Internationally acclaimed ceramic artists Rod & Denyse Simair have represented Canada in major exhibitions in Europe and North America. They are the recipients of the highest international honour that has been awarded exclusively for Crystalline, Le Grand Prix du Jury, at Crystallines 2005 in France. The Simairs combine their talents with Rod's elegant and masterfully thrown original porcelain designs harmoniously brought to fruition through Denyse's personally researched, formulated and fired macro-crystalline glazes. They describe their pieces as "heirloom keepsakes of aesthetically inspiring ceramic art to cherish now and for generations to come".

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This award-winning couple are-all in on crystal glazes. They have learned that success is about data. A lot of data. Thousands of pictures, hundreds of firing schedules, hundreds of recipes, endless notes all come together in the growth of crystals like these! Notice the clear background, no micro-crystals fogging it up. Notice that two fundamentally different types of crystals are being grown. Not to be ignored is the throwing skill it takes to make a porcelain piece like this, these are not small pieces.

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Close-up of a crystalline glaze. These crystals grow because both the glaze chemistry and the firing schedule have been tuned specifically to make that happen. The melt must be very fluid, so they contain lots of flux and very little Al2O3 (since alumina stiffens the melt and inhibits crystal growth). They also contain lots of ZnO and enough SiO2 to form zinc-silicate crystals. Since clays and feldspars contribute alumina, crystalline recipes use very little of either, relying on frits and other low-alumina materials.
This is very much DIY territory. You test, adjust, document and repeat. The best crystalline glaze people often do hundreds of firings to dial in a recipe and firing schedule.
| URLs |
https://www.simair.ca/
Rod and Denyse Simair - Crystalline glazes |
| Glossary |
Crystalline glazes
A type of ceramic glaze made by potters. Giant multicolored crystals are grown on a super gloss low alumina high zinc glaze by controlling multiple holds and soaks during cooling in the kiln. |
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