Back in the Studio, Testing Wood Ash -1

I’ve made an exciting decision for my return to the studio, I wanted to try a wood ash glaze experiment. I’ve been collecting wood ash for some time now (mostly from oak) and finally decided to sift and prepare it for glaze testing.

As I read more about wood ash glazes, I realized that it's not just about recipes or chemical ratios. It really all starts with the tree itself—where it grew, what kind of soil it fed from, how many seasons it lived through, all of that shapes the ash it leaves behind.

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Some trees reach deep into the ground and draw up magnesium while others take in potassium from the upper layers of the soil. When the wood burns the organic parts disappear but the minerals remain. That powdery residue is what we call wood ash and when it's added to glaze those minerals come back to life on the ceramic surface. Sometimes they create a glossy, glass-like finish, sometimes a rough, matte texture. There's always a bit of surprise a bit of personality.

I see wood ash glazes not just as a method but as a way to approach nature with a humble, learning spirit.

This time I didn’t create a new glaze recipe from scratch. Instead I added the wood ash to two glazes I had already prepared: one of them is a clear glaze I often use and the other is a matte glaze that I was particularly curious about. If you’re planning to experiment with wood ash as well please remember to protect yourself during every step. Do not inhale the ash or touch it when wet.

Ideally ash should be washed before using it in glaze tests. This helps to remove soluble salts and other unwanted materials. But (once again :( ) I forgot to wash it. So these tests were done with unwashed ash.

I don’t have photos from today’s results yet but I’ll share them in the next post. However at the end of this page you’ll find some images from a previous wood ash test tiles. In those test tiles I used a special recipe designed specifically for that batch of ash so I’m expecting very different results this time.

Be aware that this type of glaze tends to be quite runny. If you skip the washing step like I did, the glaze may form pinholes on your test tiles. This is due to the release of gases during firing from the unpurified materials in the ash.

One of the new tests this time also includes a version where I added a pigment to the recipe. Again, that’s something I’ll cover more in the next update, once the firings are done.

Thanks for reading ^_^ I’ll share more soon.