as reds and greens. Get them too close to another object, and not only do you get grey faded areas on the red or green object, you also get funny shadowing on the neighboring objects.

Keep your red and green glazed objects, at least 6" away from all others on the shelf. It's best to put all the reds on a shelf by themselves.

As for those grey spots on the red glazed objects-these are caused by hot spots. When you put two pieces too close to one another, it causes the two almost touching, to get hotter where they are close together. At those spots, you will note grey areas on your red (and sometimes the green) glaze. This is the main reason for keeping those colors far apart from one another. Another reason is transference of color.

For crystal glazes, one must be careful not to have crystals overhanging another object in the kiln. Sometimes those crystals will run and drip down on the shelf (or worse, another object on the shelf).

Glazes tend to run, so it's wise to use less coverage, close to the bottom of your piece.