SPRIGGING AND DIVISIONS

 

 

Here is a little lidded jar with the sprigs as decorations. I am using the dark S266 dark brown clay which is excellent with the Coyote Shino Glazes when the surface of the clay undulates and is irregular.

To divide the pot evenly into five sections I made a template of thick paper to fit on the wheel head. The template is marked with lines at 72 degree intervals to create a pentagonal form.


I centered the little jar and used a flat board to push in on the sides. (As I did so, the neck became distorted so I had to straighten it and lighten up on the pressure while flattening the remaining sides.) I then applied a sprig to each little flat area.

Sprigs are shapes made of clay which are attached to the surface of a finished piece. If you are familiar with Wedgewood, you have seen sprigging: all the white figures that stand out from the surface of the blue clay are made with sprigs. Below you see I am pushing soft clay into the bisque mold:


Molds for sprigs are made of clay into which an object has been pressed, thereby creating an indentation in the clay in the shape of that object. The clay mold is then bisque fired and used to create sprigs. To make the sprig itself, soft clay is pressed into the indentation in the bisque mold, and then pulled out to produce a shape that matches the original object. (The bisque mold will release the soft clay easily; a wet metal blade pressed onto the back of the soft clay sprig helps pull it up and out of the mold.)

Below are a couple other pieces which use sprigging as their decoration. A vase, as unglazed and glazed, then an orchid pot as unglazed and glazed.

 

 

 

So, now I have sprigging to add to my collection of favorite ways to decorate my pots! ttfn

 

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Finally! I am in the swing of throwing and glazing and loving it. Just in time for spring to come and pull me away to the dungeon of weeding and weed eating. Here is my most recent kiln load started: Here are some of the glazed pieces from that stack. Looks like someone has some glazing to do! The first I'll share is my favorite new orchid pot! I think I'll try to make enough orchid pots to sell so let me know if it's something you'd like, that will encourage me. I see orchids in the stores more and more everyday, so people might be getting into a new hobby... Here are four new mugs I made using my dark brown clay and one of my new glazes bought from Capitol Clay Arts Company in Charleston, WV. The glaze is another Coyote Cone Six glaze. My other new fascination is yarn bowls. I'm new at this so I haven't ventured out into unusual or interesting piercings yet, but give me time. And finally I'll share one more orchid pot then be done for today. Keep in mind that the drain pan under the pot will be filled with small pebbles and water which will elevate the pot to a nicer, more aesthetically pleasing level. Dial up takes all the fun out of blogging!!! See you next time. ttfn

MY "FRASIER POT"!

Watching shows of Frasier is the only thing that gets me through the agony of walking on the treadmill. They are without a doubt some of the funniest and cleverest people on television. Kudos to their writers! Anyway, on the table behind their couch sits a beautiful pot. I want one. I want to make one! I have tried several times to throw the base and the top but the form is very wide and the angle is only about 30 degrees—it slumps every time. So, I decided I’d make it using slabs. First I made two cardboard forms on which to rest the slabs.

Then I rolled out four slabs and cut the pieces to fit and match on the cardboard forms.

I slid the newspaper out from under, cut the edges at about a 45 degree angle so there would be more surfaces touching each other, scored them and painted them with magic water. Then I let them both stiffen up until it was “safe” to place them one on top of the other. I set one in a bowl for support, cut the edges at a 45 degree angle, then painted them with the magic water and put the two together. This is where they started to lose their shapes and take on personalities of their own…

While these set up a while longer I threw a base and a rim.

BTW you will notice that I am using two different colored clays. The bottom is porcelain, S213 and the top is S240 white stoneware clay scraps that are beige because it is recycled from a lost pot into which I had mixed oxides. I have no idea what color it will fire out to be. I attached the base to the pot but I didn’t like it; it made the whole unit too tall, so I cut the base off the base, put a slab on top and worked it on.

(Too bad I like the shape and form of the first one. Oh well.) I scored and slipped the rims and put them together.

This also looked taller than I wanted so I cut it back (and used the doughnut of the original rim as a hanger for my wind chime doodads. I scratched my signature lines into the top hoping they might distract a little from the lopsidedness of the piece. If I ever try this again (...NOT...) I think I'd go to the trouble to make stronger cardboard forms, maybe even leave them in to support the walls then fire them out. The next step is to see if the seams all separate during the firing.... ttfn

FIRST FIRING OF 2013

Happy New Year!! I'm firing my first (and probably my last) load of low-fire (04-05) clay as I type. I put into the load the first pieces I ever made using Terra Sig. The ts is on a cone 6 clay so I don't know what is going to happen, not knowing anything about what the heck I'm doing. If anyone out there has any advice (although I guess it's too late now, unless you can tell me what to expect over time from a cone 6 clay with terra sig on it) I'm open! Here is my 15 inch tall vase: I tried to make it look a bit like marble when I glazed it.

This next vase is one on which I experimented with hot wax resist. I have parafin in an old electric frypan and heated it to a liquid, then painted on the runes and lines before glazing. It's pretty primitive but I kind of like that. I don't think I'd be able to get very precise lines with hot wax.

These are the dinner plates I made in an effort to fill out a set to go with my favorite coffee mugs. The disadvantage in these plates is that the flat raw brown clay feels rough and not too aesthetically pleasing. But when I glaze the brown clay it loses the contrast from the green glazed area. I'm thinking only the mugs are good for this technique.

Well, back to the potting wheel. ttfn

THE LOST VASE

I've been working with a low-fire clay (doesn't have to be fired at as high a temperature as the other clays I've been using) and I'm finding it's limitations the hard way. I tried to make a tall vase by making it in two sections. First I threw the bottom half, measured it's top with the calipers, then I threw the top half. I opened the clay all the way to the bottom since this part is made "upside down" meaning that when it was turned upside down it would be connected to the top of the first half . I painted the bottom section with colored slip. It looks like camouflage here, but will fire out green and blue. Cobalt Carbonate looks pinkish in its raw state.

the top section, as I said above, is made upside down. The edges of both pieces have been scored and slip or 'magic water' will be applied to help the parts adhere to each other.

As I worked to form the top section, the clay absorbed way too much water and started to deteriorate. I compressed it, hit it with the hair dryer, set it under a warm light and walked away for a couple hours so that I'd not be tempted to keep messing with it. When I came back it was nice and stiff. I applied the magic water to the scored edges and turned it upside town onto the lower section and started to join the seam. Slowly, as I pressed the rib against the join, I saw the bottom section begin to bulge, twist, and blob over...lost.

Back to the wedging table! The good news is we finally got some snow!!!!!!!! YEA! Here are the first foot steps in the snow going into the kiln building.

ttfn

I GOT A GIFFIN GRIP FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!

YEA!!!!!!!!!! I first learned about the Giffin Grip when I was teaching at high school. It is a tool that holds one's pot in place to be trimmed. Yes, I can trim without it, but with it I can check to see if I've done what I intended and put the pot right back into center. I can trim easily on the inside of a pot, and I can center in a hurry!!

I read the instructions and checked to be sure it was like the one I had used at school, and made all the adjustments to fit it onto my wheelhead.

There are posts and pads for five different sizes, reversible handles for plates and small bowls, and I can hardly wait to make a pot that needs to be trimmed!!!

Some people consider this tool a crutch, but I'll take it. My trimming life will be so much more simple and happy now! Thank you sweet husband for my birthday gift! ttfn

Aaaaa, Grasshopper...

BTW, at the end of the blog, way at the end, you'll find I've added an opportunity for you to learn of new posts via your email. Scroll on down if you're interested in that option. My friend has decided to learn how to throw on the wheel, so she comes out after work a couple of days a week and is doing very well! Here are some of her first bowls:

We used up all the white clay, so now we're into the Brooklyn Red. Here she is beginning to center the clay:

We wanted desparately to make a vase this evening, but that never happened. We did finally get a little plate (: and an interesting dish/bowl. Here are some pictures of the steps along the way:

These are the final products for the evening:

Tonight Grasshopper will be here to trim these two bowls and either work on the wheel again, or begin hand building so we can get a VASE! ttfn