Deep Dive: Natural & Ash Glazes

A complete guide to ash glazes and natural materials, made simple.

Learn to source, make and apply your own clean, non-toxic glazes, each one deeply unique. You won't need to wrestle with chemistry, and you won't touch the toxic materials so many of us were never warned about.

This course is for the ceramicist who is ready to move beyond commercial glazes and create something truly their own. You won't have to become a scientist working with strange chemicals. Instead, you'll bring nature and creativity into your home and work from there.

If you're a born chemist, though, this course probably isn't for you ;)

What you'll learn

Foundation: Rooted in the Earth

A warm welcome, plus safety with raw materials, including health and pregnancy
Tools, equipment, and understanding clay, ash and natural minerals
What makes a glaze, and how to source and prepare your own ash
Clean ingredients and mixing your first glaze

Making & Testing: Into the Fire

Testing and firing, kiln temperatures and cones, and keeping track of results
Applying and combining glazes
Discovering your personal glaze and creative palette

Your Own Glaze: Finding Your Voice

Adapting a tested recipe into your own, and troubleshooting glazes
The creative path of the alchemist
Wabi-sabi, fermentation and food safety

What's included

A 12-week journey into natural and ash glazes, with lessons you follow at your own rhythm and live moments where we meet, check in and work through it together.

Self-paced video lessons, yours to keep. Every step is covered, from sourcing, safety, getting to know you natural materials to making, testing, firing and adapting recipes. Watch when it suits you and come back whenever you need.
Live online sessions along the way. We begin with a guided onboarding. Over the 12 weeks, live Creative Expression sessions let us dive deeper into your process, answer questions and learn even more then the practical side of glazing. Every session is recorded, so you won't miss anything.

Bonus

Tested glaze recipes, ready to use: no guesswork, no formulas to decode.
A glaze calculator, so you never have to calculate a recipe yourself, test batches included.
A community group with me and other makers doing this alongside you.

My journey — overcoming the panic surrounding ceramics glazing

When I started ceramics, glazing overwhelmed me. For two years I didn't glaze a single piece. I didn't even dare walk into the mixing room because of the toxic materials. So I worked on my skills instead.

Then I tried pre-made glazes. That didn't feel right either: I didn't know what was in them, or whether I wanted those ingredients in my kitchen.

So I went looking for natural materials, and found ash glazes. I fell deeply in love. The magic of it. The connection with creation and nature.

One day I want to look my child in the eyes and say I tried my best to leave him a better world. In this course, I share everything I've learned, so you can bring natural glazing into your own grounded art practice.

agenda

Twelve weeks, three phases

From 22 October to 4 February, we move through natural and ash glazing step by step. Some weeks we meet live; others you follow a recorded lesson whenever and wherever you feel most creative.

We start with the foundations: working safely, getting to know your materials and making your first glaze. Then we move into testing and firing. This is where the magic lives, in opening the kiln to see what nature gave back. In the final phase, it becomes yours: your palette, your recipes, your voice.

From 17 December to 7 January, we pause for the holidays, which gives you time to catch up and keep testing. Every lesson stays yours to revisit forever, and every live session is recorded, so nothing is lost if you can't make it.

Phase 1 · Foundation

Rooted in the Earth

Get to know your materials: working safely, understanding clay, ash and minerals, and preparing your own ash. By the end, you'll have mixed your very first glaze.

Phase 2 · Making & Testing

Into the Fire

Test, fire and learn to read the results. There's a studio week for your first test firing, and you'll share tiles with the community and begin to discover your personal palette.

Phase 3 · Your Own Glaze

Finding Your Voice

Adapt recipes into something truly yours and troubleshoot with confidence. Explore wabi-sabi, fermentation and food safety. To finish, we gather as a group to share what you've made, learn from each other's results and ask anything that's still on your mind.

Course Q&A

Are the classes prerecorded or live?

It's a mix of both. You'll get prerecorded lessons to learn at your own pace, plus live online classes where we explore glazing together, and where I can answer your questions directly when they aren't already covered in the course.

Do I need experience in pottery or glaze chemistry?

No chemistry background needed. This course is built for the maker who's ready to start glazing but feels intimidated by the technical side. I break everything down into an easy, approachable process — recipes you can use right away, explained simply.

How long will I have access to the materials?

You'll have lifelong access to this glazing journey, plus access to the recorded live sessions.

Can I extend my access?

Yes, if you need more time, you can extend your access for an additional fee.

Do I need my own kiln?

It helps to have access to a kiln (your own or a shared studio), since we'll be testing and firing glaze samples throughout the course.

Will these glazes be safe and food-safe?

A core part of this course is moving away from toxic materials. I'll show you how I test and use clean ingredients, and which glazes are suitable for functional, food-safe pieces.

Do I need to source my own ash or raw materials?

I'll guide you on where and how to find and prepare natural materials, including ash, so you can start with what's available to you.

Is this course only about following recipes, or will I learn to create my own?

Both. You'll start with tested, ready-to-use recipes so you can get beautiful results immediately, and as we go, you'll learn the foundations that let you start adjusting and creating glazes that are truly your own.

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Made Simple

Natural Ash Glazing