Olive Stone
1156
Olive Stone is a matte brush-on glaze from Spectrum's Texture line, fired cone 4 to cone 6.
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The quick version of Olive Stone
What this glaze does
A very dark olive brown that goes near black in the field, with a dry stony break on the edges.
Clays that suit Olive Stone
Clay body is one of the three variables Spectrum name. On our darker bodies the pale ones in this group go noticeably deeper.
Applying this glaze to your work
Two to three coats on cone 04 bisque. Thickness is one of the three things Spectrum name as moving the fired result, so keep it even unless you want the variation.
Two to three coats on cone 04 bisque. Thickness is one of the three things Spectrum name as moving the fired result, so keep it even unless you want the variation.
Layering
Spectrum recommend overlapping their glazes for new results, and say the fired look depends on firing temperature, glaze thickness and the clay body underneath.
Spectrum recommend overlapping their glazes for new results. On a reactive glaze that is genuinely worth testing on a tile first, because two reactive surfaces together are hard to predict.
From The Clay Hole University
More info about Olive Stone below, but first... Everything we teach about glazing, written down and taught properly. These are the glaze lessons, and they are a small corner of a library that runs from centering your first pot to selling your work.
GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat
GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster
GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool
GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles
GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes
GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands
GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap
GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves
GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher
GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes
GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes
GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes
UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing
UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines
UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
Firing Olive Stone
Spectrum rate these for cone 4 to 6 and fire their own samples at cone 5. Our glaze kilns run cone 5½, so the tile here is the color at our cone.
None of this is yours to manage. We handle everything on the kiln side, and every glaze on our shelves can be fired safely in our studio.
Common problems with Olive Stone
Why does mine look different from the tile?
Thickness and clay body. Spectrum name both as the things that move the result, along with the cone.
Why is the color uneven?
These are reactive by design. Two to three coats gives full coverage; the variation is the glaze doing its job.
Food and function
Spectrum say most of their cone 4 to 6 stoneware glazes are lead free and dinnerware safe. Some of the reactive ones carry an ACMI cautionary label because of copper or vanadium in the wet glaze, which makes them unsuitable for young children or anyone pregnant to handle. Wet only. Fired and cooled, that is not the concern.
Spectrum say most of their cone 4 to 6 stoneware glazes are lead free and dinnerware safe. Some of the reactive ones carry an ACMI cautionary label because of copper or vanadium in the wet glaze, which makes them unsuitable for young children or anyone pregnant to handle. Wet only. Fired and cooled, that is not the concern.
Our test tile pots
Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.
- 1Find the pot The brand and family name are written on the rim. This glaze lives on the Spectrum Texture pot.
- 2Find the tile This one is tile #3. The numbers match the ones in the Glaze Bible.
- 3Read it properly Look at what the glaze does across all four textures, not just what color it is.
What to look at on the tile
Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.
About the Spectrum Texture Family
Nineteen glazes out of Spectrum's 1100 cone 4 to 6 stoneware range, grouped on our shelf by what they do rather than by a Spectrum line name.
Most carry Texture in the name. Spectrum formulate them to react during the firing, which is where the broken, mottled surfaces come from.
Spectrum are direct about what decides the result on these: firing temperature, how thick the glaze goes on, and the clay body underneath. Change any one and you get a different pot. That is the trade with a reactive glaze. Less predictable than a flat color, and considerably more interesting on a carved or thrown surface.
More ways to pick a glaze
Membership levels that may use this glaze: Yellow, Purple & Black
Not sure whether this glaze suits what you are making, or how it works with our system here? Ask an instructor. That is what we are here for, and a two minute conversation at the shelf beats a fired pot you did not want.
About these images and what your pot will actually look like
We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.
Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.
A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.
On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.
Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.