Flux is a ceramic glaze that’s added underneath or over top of another glaze to create movement in the way of mottling, rivulets and streaks. It also highlights hidden colours within a glaze resulting in unexpected combinations. As an example, I used flux over a cerulean blue on the rim of a bowl last week and it unleashed a riot of reds, copper and chartreuse. It’s the element of surprise that makes working with flux so exhilarating. And terrifying. Given how controlled and deliberate I am –- I’ve worked with the same two colours for a decade –– flux is new terrain for me. I feel like each piece is a collaboration between myself, the glaze, the kiln and the clay. There are four of us in this relationship, a kind of wild alchemy with no one in total control. And the outcome can be glorious and disastrous. Regardless, the anticipation has ignited something in me that I haven’t felt about clay in a while; excitement, curiosity, the feeling of starting a new.