The Avenue Gallery Artist Feature - Bill Boyd

Vancouver Island is rife with artists, but Bill Boyd's ceramics are unique. To achieve the stunning colour bursts on the surface of his pieces, Boyd uses a special crystal glaze. The earliest examples of this style were discovered by accident. Ceramists in the late 1800's began to experiment with the technique but ultimately found it to be too expensive and time consuming.

Boyd, who no doubt has much patience, describes the techniques and timing of this process, "I fire my crystal glazed ware to approximately 2300 degrees F. and then hold the temperature in the kiln on cooling between 2000 F. and 1830 F. for approximately 3 to 5 hours depending on the glaze. During this time, the crystals grow larger and larger. Each glaze composition, together with the firing schedule and glaze thickness, makes different forms and colors of crystals. I use cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, iron oxide, copper oxide, and manganese oxide for different colored crystals"

Bill Boyd began making pottery in 1970, in Sweden but the artist now lives on Galiano Island in British Columbia.

See more artwork by Bill Boyd