Ben III's Multi-Layer glaze provides a beautiful example of how wood firing can be a great platform for serendipitous glaze formation. As the wood burns, ash floats up into the atmosphere of the kiln and settles onto the pots. The ash itself creates a glaze as it melts on the very hot pot. The brilliant cobalt blue and natural ash glaze accent the contour of this bottle. Measuring 14.25"w x 26"h.
Please Note: What appear to be white spots on the surface are reflections from photo lighting.
Multi-Layer Glazes
While Ben III was in college in the 1990s, he was introduced to a spraying technique with an air-driven spray gun that some potters use to build up layers of glazes on the clay surface. With some experimenting, he was able to create a variety of finishes using accents of three or four different colors and using an ash glaze as a top coat to blend or bleach the underlying colors. Some finishes are a base of iron yellow with cobalt blue or copper green covered with orange to silver developing from the overlapping colors. Each pot is unique. As a similar process to Natural Ash Glazes, Ben III frequently places these finishes in the wood kiln to accentuate the colors as well.
This piece is hand-signed by Ben Owen III with the year made (2025).