Five Glaze | Rainy Bray & Ella Watson | Episode 1216

·31 min·3 clips

Rainy Bray and Ella Watson explain why their modular glaze system, Five Glaze, stands out in a crowded market.

Host Paul Blaise opens the episode by sharing he is recovering from illness after attending the NCECA conference. He recounts meeting Rainy Bray and Ella Watson in the lobby, where they gave him a button and sparked a conversation. Rainy and Ella introduce themselves as potters from Arkansas, with Ella focusing on glaze chemistry and Rainy on teaching and marketing. They describe their first NCECA experience as overwhelming but inspiring, highlighting food adventures and meeting Instagram friends in person. The conversation turns to their company, Five Glaze, which they started about two years ago and launched online in August. Five Glaze offers dry batch, one-gallon glazes and five-pound bags in a modular system: potters purchase a base glaze and then add colorant packs to customize. They explain this approach addresses a gap in the market, allowing for creativity without the hassle of raw chemical management. The founders mention working with Duke University on toxicology and being ACMI members to ensure safety. They emphasize sustainability, using paper bags and developing a dry batch pint line to reduce plastic waste. Customer examples include Camilla Critterden, who uses silicon carbide with their glazes for lava effects, and Ari, a functional potter creating custom colors for restaurants. Rainy and Ella detail the inspirations behind their glaze lines: Ophelia is Shakespeare-inspired, with colors like Oberon and Juliet, while Serotonin draws from American nature writers like Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver. They discuss how their partnership works, with Ella as the glaze chemist and Rainy handling marketing and web design. When asked about validating their business idea, they describe taking action without overthinking, hitting early milestones, and setting five-year goals. The episode concludes with their Instagram handles and a promotion for the show's Patreon.

As heard by us

A modular glaze system for potters who want recipes they can tune.

The episode starts with Paul Blaise sounding drained after NSEKA, then settles into Five Glaze, a modular system built around five bases and a widening range of color impacts.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get Five Glaze's modular glaze system, plus a few real studio use cases.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Potters Cast