Dragonfly

Well...I was feeling a little frustrated by the glazes that I found at the studio. They're interesting but sometimes difficult to understand, so I started experimenting with iron-oxide, aka bengara, and a glaze called shiro-matto. I think this dragonfly looks pretty good, so I've started doing quite a few things with dragonflies painted on them right now.

In my experience the difference between glazes in the US and Japan has been quite significant, some "Japanese" glazes that are popular in the US can be very different here. Kind of like sushi i guess, there aren't any california rolls here if you were wondering... not that anyone would miss it, the sushi here is better than you can imagine.

Anyways, you could also think of raku as an example, but the one that surprised me most was Shino. The Shino I was familiar with back in the states was a carbon trap shino, and it was beautiful, beautiful and dirty, and unpredictable, etc. I know there are a lot of different Shinos, but the one at my studio is nothing like what I've seen in the US. It's weird the things you miss living in a foreign country, I really miss carbon trap shino and this ash crystal mat glaze. I really want a crystal mat glaze, but I can't for the life of me figure out what nepheline syenite is in Japanese. Anyone out there know?