Turtle Whistle Glazed and Mold Making
Before leaving for our camping trip, my daughter’s and my clay whistle survived the kiln firing. It whistles even better now that it’s been glazed. This project showed me how far the reach of the internet is after a gentleman from Thailand emailed me wondering how he and his son could make a whistle of their own. He relayed that his son was autistic and loved using clay to make animals and such. I think they were going to try to make a dinosaur whistle. I asked him to email a photograph of their finished piece so that I can share their masterpiece on my blog.
In another fortunate turn of events, I snapped this bowl in half while dipping the bisqued piece in glaze. There’s a delicate balance between holding the piece to be glazed firmly with the dipping tongs, yet not with such an iron grip that damage is done to the bisque ware. Being the amazon that I am, I used my brute strength to break this bowl. While initially irritated with my inattentiveness, I marveled at the cross section of my bowl. I’ve been working on my throwing skills in an effort to achieve even thin walls in my thrown work. After seeing this bowl, I think I’m getting there.
In an effort to save time and to be able to produce a small production line, I’ve decided to learn about mold making. I picked up this book from the library this past week on how to make my own custom ceramic molds. It entails making an original and then casting the piece in pottery plaster so that multiples of the form can be made by either press molding or slip casting.
There’s a certain romance in throwing every single piece on the potter’s wheel, and I initially turned my nose down at the casting process. The form can speak for itself, but more and more I’m beginning to think that the form is a blank vessel for how the artist choses to finish the piece, much like a painter looks at a canvas before beginning to paint.
Frankly, I think that is where my attention is going to turn – to finishing and decoration. It’s already begun to a certain extent with my exploration of image transfer on clay. Today, I’m going to take a little trip to Kozo Fine Art Materials in Denver to pick up some print making medium to mix with underglaze so that I can start screen printing on both greenware and bisque ware. Also, I still need to order overglaze colors to make some custom decals.
Meanwhile, I normally try to post every other day, but have been side-lined with household projects since we returned from vacation. I think I mentioned that our home is going to be on the West Wash Park Home Tour on September 8th and we’ve been busy painting, re-upholstering furniture, landscaping and general spruce up of our home. Nothing like having hundreds of strangers walking through one’s home to light a fire under our behinds. The good news is that once the home tour has passed, our house is going to be in tip top shape and we’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Finally, Highwater Clay in Asheville, NC asked me to pass this onto any fellow ceramic artists out there: Lindsay Pichaske is presenting a workshop, “Living Forms, Narrative Pieces†every Monday starting August 20th through October 6th. Obviously, this might be a challenge for out of state folks, but would be perfect for NC residents!
[nancy + andy]
August 6, 2007 at 5:45 pm //
Hey Cynthia!
Does your mold-making book still have the plaster batch calculator? If not, I recommend buying this book just for that tool.
While this is one of the tougher books on mold-making it is also the most thorough. Making a line of production molds is not easy, but when everything is finished and working smoothly it is very rewarding.
Wishing you the best of luck in your new endeavor,
Andy
Cynthia
August 6, 2007 at 6:09 pm //
Hi Andy, yes the book does have the calculator inside the front cover. I think I will most likely go ahead and buy this one. Thanks for the comments…
michelle
August 6, 2007 at 6:14 pm //
I recently bought a print gocco to explore using my drawings on my ceramic pieces, but I am still in a quandry about it, i like to make each piece unique and love the process of drawing/etching on the clay. I would love to get my hands on the printing on clay book.
we recently moved to SC and I was able to visit highwater just as they were closing, what an amazing place! I hope to visit again very soon!
Anonymous
August 6, 2007 at 6:53 pm //
That sounds like fun, my daughter and I will try making a whistle with this book.
Have fun camping!
folding cot queen size
Angela
August 6, 2007 at 7:15 pm //
Ohhh how cute! That turtle whistle is absolutely wonderful! Great post! Thanks for sharing!
*HUGS*
jafabrit
August 6, 2007 at 7:31 pm //
I love how your whistle turned out
dinahmow
August 6, 2007 at 10:17 pm //
See…Larry is already doing good things for you!
Cynthia
August 6, 2007 at 10:33 pm //
I almost bought a print gocco Michelle – so I look forward to seeing your work! I decided to try traditional screen printing mainly because the print gocco is so small.
Already been camping Anonymous…
Thank you Angela – I’m still thinking about the ceramic aceos too…
Thanks, JB and I swear, Larry winks at me sometimes, Dinah!
mudheartpottery
August 6, 2007 at 11:02 pm //
Love that whistle – turtles feature in this part of the world – Janey Creek,Mapoon, run a Turtle Camp. Visitors can stay and help fence off nests to keep the feral pigs away and also pick up the kilometres of ghost nets which wash ashore. This is where my friend Zoe picks up her little shells to make necklaces – mind you huge crocs walk across that beach as well so her husband usually watches while she collects!
Janvangogh
August 7, 2007 at 2:20 am //
Cool how the whistle made the connection across the globe.
You know, the broken bowl looks like the perfect surface for a painting of sorts. One with a story.
Cynthia
August 7, 2007 at 11:34 am //
That sounds really interesting, Mudheart! A neighbor of mine has a turtle refuge in her back yard, but doesn’t have to watch for crocs, only squirrels.
I just hope he emails me back a photo of their work together, Janet.
The Lone Beader
August 7, 2007 at 11:47 am //
The turtle is cute! I like the colour he turned out to be, too:)
Pinky
August 7, 2007 at 1:22 pm //
You sound like you are going at full steam! I really like the way the turtle turned out and I do hope the man from Thailand sends pictures.
Keep rocking, girl!
Chi
August 7, 2007 at 3:08 pm //
It’s good to hear you are tackling mold making too. I bought a book, some plaster, and slip last week to try my hands at it. Can’t wait to read about your progress on this matter. Good luck and have fun!
Mary Timme
August 7, 2007 at 4:49 pm //
Hey Brute Strength Girl,
The split of the bowl is amazing. I’m always interested in cross-sections of anything. And the body of your work is amazing! Also, I want to buy some earring for a friend from you. I’ll try emailing from here and see if reaches you.
Anonymous
August 7, 2007 at 11:07 pm //
Love your blog.. have you looked at Circa Ceramics on etsy. They have photo’s on flicker showing thier casting, they also do transfers.
All the best, and keep up the great work.
Mary
August 8, 2007 at 3:17 pm //
Cynthia, your turtle whistle is to die for. It is excellent work! I think soon we will be seeing your ceramic pieces in exclusive design shops.
Cynthia
August 8, 2007 at 7:55 pm //
I like the turtle too, Diana, and am going to try to perfect my craft making clay whistles.
Speaking from a woman who is herself going full steam, Pinky!!
I’m going to start with some of the simpler molds, Chi like making a press mold. A casting mold looks like it’s a lot more steps and requires more accuracy, don’t you think?
Didn’t receive your email, Mary…I’d be glad to make a custom color if you like??
Circa Ceramics work rocks, Anonymous!
Thanks, Mary – you made me smile!
Pam McFadyen
August 8, 2007 at 9:39 pm //
What a fabulous cross section! Its almost worth the loss of a beautiful bowl…You must have amazing biceps
Lynette
August 12, 2007 at 6:53 am //
I love your turtle whistle and what a beautiful glaze he has!