Parian Glaze

This next test moves away from clay bodies and into surface—though still rooted firmly in the material itself. I’ve been experimenting with a Parian glaze, starting not from a pre-made recipe, but from the clay in its raw form.

The process began by breaking a handful of Parian clay into small pieces. It’s surprisingly brittle even straight out of the bag, which made it easy to fragment. These pieces were then left on a wooden board in a warm spot to dry out completely.

Once fully dry, the clay was ground down into a fine powder. This stage definitely called for care—done under extraction and with a mask on—as the dust is extremely fine and not something you want to be breathing in. The resulting powder was then carefully weighed to keep the process consistent and repeatable.

Water was added gradually to bring the powder to a reasonably thick, workable consistency. To ensure a smooth result, I used a hand blender to fully disperse the particles and remove any lumps.

From there, the liquid Parian was decanted into a series of small containers, ready for testing.

I plan to fire it in its pure state first, to get a clear sense of how it behaves on its own—surface quality, opacity, and how it interacts with the clay body beneath. Alongside that, I’ll be testing variations with added stains.