Every glaze on our shelf, and what it really fires like.
Glaze in the jar and glaze out of the kiln are two different animals. Here is the fired color, the food safety, and the studio tips for every glaze on our shelf.
Please pour glazes into palettes to use them, do not dip brushes directly into glaze containers in order to avoid accidental mixing. Seal the lids tightly when you're done pouring.
Casa Terra is Miami's self-guided pottery and ceramic studio with an in-house kiln. Pick or sculpt a piece, pick your glazes, and we fire it for you. Ready for pickup in about two weeks.
At Casa Terra, we want to introduce you to the world of ceramics. Even our Pottery Painting sessions don’t use generic “paints” - we give you access to professional glazes and underglazes that turn your piece into true ceramic and are completely functional.
Glazes
Glazes are essentially liquid glass. When we fire your glazed piece in our on-site kiln, the glass and mineral particles melt and fuse onto your piece, making it durable, shiny, and waterproof. Glazes can look very different before and after firing - so we have this extensive glaze catalog for you that shows you the expected result.
Underglazes
Underglazes are great for fine detail, text, patterns, etc. Glazes can be runny, which creates very beautiful and fluid effects, but for more precise application that stays exactly where you put it, you should use underglazes. These are technically colored slip, or watered-down pigmented clay. As the name suggests, you should apply them underneath (before) applying glaze. They are matte and a bit chalky on their own, so once your applied underglaze dries, add a layer or two of either colored glaze or clear glaze to give your piece that shiny look and seal it so that it isn’t porous - that way you can use it to hold liquids or wash it and nothing will seep through.
Coats, and one important warning
Glazes become bolder the more coats you apply. Wait a few minutes for each coat to dry, then add one more - typically up to three total glaze coats is more than sufficient. Be very careful not to get glazes on the bottom of your piece where it rests on the table/mat. Because these are glassy, they will fuse to the kiln shelf, and damage both your piece and the kiln. Underglazes are technically made of clay particles, so underglaze applied to the bottom is fine if you’d like to add something like a signature, for example.
The sample pieces
Feel free to use the colored pieces on top of the red cabinet as a guide. The white bowl with blue spots has Mayco’s Peacock Eyes glaze applied to it - this glaze is part of Mayco’s Jungle Gems collection, which has small crystals that break apart in the kiln to create these gorgeous patterns. The green bowl has Mayco’s Bluegrass applied to it - which looks matte and dark grey in the container, but creates the shiny emerald color once fired. The leopard print bowl had the pattern created with brown underglaze and has only had Clear Glaze applied on top to make it shiny. The greenish-gold bowl has Mayco’s Beetlewing applied to it, where some sections were intentionally applied thicker than others so that the thin spots would reveal that gold color once fired.
Getting started
To get started, grab a green mat, your choice of brushes from the silver organizer, palettes from the red cabinet, and your colors of choice. Pour the colors you wish to use into your palettes (please do not dip brushes into the glaze containers), and layer your colors! If you are pottery painting, stick to the colors in the “Pottery Painting and Low Fire Clay” section for best results (bold, strong colors). Do not use these glazes if you have booked a Sculpt & Glaze session and created your pieces from raw clay unless you have specially requested EM100 Low Fire Clay. This can severely damage both the kiln and your pieces - our standard clay is fired at too hot of a temperature for these glazes. If you make a mistake or drop glaze on the desk, don’t worry - some water or a wet paper towel should clean it right up.