Rowhouses

By: ornamento.blog
Art, majolica, Philadelphia History, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, , , Leave a Comment on Rowhouses

I am still experimenting with surface treatments on pottery. This week, I found inspiration in my own backyard. Philadelphia is a city of rowhouses, from multi-million dollar mansions on Delancey Place to more modest homes in the Northeast. I live in a rowhouse in South Philadelphia.

Here’s a plate in progress, with houses, trees, and a sidewalk.

Here’s the top of yet another butter dish. This one’s majolica and it took me forever to draw the houses on all four sides.


Another view. The handle is meant to be clouds. I hope this comes out of the firing without too many flaws. Majolica glaze can be finicky.

The bottom part is meant to be the sidewalk.

Rowhouses are cozy and fuel efficient. You are living close to your neighbors, so you learn to get along. If you want to learn more about row houses, check out the Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual.

Butterfingers!

By: ornamento.blog
Art, majolica, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, , , Leave a Comment on Butterfingers!

I’ve been busy making butter dishes lately, much like my foray into teapots a few years ago.  I decided to try upping my game with Majolica glaze. Majolica pottery, for the uninitiated, is traditionally made from a white, tin-based white glaze used on terra cotta clay, and decorated with glazes over the white glaze.

Here’s a picture of a butter dish that I made from terracotta using the tar paper technique. I show the process here.

Here are a couple of butter dishes after bisque firing. The third butter dish isn’t Majolica; it’s white earthenware with low fire glazes.

Majolica is also a low fire glaze. We fire at cone 06. The above picture is the butter dish top dipped into the Majolica glaze. You are supposed to dip the entire piece in one fell swoop and let it dry without trying to touch up any wet runs or drips. After the glaze is dry, you can smooth out imperfections with your finger, but it’s best not to have them at all. The glaze will not run in firing and hide any goofs. You will see every imperfection which is why you want to make sure the glaze surface is as close to perfect as possible.

The fact that Majolica glaze does not move in firing might seem like a curse, but it is also a blessing. The overglazes you use to decorate stay where you put them. You have a lot more control over the finished product if you know what you’re doing. Something I don’t claim to know.

Here’s a finished butter dish. I have some little pinholes in my finished glaze. I think that’s because I didn’t have a thick enough coat of the Majolica glaze.

So, I’m still a bit of a butterfingers when it comes to Majolica glazing. But I’m learning!

Not Your Mother’s Majolica

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Ceramics, Fleisher Art Memorial, majolica, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, , , 2 Comments on Not Your Mother’s Majolica

Majolica glaze is a white tin or zinc-based glaze that provides a smooth coating on terracotta clay and acts as a perfect foil for underglaze decorations which are painted on top of the Majolica glaze.  The beauty of the Majolica is that it doesn’t move,  so anything you paint on top of it stays put.   For an explanation of the process, press here and here.

Here are some classic examples: tiles from Portugal.

MajolicaTilesPortugal

So I probably should not have been delighted when I took this out of the kiln.

8-out-of-the-kiln

And yet, I was.   To be fair,  I didn’t start off conventionally.  I took a terracotta bud vase, dipped it in a cone 04 dipping glaze called Ice Blue (you can get the recipe in a free booklet on the Ceramic Arts Network site here. ) 

The glaze has chunks in it and it’s supposed to run and collect in crevices.  It can look interesting when you use it on white earthenware (see right) and beyond boring over terracotta (middle). 

We have a bucket of Majolica glaze in the studio and I decided to experiment.  I had to dip the vase three times to get a good coat, letting the glaze dry completely between coats.  You can see the crackling and crazing from the Ice Blue glaze in the right hand picture below that might have looked interesting had it been on the right kind of clay.

7-underglaze-decoration

I let the glaze dry overnight before adding the underglaze decoration.

7-underglaze-decoration

And here’s what I got!  This was fired at cone 06.  I surmise that the Majolica and the underglaze shifted because the Ice Blue glaze beneath it moved.  I am not sure what I expected.  Not everyone will like this, but for me it was a pleasant surprise.