08/20/2024
I'm happy to welcome my teacher, Jeff Zamek to do a mix your own glazes workshop at my studio. It's Sept.21/Oct.5, and tuition is $295. I've benefited from Jeff's vast knowledge of his subject, and you will too. To join, DM me. Press release follows:
Learn how to mix your own glazes in a two-day workshop with Jeff Zamek and Dan Bellow at the studio in Great Barrington, Mass., Sept. 21/Oct 5. Just a dozen raw materials, in different combinations and ratio, account for 80 percent of glaze recipes. Once you understand how they interact at temperature, you can learn to use them to create the glaze effects you want. Learn how to make your own glaze formulas for oxidation or reduction atmospheres, or understand how the glazes you buy actually work.
On day 1, September 21, we will mix test batches of glaze from raw materials and put them on test tiles to go in the September firing of Dan’s gas reduction kiln, or in his little electric kiln. All workshop participants are invited to the firing, and each test result will be evaluated in day 2 of the workshop Saturday October 5.
Each test will be evaluated, with the benefit of Jeff’s 50 years of experience firing kilns. He will explain the cause of clay body and glaze defects all potters will encounter sooner or later, and show how to fix them. We are hoping for a large group, so we can take advantage of the many hands make light work phenomenon to mix many glazes and go to school on all the results.
Jeff Zamek walked into a pottery studio 48 years ago and started his career as an amateur potter. After completing a degree in business from Monmouth University, W. Long Branch, NJ he earned B.F.A./M.F.A. degrees in ceramics from Alfred University, College of Ceramics, NY. While there he developed the soda firing system at the college and went on to teach at Simon’s Rock College and Keane College. During this time he earned his living as a professional potter. In 1980 he started Ceramics Consulting Services, a ceramics-consulting firm developing clay body and glaze formulas for ceramics supply companies throughout the United States. He works with individual potters, ceramics companies, and industry, offering technical advice on clays, glazes, kilns, raw materials, ceramic toxicology, and product development. He is a regular contributor to Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, Pottery Production Practices, Clay Times, Studio Potter, Ceramics Technical, and Craft Horizons. Jeff’s books, The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook, What Every Potter Should Know, and Safety in the Ceramics Studio (featuring the safe handling of ceramic materials) and The Potters Health & Safety Questionnaire are available from Jeff Zamek/Ceramics Consulting Services. Jeff is currently working on several ceramics research projects and is making pots as an amateur potter. For technical information call 413.527.7337 or visit www.jeffzamek.com
Daniel Bellow became obsessed with ceramics in high school and apprenticed with Tom White in Northfield, Mass. After a series of real-world experiences, he established the Daniel Bellow Pottery in Great Barrington in 2002. His work has appeared in the Anthropologie and Uncommon Goods catalogs, and in fine galleries nationwide.
