The Girls

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Guinea Pig art, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, Pottery Surface Design, , Leave a Comment on The Girls

I was commissioned to make a plate festooned with a picture of The Girls by the same guys I made these hats for. The Girls, in case you couldn’t tell, are guinea pigs.

I made drawings in Procreate from some pictures the boys sent me and transferred them to the plates.

I’m working on terracotta with slips and underglazes.

The pigs in outline.

I was really getting into it before I remembered that I know bupkis about painting fur, much less Guinea Pig fur. Still, I persisted.

I have a backup plate in case the first one doesn’t survive the glaze firing. We’ll see!

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!

Butter Dishes

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Ceramics, Design, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, pottery studio tips, , , , Leave a Comment on Butter Dishes

I’ve paused making mugs in order to tackle making butter dishes.

First, I made a template out of tar paper for the top of the dish.

The tar paper technique lets you build with slabs while they are still malleable. You can build lots of interesting shapes rather quickly.

I made the bottom from a wet slab using a board and foam. Here’s a video showing the technique. Then I added a handle.

Then I decorated the top with some underglaze transfers I screen printed onto newsprint paper.

Here is the decorated butter dish ready for bisque firing.

Ceramic Surface Design

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Ceramics, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, screen printing, , 2 Comments on Ceramic Surface Design

It’s time for another trip down the rabbit hole. I have been dabbling in ceramic surface design on and off for a number of years. You can see some examples here and here. I have been interested in screen printing on ceramic clay. (I got started with screen printing with polymer clay, and wrote a couple of articles on how to burn your own screens for Polymer Cafe Magazine, now out of print.)

I am still interested in screen printing on ceramic clay and have read a lot of articles on the subject. There is a lot more information available now than when I first started. A lot of the early articles threw around terminology without clear explanations. (One that especially galled me was referring to the screen printing medium used on pottery as “ink” without an explanation of the composition of this so-called ink. Not helpful by any stretch of the imagination.)

My current fascination is ceramic decals. As usual, I am more interested in making my own decals than in buying someone else’s designs. The technique basically involves putting a design on newsprint or rice paper with underglaze or another substance that will withstand firing, and transferring it to a pot. There are different types of decals and many ways of making them. I wanted something that was low tech, that could withstand a cone 04 firing, and that used readily available relatively inexpensive materials.

I discovered a video and a tutorial by potter and teacher Kate Missett. They were just what I am looking for! She gives clear, concise directions and doesn’t leave out information that might be useful (like what side of the rice paper to use.)

You can see my first efforts in the pictures below. First, I mixed up some red and black “ceramic ink” for which Missett actually gives the formula, and tried the technique out on newsprint.

Here’s a bare, leather hard pot, the decal (the colors will appear in reverse order on the pot) and the decal applied to the pot.

Here’s the pot after I removed the decal. I decided to put another design on the pot which didn’t transfer so well, but I was able to touch it up. As is usual for me, my first efforts turned out better than my later attempts. I have a long way to go, but I am already enjoying this technique very much!

More Cats in the Pottery Studio

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Cats, Ceramics, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, , , Leave a Comment on More Cats in the Pottery Studio

These three cats are on one mug. I don’t know if they would get along in the real world.

I think this puss would get along with anyone. Well, maybe not a d*g, but who knows?

Smooth Your Bottom

By: ornamento.blog
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Here’s a quick tutorial on how to smooth the bottom of bisque fired pottery. Simply take a square of 80 grit wet-dry sandpaper and affix it to your wheel head with a glue stick. Hold your pot bottom to the sandpaper and spin. This will kick up dust, so you might not want to do it in a shared space. You should also wear a mask. You can sponge a little water onto the sandpaper to unclog it and to cut down on dust. When you’re done, just wipe off the wheel with a towel and it’s clean again.

Always better to start with a smooth bottom though!

Here’s a video I just came across on YouTube with some great pointers for sanding safely. Try dipping the bottom of your pot in water before using the wheel. I think this would be more effective than wetting the sandpaper on the wheel.

A Walk to the Navy Yard

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Navy Yard, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, , , Leave a Comment on A Walk to the Navy Yard

Mary Schneider draws and paints on pottery, but what she depicts is not always the usual fruit, flowers and leaves you might expect to see. The inspiration for her latest creation came from walks to the Philadelphia Navy Yard that she took with a friend during the winter days of the pandemic lockdown. She plans to trade the plate, with the image of the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy for a pen and ink drawing of the same vessel by her walking companion.

Fleisher Student Show 2020
Fleisher Student Show 2020

Little Teapots

By: ornamento.blog
Art, earthenware, pottery, Pottery and Ceramics, Teapot making, teapots, , , Leave a Comment on Little Teapots

I don’t drink much tea, but have become intrigued with making wheel-thrown teapots. Teapots are considered one of the most challenging items a potter can make. Mostly, I suppose because so many elements have to work together at the same time. The handle has to fit ascetically and physically. The spout has to pour efficiently and be placed so you can fill the teapot up. And when you do fill the teapot up, it can’t weigh a bloody ton. It has to be east to handle. And the lid needs to fit properly. You need to be able to get it on and off easily and it has to fit whichever way you put it on. And it has to stay on while you pour the tea, either by itself or be capable of being held in place while the tea is being poured.

And that’s just the physical attributes of the teapot. It also has to look good or at least not suck. I heard someone describe a teapot as a jar with a handle and a spout. Why not a mug with a spout and a lid, I thought? A little teapot to hold a nice cup of tea. I started small and here’s what I came up with.

Here’s what I started out with. Two mug-sized pots, lids, and three spouts each. You’re always supposed to make more spouts than what you need because you are sure to screw one up. Good advice.

Here’s one of the first teapots I put together. You might think it looks OK, but it’s all wrong. The lid is clunky and what about that knob? It’s really not good for much. And who could get two fingers through that handle? The body and spout are OK. I decided to trim the top of the lid which had plenty of clay to spare, and replace the handle.

Here’s the teapot with a trimmed lid and a new handle. I trimmed the lid of the other teapot flat too. I didn’t think a knob would work for either teapot.

My solution? A birdy knob for one teapot and a circle for the other. One third of the circle makes the knob and two thirds of the circle makes a nice handle. And they look like they belong on the same teapot.

I’m usually do underglaze decoration for my pottery. I thought I’d fool around with stains this time.

And here are the finished teapots. The handle on the birdy teapot is not optimal, but it is a vast improvement over how I started. More teapots to come!