Archive for January, 2008

My very rudimentary clay monotype
In preparation for a kid’s art workshop that I’m going to be teaching at the Art Student’s League this coming summer, I decided to attempt making a clay and underglaze monotype outlined in Paul Wandless’ book, Image Transfer on Clay, pg.72. I had limited success, but, to be honest, I didn’t really follow his instructions to a “T”. I didn’t have time to make any slip to transfer my drawing, so I tried using a very wet slab. The results? Not all the image transferred - so I filled in the blanks by directly painting the underglaze onto the printed slab. I will try again next time using either a plaster slab, or a slip applique as outlined in his book. I do think, that by taking the short cut and seeing the results, I learned a lot - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. You just never know until you try.Meanwhile, I’m not impressed with my image and am going to add some interest to the piece after it’s bisqued. Maybe I’ll stamp or screen print more onto the background - I’m going to continue to think about it.

Image Transfer on Clay
This is an awesome book - one I highly recommend if you are interested in combining printmaking techniques and ceramics. Paul’s book has great step by step instructions along with recipes and supplier information. Another good book on the same topic is Ceramics and Print by Paul Scott.
I used the students from my after school kid’s clay class as my guinea pigs for the monotype experiment. After spending an hour glazing their projects from last week, I realized that a 2 hour class wasn’t long enough to do this project. I made an executive decision to scrap clay monotypes and had them draw and paint their designs directly onto their slabs.I have exciting news too - my class is overflowing and now have 13 kids in my Monday class and 18 in my Tuesday class. After trying to teach the class by myself last week and practically re-enacting a scene from Lord of the Flies (where I’m afraid the kids were close to tying me up), I decided I needed help. I just hired a high school student who is taking advanced ceramic classes to help me out. Yesterday was her first day and she’s perfect!

That’s all for today,

~Cynthia

Tags: clay monotype, image transfer on clay, kid's clay classes in Denver, Paul Andrew Wandless

Purse by designer, Eileen Schurer
Sometimes, when I have a little extra clay leftover from a slab type project, I make a few pendants or buttons so that I don’t waste the clay. I participated in a mini craft fair at my daughter’s elementary school last October and met a talented seamstress and designer, Eileen Schurer who promptly bought some of my buttons that I had brought with me. Eileen commissioned me to make about 24 more buttons in various colors to coordinate with some of the fabric that she was using for her gorgeous purses. Purse by designer, Eileen Schurer
Unfortunately, Eileen doesn’t yet have a website, but she’s working on it. It sort of sounds like she’s plenty busy without the added exposure. Purse by designer, Eileen Schurer
Meanwhile, I made more buttons to bring with me to the Fancy Tiger Holiday Handmade show last December and almost sold out. I had no idea that there was such a market for buttons - knitters, sewers, scrap book/altered artists and collectors are rabid about handmade buttons. Who would have thunk? Ceramic Button by moi
When I was at the Fancy Tiger show, I had a lengthy conversation with a woman who bought most of the buttons above for herself and her sister who both collect buttons. She advised me to market these more aggressively - telling me that truly one of kind, fantastic buttons can go for $50.00+ to collectors. That seems like quite a niche market, but one I’m not ready to dive into yet. I decided to do a quick search on ceramic buttons, and found this site - now here’s someone who has found her niche.The woman I spoke with advised me to sign my buttons for added value. Speaking of signatures, someone recently purchased a ceramic pendant from me, but was disappointed that I hadn’t signed it. I regularly sign my other ceramic work, but didn’t realize that people place a value on signatures for buttons and jewelry. What do you think?By the way, if anyone is interested in Eileen’s purses, shoot me an email and I’ll forward it to her.

Have a good week,

~Cynthia

Tags: ceramic buttons, clay button, designer purses, eileen schurer

Every week, I try to either borrow a published lesson plan or make one of my own for my kid’s clay classes. This week the idea came to me from some tumblers I had made in the past few months. I asked each child to bring an empty can with them to class - though it’s wise to bring extras since there’s always a few who forget. I pre-rolled 15 1.5 pound slabs of low fire earthenware clay and brought them to class with me in the interest of saving time since our class time is only 2 hours long.

To make the mug a little more interesting, I used one of my special textured rolling pins to add a little design to the slab. Click here to read about how I made the rolling pin.

I also pre-cut 20 4″ x 11″ pieces of paper to use as a template to cut out the body for the mug. One 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper will make 2 templates and 1 - .5″ handle template. Using a needle tool and the paper template, gently cut out the 4″ x 11″ slab of clay for the body being careful to leave enough room to cut out a handle and a bottom for the mug.

Roll the paper template around the bottom of the can and tape. The paper template should be able to move up and down the can. This will be important later for ease of removing the can from the mug.

Wrap the 4″ x 11″ slab of clay around the paper sleeve and can. There will be extra clay. Using the needle tool, gently slice through the overlapped clay seam and remove the 2 little extra pieces. Overlap the seam and smooth using your fingers. This might obscure some of your imprinted texture, but can be hidden later when you add the handle.

Reposition the can and clay back onto the slab to cut out the bottom.

Using a needle tool, gently cut out a bottom for the mug using the can as a template. Note, the clay is still wrapped around the can at this time.

Gently remove the bottom from the body of the mug and can. Using the needle tool again, score and slip the bottom piece and also the bottom of the body. Attach the bottom to the body of the mug. Use you finger to smooth the seam where the two pieces meet.

Use a damp sponge to wipe around the bottom of the mug to ensure that both pieces are securely attached and for aesthetic reasons.

Either make a handle from a coil, or use the .5″ x 11″ paper template to cut out a handle. Determine a good length for your handle and attach to the body of the mug.

Gently remove the can from the body. The paper template will remain in the mug until it’s set up a bit more. It’s easy to peel away later. Use a 1″ paintbrush dipped in water to run along the inside bottom of the mug to smooth out the interior joint.

Once the mug has dried 24 hours, run a damp sponge along the edges of the lip and the handle to smooth out any burrs. 14 of my student’s mugs are now drying and will be bisque fired on Monday. My class is comprised of 2nd through 5th grade elementary aged students. The 2nd and 3rd graders needed a little bit more help than the older kids, but over all it was a successful project and one I recommend.

Alternate uses are for pencil holders, tumblers and vases.

C’est tout pour aujourd’hui,

~Cynthia

Tags: clay mug lesson for children, pottery lesson plans for children, teaching clay classes to kids