Peacock Glaze Technique

People often ask me about the mesmerizing peacock glaze technique, so I’ve put together photos and a brief write-up of each stage involved in crafting these handmade pieces. You’ll also find details about their functionality, craftsmanship, dimensions, and materials. Inspired by a technique popularized by Mayco, the peacock glaze technique adds a vibrant, unique finish to each piece.

"Plastic" clay

Clay is soft, wet, and easily formed into shapes by throwing on the pottery wheel. Examples of clay bodies include Laguna B-Mix 5 WC401, and Standard 182 Angel White. 2.5 to 2.9 lbs of clay is used.

Wheel thrown bowl

A spinning potter's wheel is used to shape the bowl with hands (called "throwing"). After throwing, it will partially dry under plastic for days.

Leather hard/trimming

Excess clay is removed from the bottom of the pot using a trimming tool to create the final shape. Clay trimming come off as smooth ribbons and are recycled to create future pots.

Bisqueware

After the pot is bone dry and fragile, it's called greenware and is ready to be bisque fired in an electric kiln to cone 06 (1830F) for about 12 hours. It comes out of the kiln called bisqueware and is porous.

Glazing

Guidelines are drawn in pencil around the interior of the bowl. This will help keep the peacock glaze design symmetrical. The pencil marks will burn completely away when fired.

Ws

Ws of flux are applied with an applicator, within the pencil guidelines. In this case, Mayco SW-401 Light Flux is used. Two coats. Flux is a type of glaze that encourages other glazes to flow. By itself, flux is a boring cream color, but when combined with other glazes, it creates new and unexpected colors to emerge.

Dots

Dots of heavily pigmented glaze are placed at the bottom of each of the Ws. In this case, Mayco SC-074 Hot Tamale is used for both the top and bottom rows. Two coats. Normally Stroke & Coat is stable and will not move; however, the flux will make it mobile and fluid.

Cover

A cover glaze is applied over the entire surface (interior and exterior ) by brushing, dipping, spraying, or pouring. In this case, Mayco SW-176 Sandstone is used. Three coats brushed on. It contains crystals that expand with additional bursts of color during the firing.

Finished glazeware

After firing in an electric kiln to cone 6 (2232F) for about 12 hours, the pot comes out of the kiln in a finished state. A diamond sanding pad is used on the bottom of the foot to make it smooth so it doesn't scratch your table.

In it's finished state, each bowl measures approximately 2-3/8" to 2-6/8" H x 6-7/8" to 7-2/8" W, and weighs 1.4 to 1.6 lbs.

Every handcrafted bowl is a unique creation of clay art, with no two ever being exactly alike. Each piece carries its own distinct character and charm.

The entire process from start to finish takes approximately 4 weeks, sometimes longer (drying time, waiting to be fired, kiln maintenance, etc.). The glazing, from pencil lines to cover glaze, can take up to 3 hours per pot to create the intricate and detailed peacock design.

All peacock bowls are food safe, microwave safe, and dishwasher safe.

See this technique in action in my portfolio.

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