Make a Glaze

Make a Glaze is a steady, practical course for people a little further along their pottery making path, who want to understand what’s really happening inside their glazes.

Rather than treating glaze as something mysterious or untouchable, this course gently pulls back the curtain. You’ll work with raw materials, learn how glazes are built, and begin to see how small changes in recipe and firing lead to very different surfaces and results. The aim is understanding - so you can make considered decisions rather than rely on guesswork.

Across the course, you’ll mix, test and fire your own brushing glazes, building steady, repeatable ways of working that you can carry into your own practice. For many people, this becomes a turning point: the moment glaze starts to feel navigable - not a secret world, but another part of the road.

The course is led by Chris Crawford, whose teaching approach keeps things calm, grounded and practical, with space for questions, testing and reflection as you go.

What you’ll work on

→ Understanding the building blocks of glaze chemistry

→ How raw materials interact inside a glaze

→ Mixing brushing and dipping glazes from base recipes

→ Safe, consistent studio habits when working with glaze materials

→ Testing, recording and interpreting glaze results

→ Learning the logic behind Sunken Studio’s glaze system

→ Using Glazy.org as a working tool for research and documentation

Each session is structured around roughly 50% discussion and theory, and 50% practical mixing, testing and making.

Course structure & outcomes

Duration: 15 hours

Prerequisites: None

Led by: Chris Crawford

By the end of the course, you’ll leave with:

→ At least five usable glazes

→ Fired test tiles

→ Test glaze to take back to your own studio

→ A working understanding of how to continue developing glazes independently

Progression: continuing the work

After completing Make a Glaze, many people continue into Glaze Club.

Glaze Club provides ongoing space and support for:

→ Developing new glaze ideas

→ Refining existing recipes

→ Troubleshooting firing results

→ Building long-term glaze systems through steady practice

Rather than a fixed follow-on course, Glaze Club offers a rhythm: a place to return, refine and keep learning through doing.

Non-members who complete Make a Glaze are invited to attend one complimentary Glaze Club session (5–6pm, the Tuesday following the final class).

What’s included

→ Use of studio glaze resources and equipment

→ Raw materials for in-session testing

→ Fired test tiles and test glaze to take away

→ Ongoing guidance throughout the course

Practical requirements

To take part in the practical sessions, you’ll need:

→ A well-fitted P3 rated respirator (required for working safely with raw materials)

→ A laptop with internet access to use Glazy.org during sessions

→ A notebook if you’d like to keep handwritten notes alongside your digital records

Without a suitable respirator, participation in the practical elements will not be possible.

Savings:

If you’re interested in exploring multiple techniques over several weeks, consider our Foundations in Pottery Making Bundle. This option allows you to enrol in two six-week courses for £500, saving £100. It’s an excellent way to broaden your knowledge across different areas of ceramics.

For more detailed information on our courses, motivations and our resources, please refer to our PROSPECTUS.

For more detailed information on our courses, motivations and our resources, please refer to our PROSPECTUS.

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