Community Resources
We feel so lucky to get to do what we love every day! And it’s all because of the support of our amazing ceramics community!
Stay up to date with our blog articles, podcast, and newsletters below!
If you didn’t know, Ceramic Materials Workshop is a small business.  Our mission is to provide our community with a solid understanding of their glazes and clay to make your studios the best that they can be.  In order to do that, we do all of our testing, research, editing and production in house.  If you find our content helpful, please consider supporting our mission by taking some of our online courses or supporting us via our Patreon.  Our team thanks you for your consideration!
Commercial Ceramic Stain Research
Stop guessing and start choosing stains with confidence. CMW’s newest digital e-book – Stain Spectrum – is a research-driven visual reference library built from two years of rigorous testing by the Ceramic Materials Workshop team. Inside, you will find visual references for 90 ceramic stains, documented within a controlled system to isolate and showcase the true nature and effects of each individual stain.
Each stain is shown through a consistent testing matrix designed for clear, side-by-side comparison. We held the clay body, fit-adjusted base glaze systems, and application method constant—then varied the conditions that actually change color: Cone 6 vs Cone 10, oxidation vs reduction, stain loading from 2.5% to 10%, and thin vs thick application (one dip vs two dips). The result is a practical studio tool for artists, students, and educators who want more predictable outcomes and fewer wasted tests.
Free Courses
Batch, please!
Learn how we mix and batch a glaze!
Self Absorbed
Learn more about clay body absorption and why it’s important.
Glow Up!
Rose shows you how to make a glow in the dark glaze.
Make a Plaster Slab
Learn how we make a plaster slab for testing.Â
CMW UMF Calculators
UMF glaze calculators are designed to assist potters in formulating glazes with specific surfaces and textures in mind. At their core, these calculators utilize the concept of Unity Molecular Formula, which represents the molecular ratios of the materials in the glaze. By inputting the desired materials and their respective proportions, you can generate custom recipes that perfectly align with your artistic vision.
Commercial Clay Body Profile Testing
Over the past several years, the CMW team has collected and tested scores of commercially available clay bodies.  The results are meant to help our students understand how these clay bodies perform to make their studios the best that they can be. Click below button to find results of the bodies that have been tested to date. We plan to add additional profiles as we continue to test additional clay bodies.
Free YouTube Course Content
The CMW Blog
Behind the Scenes of What We’re Working on!Â
Stains in Ceramics
In ceramics, color has a reputation problem. Raw oxides drift, break, bloom, fade, crystallize, and occasionally lie to you outright. They respond to temperature, atmosphere, thickness, chemistry, and timing like a moody organism with opinions. Stains were invented to...
Bisque: Why Your Pottery Needs a “First Bake”
Have you ever wondered why potters fire their work twice? It seems like a lot of extra time and electricity, right? If you’ve ever felt the urge to skip straight to the shiny, colorful "finished" stage, you aren’t alone. But in the world of ceramics, the bisque firing...
Clay Body Profiling – The Truth Behind the Clay
You love your clay body. It's the smooth, reliable workhorse you turn to for mugs, bowls, and dinner plates... But what if the data on the bag, the manufacturer's promise, isn't telling you the full story?At Ceramic Materials Workshop (CMW), we believe in knowing your...
For Flux Sake Podcast
Listen to Our Latest Podcast Episodes.
Ep 125 – Why are my plates cracking?
Unloading a kiln can be an emotional rollercoaster, especially if its filled with a new form that gives you trouble. Today the gang answer a listener question about how to keep plates from cracking, the best temperature for firing terracotta, and if there is a vegan...
Ep 124 – What causes carbon coring in clays?
What is carbon coring, and should we care about it? The term is actually a misnomer, with the real culprit being iron, a common ingredient in reduction fired clays. Today the gang talk about the phenomenon along with questions about kiln safety, and best studio...
Ep 123 – Do I really need to sieve my glazes?
Glaze preparation is a necessary part of the ceramic process, but have you ever wondered why sieving glazes is important? Today the gang talk about various ways to prepare a glaze and why you might not need to sieve as much as you think. They also break down the idea...
The Megan Whetstine Memorial Scholarship
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