Wayne Ngan Glazes

Shino

Shino is a generic term for a family of pottery glazes. They tend to range in color from milky white to orange, sometimes with charcoal grey spotting, known as "carbon trap" which is the trapping of carbon in the glaze during the firing process.

Yukon Black

While teaching ceramics at the Shawnigan School of Art, a puzzling clay from the Yukon was brought to him by a visiting student. After working with her for several months, he discovered the clay's potential: a deep black glaze with pristine shine and seemingly bottomless depth.

Salt Glaze

Salt glazing is a centuries old glaze of glossy, translucent and slightly orange-peel-like texture which was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during the higher temperature part of the firing process. Sodium from the salt reacts with silica in the clay body to form a glassy coating of sodium silicate. I’ve seen the colours in examples Mr. Ngan made ranging from clear, tan, brown, various shades of blue and dark green.

Shigaraki

Shigaraki is one of the oldest types of pottery originating in Japan, perhaps a thousand years old or more. Sandy clay is used to form the piece which are then wood fired. Mr. Ngan’s shigaraki ware were fired in his Sung Dynasty kiln which he built in 1984 and used for the next 20 years. Depending on the placement of the piece inside the kiln, the resulting coat of ash and minerals produced varying results. An oatmeal appearance is usually the result, with a greyish to a reddish-brown colorizing the body. Small impurities protrude, caused by embedded quartz partially fired. 

Oilspot

A teacher at Camosun College asked Wayne if he would build a kiln for them, “and then tangentially showed him a gigantic pile of sticky clay in the corner the school's parking lot. It had been there for years and was regarded as a nuisance. The teacher said, "If you want this pile of shit, take it." So Ngan loaded 900 pounds of this clay into his Volkswagen van. Following years of experimentation, it evolved into his signature shimmering oil spot glaze."

Tenmoku

​Description coming...