Ash Glazes
Jeff began experimenting with ash glazes many years ago. Grapevine ash, the ash that remains after cane is burned following the grape harvest, offers an abundant local resource. Ash is carbon, which turns into silica (a major ingredient of most glazes) when heated to a very high temperature. And silica, heated very high, yields glass (or glaze). The subtle variations in our ash glazes reflect differences in the soil the vines have grown in.Sally inlays the ash glaze into our iron-saturate glaze, making geometric designs or looser bands of decoration to take advantage of the interaction between the two glazes. The most enduring of the geometric designs is the honeycomb pattern, which appeared on the cover of Napa Style's first Fall catalog.
Blue and Green Clay
Another ongoing experiment involves coloring white stoneware with oxides of cobalt and/or copper to yield subtle blues and greens with a transparent glaze. The results are often a surprise to us and we do not take orders for these pieces.