BOYC Medallions Glazed and Finished!

I need to put up a post on the process that these Medallions went through, at BOYCC, but for now I want to show the glazes and explain the choices I made, before I forget! I tried to choose each glaze because of some connection with the person, or some aspect that would play up an aspect of the medallion itself.

(they were sculpted in a workshop at the Convention, and the students varied from amateurs to currently working artists)

Here is the group that I ended up glazing yesterday. There were more medallions, but a couple of the molds went home with their artists right after BOYCC, and Sue Sifton and Deb McDermott will be coming here and glazing theirs separately. So, these six are what we are looking at today.

Cynthia Perry sculpted "Foalie", a sweet little foal head that reminded me of a bronze medal. So, I chose "Patina" as a glaze, which is a matte 'stoneware' finish that I felt would play up the sculptural aspects of "Foalie". Hope you like her, Cynthia!

Jackie Arns-Rossi sculpted this delightful "Kitty". I had a hard time figuring out what glaze to use, because I don't know Jackie that well and the kitty didn't tell me what to use. So I used the Elemental "Blue Ridge", which has breaks of pink, mauve, and tan brown. It has a lovely feel to it, and the way it breaks in the low areas highlights the gentle detail of "Kitty".

Katie Younger-Gehrt sculpted "Happy Happy Koi Koi", a koi fish in a pond with water lilys. It reminds me of an antique Japanese piece of artwork, so I used "China Sea" crackle. You may not be able see the crackling, but it is there and the glaze pools darker in the deep areas. I applied an extra layer to the water areas to enhance this effect slightly. 

Kim Bjorgo-Thorne sculpted this Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, "Dugu", and to play up the very loose and sculptural aspects of the medallion, I used a combination of "China Sea" and "Mocha Cream" crackles, which made an almost granite like color and a crackled finish. 

Kim Knight sculpted this foal head, and since Kim is a geologist, I chose "Smokey Agate" as a glaze. Agate, the mineral, gets "smokey" in the vicinity of radioactivity which makes the tips of the crystals darker than the base. It was one of my favorite minerals when I was collecting them, and I hope Kim likes the finished result!

Melanie Miller sculpted this horse head with a Celtic knot design around the rim, and I wanted to play up the delicate design with an art glaze. I chose "Peacock" because it was a favorite color when I used to do PH awards. "Peacock" lays darker in the deep spots and is also semi translucent, so it shows off the delicacy of the sculpture. 

These medallions, from start to finish, have been an interesting journey for both the artists and the workshop leaders, and finally for me, as I was able to cast and glaze them. Thanks also to Deb McDermott and Sue Sifton, who came and helped to cast and clean them for a very fun day!