In my next series of journal entries I will be posting a record of all the blue and white glaze tests completed in the summer of 2025 while working with my studio assistant Abtahi Hassan. Abtahi received an Undergraduate Research Award, a University of Manitoba program that allows students to work side-by-side with a professor of their choice in an assistant/ mentorship situation from May through August. Abtahi and I worked together everyday in the ceramics studio at the School of Art experimenting and discovering techniques and glazes inspired by Anabaptist ceramics, also known as Habanware.
Additional funding from the SSHRC Insight Grant I received will allow for my research on Anabaptist ceramics to continue and expand as I investigate the research/creation potential of this obscure branch of ceramics, tied to my own heritage.
Eventually I will be creating an open-source database with the support of my SSHRC Insight funding that will include images of the myriad number of glaze tests we produced, along with recipes and methods used, plus videos of the various techniques explored. The blue and white tests will be divided into six categories:
- Maiolica glazes
- Overglaze stains on maiolica
- Overglaze stains on terra sigillata
- Overglaze stains on vitreous engobes (also known as vitreous slips)
- Crawl glazes
- Marbling techniques
Examples of Blue and White Tests
Photography by Michael Zajac
