Amaco Potter’s Choice glazes are a line of cone 5 to 6 stoneware glazes known for layered, variegated finishes that mimic the depth of cone 10 reduction firing without needing a reduction kiln. They’re widely trusted across studios for reliable, richly textured results, though they’re not the only option worth considering for every piece.
Ask around any studio long enough and the name Potter’s Choice comes up sooner or later. It’s one of those glaze lines that seems to get mentioned in almost every glazing conversation, and for good reason. Here at Le Studio Art Space in Mordialloc, it’s one of the first lines we point newer members toward once they’re ready to move past basic solid colours, so here’s an honest, practical rundown of what makes amaco potter’s choice worth knowing before you commit a piece to it.
What The Potter’s Choice Line Is
Potter’s Choice sits within Amaco’s broader glaze catalogue as a mid to high fire option, formulated specifically for cone 5 to 6 stoneware and porcelain clay bodies. You apply it to cone 04 bisque, then fire the piece to cone 5 or 6 in an oxidation kiln, which is the standard setup most electric kilns in a shared studio actually use.
What sets the line apart from Amaco’s more straightforward glazes is its design intent. These glazes were developed to give potters working in oxidation the kind of rich, layered surface usually associated with cone 10 reduction firing, without needing a gas kiln or the more demanding reduction atmosphere that comes with it. That’s a meaningful distinction for a studio like ours, where multiple members share electric kilns and reduction firing simply isn’t part of the regular rotation.
The line spans dozens of individual glazes, each with its own colour code, and they’re formulated to be lead-free and suitable for functional ware when used and fired correctly. Most studios that stock Potter’s Choice keep a good spread of the range on hand, since so many combinations get used in layering.
What Makes Potter’s Choice Different From Standard Glazes
A standard solid-colour glaze gives you a fairly even, predictable surface. Potter’s Choice is built to do the opposite in a controlled way. The glazes are designed to break, pool, and vary in tone depending on the thickness applied and the contours of the piece underneath, so edges, rims, and raised texture all pick up colour differently than flat surfaces do.
That variegation is really the whole point of the line. Rather than a flat, uniform finish, you get genuine depth, with darker breaking colour where the glaze pools thin over texture and richer, deeper tone where it sits thicker. It’s a reactive glaze system in the sense that the final look depends heavily on application, which is part of what makes it satisfying to work with once you understand how it behaves.
Many potters find that this reactive quality is exactly what draws them to the line in the first place, since it rewards a bit of deliberate technique rather than just even brushing or dipping. That said, it does mean results can vary more than a flat glaze, which is worth knowing going in.
How Potter’s Choice Behaves In The Kiln
Application thickness matters more with this line than with most standard glazes. A thin coat tends to show more of the breaking, reactive colour, while a thicker application shifts the balance toward the richer, pooled tone. Most studios recommend two to three even coats as a starting point, adjusting from there once you’ve seen how a particular colour behaves on your own clay body.
Layering is where Potter’s Choice really opens up. The line is specifically formulated to combine well with other Potter’s Choice glazes, as well as Amaco’s Celadon and Shino lines, and many of the most striking results studios show off come from two glazes applied over each other rather than a single colour alone. Some combinations call for an uneven or partial second coat, brushed on rather than dipped, to create breaks and highlights exactly where you want them.
Because reactive glazes are sensitive to kiln placement and firing conditions, results can shift a little between firings and even between kilns, which is worth factoring into your expectations, especially early on.
Cone temperature accuracy plays a bigger role with this line than with a more forgiving standard glaze too. A kiln firing slightly hot or cool relative to the cone rating can noticeably change how much a reactive colour breaks or pools, so if your studio uses cone packs or a well-calibrated controller, that consistency genuinely helps repeat a result you liked.
Popular Potter’s Choice Colours And Effects
Certain colours in the range have built up a genuine following among working potters, largely because they photograph well and behave consistently across different clay bodies. Deep blues and rutiles that break to brown over texture are a common favourite, as are the earthier temmokus and albany-style browns that read almost black where thick and amber where thin.
Greens and textured whites round out another popular corner of the line, often used specifically for their breaking behaviour over carved or stamped texture rather than on a completely smooth surface. If a piece has any surface decoration at all, a reactive Potter’s Choice glaze tends to make that texture do more visual work than a flat glaze ever would.
Beyond individual colours, a lot of the line’s popularity really comes down to combinations. Two specific Potter’s Choice glazes layered together, one applied as a base coat and a second brushed on more sparingly over the top, is where a lot of the line’s signature look actually comes from, rather than any single jar used alone.
What Competing Guides Leave Out
Most write-ups of this line lean heavily on showroom sample tiles and polished product photography, which sets expectations that can be genuinely tricky for a beginner to match on a first attempt. In our experience at Le Studio Art Space’s Ceramic Studio, a first try with a reactive glaze like this often looks flatter or less dramatic than the sample, simply because getting the application thickness and layering technique right takes a firing or two to dial in. That’s normal, not a failure.
Layering two Potter’s Choice glazes together is another area that gets glossed over. Guides tend to say it works well without explaining how unpredictable the exact result can be depending on which glaze goes first, how thick each coat is, and where the piece sits in the kiln. Most studios report that keeping notes on what combinations you’ve tried, and how they turned out, genuinely speeds up getting consistent results.
Cost and access rarely get an honest mention either. Individual jars aren’t the cheapest glazes on a supply shelf, and if you’re just starting out, trying a small selection in a shared studio setting before committing to your own jars is a genuinely sensible way to get a feel for the line first.
Potter’s Choice Versus Standard Amaco Glazes
Amaco’s standard glaze lines, the more straightforward solid colours, are a genuinely good fit when you want a predictable, even finish, particularly on functional ware where consistency matters more than variation. They’re also generally more forgiving of application inconsistencies, which makes them a sensible starting point for a total beginner.
Potter’s Choice earns its place once you’re ready to move past flat colour and want a piece with more visual depth and character. It suits decorative work and pieces with carved or textured surfaces particularly well, since that’s where the breaking, reactive quality has the most to show off.
Neither line is objectively better across the board. Many potters end up using both, reaching for standard glazes on functional pieces where consistency counts and Potter’s Choice on decorative work where a bit of unpredictability is actually part of the appeal.
Budget is worth weighing too. Building a small collection of Potter’s Choice jars for layering costs more upfront than picking up one or two standard solid colours, so it’s reasonable to start with a smaller selection and expand once you know which combinations you actually reach for. There’s no need to buy the whole range before you’ve even tried a single piece.
The best way to understand how Potter’s Choice really behaves is to see it fired and try layering it yourself. Join a glazing session at Le Studio Art Space in Mordialloc and see the results in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amaco Potter’s Choice hard to use for a beginner?
It’s genuinely approachable, but it does reward a bit of practice with application thickness before results feel predictable. Most beginners get a good feel for it within a firing or two, especially with guidance from someone who’s used the line before.
Why did my Potter’s Choice glaze not look like the sample photo?
Sample photos are usually shot from an ideal, well-practiced application, so a first attempt often looks flatter or less dramatic in comparison. In our experience, adjusting coat thickness and trying the same colour again usually closes that gap quickly.
Can I layer two different Potter’s Choice glazes safely?
Yes, the line is specifically formulated to layer well with other Potter’s Choice, Celadon, and Shino glazes. The exact result depends on which goes first and how thick each coat is, so it’s worth testing on a small piece before committing to a larger one.
Is Potter’s Choice food safe for everyday mugs and plates?
When applied and fired correctly to the manufacturer’s specifications, these are lead-free glazes suitable for functional ware. It’s still worth double-checking application guidance for the specific colour you’re using, since some effects require thicker or thinner coats than others.
Do I need a gas kiln to get the Potter’s Choice look?
No, that’s actually the point of the line. It’s formulated to give a reduction-like depth of colour in a standard oxidation electric kiln, which is what most shared studios, including ours, actually fire with.
This article is provided for general educational purposes by Le Studio Art Space and reflects publicly available product information and common studio practice.