Almost, and that is what made me curious about Ware Glaze in the first place.
For this project, I worked with Ware to create five custom glaze colors from specific color references. Instead of choosing the closest option from an existing glaze line, the idea was to start with the color itself and formulate a glaze around it.
Then I tested the glazes in my own studio, on my own clay and handbuilt FromFran forms.
It became an experiment in two things I think about constantly in ceramics: color and form.
What is a custom ceramic glaze?
A custom ceramic glaze is formulated around a particular color or surface rather than selected from a standard collection of ready-made glazes.
With Ware, you can start with a color reference and select the firing temperature and finish you are working with. The glaze is then formulated around those parameters.
That matters because ceramic glaze color isn't as simple as matching paint.
A glaze changes during firing, and the final result can be affected by the glaze chemistry, clay body, firing temperature, application thickness, kiln conditions, and even the form it is applied to.
So when I say color matching, I don't mean entering a digital color value and expecting an identical result straight from the kiln. The useful part is being able to begin with a very specific color direction and develop a glaze around the actual ceramic process.
Why custom glaze changes how you design pottery
Most of us work the other way around.
You make a pot first. Then you look through the glazes you already own and decide which one gets closest to what you imagined.
Custom glaze lets you reverse that process.
You can begin with a color from a painting, textile, object, photograph, or palette and ask:
What would this color look like as a ceramic surface?
My background is in textiles and pattern, so I tend to think about palettes very early in the design process. Being able to start with a specific color gave me a different way to think about the relationship between the surface and the vessel underneath it.
Instead of glaze being the final decoration, it became part of the design from the beginning.
How ceramic glaze color matching works
For this collaboration, I started with five color references.
From there, Ware formulated five custom ceramic glazes for my firing range. I then glazed and fired them myself in my studio.
This last part is important.
A glaze can behave differently depending on the clay body, firing schedule, application, and kiln. That's why I always recommend testing a new glaze before committing it to an important piece.
For my own tests, I wanted to see not only whether I liked the color, but how it behaved across an actual three-dimensional vessel.
A flat test tile tells you a lot.
A pot tells you something different.
Edges, curves, changes in thickness, shadows, light, and the color of the clay underneath can all affect how we perceive the finished glaze.
The other half of the experiment: form
Once I had these very specific colors, I didn't want to put them on forms I had already made dozens of times.
I wanted to use the project as an excuse to experiment with shape too.
That's where my pottery templates came in.
I design my templates so a vessel begins as a flat shape on the table and becomes three-dimensional through slab building.
For me, that combination became the interesting part of this experiment:
a glaze developed around a specific color + a vessel developed from a specific flat shape.
If you want to experiment with form in the same way, you can explore my pottery template booklets and build one of the forms yourself.
Five custom glazes, five handbuilt forms
I created five glaze and vessel combinations for this project.
I'll be sharing each one individually so you can see the original color reference, the raw glaze, the application, and finally how the color changes after firing.
One thing I love about ceramics is that the final color is never fully experienced until the kiln opens.
Some raw glazes look surprisingly close to their fired color.
Others look completely unrelated.
And even when a glaze has been carefully formulated, firing remains part of the process.
What I learned from testing custom pottery glazes
The biggest lesson wasn't simply that I could request a very specific color.
Color, clay, surface, and form aren't separate decisions. They affect how we perceive one another.
That's something I want to experiment with much more in future work.
If you're trying a custom glaze yourself, my main recommendation is simple: test it on the clay body and firing schedule you actually use.
And if possible, go one step beyond the test tile and try it on a small three-dimensional form too.
A glaze that looks beautiful on a flat tile can read very differently once it starts moving around a vessel.
Frequently asked questions about custom ceramic glaze
Can ceramic glaze be matched to a specific color?
Yes, a color reference can be used as the target for developing a custom ceramic glaze. However, fired ceramics aren't the same as paint or digital color: the final result is influenced by glaze chemistry, clay body, firing temperature, application, and kiln conditions. Testing is still an important part of the process.
Can you match a pottery glaze to a Pantone or paint color?
A Pantone chip, paint color, photograph, object, or other color reference can provide a target for glaze development. The fired ceramic result should be evaluated physically rather than expecting a digital color value to translate perfectly into glaze.
Does clay body affect glaze color?
Yes. The same glaze can look different over white porcelain, buff stoneware, speckled clay, or darker clay bodies. Clay and glaze also interact chemically during firing, which is another reason I recommend testing.
Does firing temperature affect glaze color?
Absolutely. Ceramic glazes are formulated for specific firing ranges, and changing temperature can alter color, surface, melt, and glaze fit. Use a glaze within the firing range it was designed for and test it in your kiln.
Will the raw glaze look like the fired glaze?
Some glazes look similar before and after firing, while others change dramatically as the glaze materials melt and react in the kiln.
Do I need a pottery wheel to make the forms shown here?
No. The vessels I use with my FromFran templates are slab-built by hand. The pieces shown here are from the Cacharritos booklet.
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