Slab Built Clay Projects
Lino-Cut Printed Covered Box
I finished the lino-cut printed box on Wednesday and sort of like how it turned out. When I make another, I plan on making the feet larger because I would like to see it raised up just a tad more. I also incorporated the printed flower motif into the knob which works – after bisque firing, it will be decision time in regards to glaze firing since this is always a stumper for me.
In the meantime, I borrowed a Bill van Gilder DVD from the Colorado Potters Guild library about a week ago. The video was produced in 2008 by the Jackson Pottery & Clay Guild and the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History and is titled Bill van Gilder The Functional Pot: Tips, Tools & Techniques. I haven’t watched the entire video yet, but based on what I have watched, Bill has some excellent tips and techniques that he shares with viewers. I think I’d like him in real life – he seems genuine and down to earth.
Slab Bowl with Stamps
This shallow Square shaped bowl is one of the projects that he shares on the DVD – easy to make, and is endlessly customizable to suit one’s style. I just happened to have some rubber stamps sitting around to test adding texture to the project. I rolled out a slab about 8″ square and then centered the slab over a 2″ block of wood. Where it dried inverted until it was leather hard.
Side View of Slab Bowl
The side view of the bowl is pretty dramatic since I gave this a fairly wide rim. I did use stoneware clay in the hopes that the rim won’t slump during glaze firing – but I suppose the results of this experiment will dictate the rim size for future bowls. I also added feet to the base to raise it off the table top ever so slightly.
Oval Slab Bowl with Handles
This oval shaped bowl was also a project that he demoed in the video – and I just happened to have a form that I was able to use to mimic his project. I added hollow shaped slab handles to each end. I can’t remember if he added handles to his or not – he might have used coil handles since he demoed that technique quite a bit in the video.
Oval Slab Bowl with Handles Side View
After taking this photo, I adjusted the height of the left handle to match the right one which sits at a lower angle. Sometimes, my eyes don’t see what the camera does and vice versa. I debated whether to add feet, or a rolled foot to the base, but I knew that I wanted to raise it off the table surface for glazing purposes. When I’ve made slab bowls in the past, that’s one thing I’ve wanted to correct because when there’s a flat expanse in contact with a table top or kiln shelf, it makes glazing a pain in the behind.
Now, I really have to run. My daughter in interviewing at the Denver Center for International Studies this morning for middle school and we don’t want to be late….
Have a great weekend,
~Cynthia
New Lino-Cut Printed Covered Stoneware Box
Flower Lino-Cut Printed Covered Box
Carving house shaped lino-cut
This particular house shaped lino-cut was made for the article that Annie Chrietzberg wrote for the current issue of Pottery Making Illustrated (Jan/Feb 2009 pg 17-20) and this is the first time I’ve actually used it to make something clay related – ’bout time wouldn’t you say? I did just have a flash of an idea as I wrote that last sentence – excuse me while I make a note to self…. Okay, I’m back now and will test my idea later today. In case you’re interested, the house template is 5″ tall from base to peak x 3.25″ wide – the roof begins at 3″ from the base. Don’t ask about the .25″ – it must have been a good idea at the time. Want the template? Click here: house-shaped-template-pdf
Click on one of the images below to see larger construction photos of the “House that Cynthia Built”:
The box is not quite finished yet – I still have to cut the lid off, add some feet and a knob. I made it on Monday, so it should be leather hard by now. I make most of my covered boxes with “stiff slabs” meaning that they are already at the leather hard stage by the time I assemble them. To make this box, however, I used 1 hour old fresh slabs since I needed fairly pliable clay so that I could bend the eves of the roof without worrying about cracking – yet the clay also needed to be slightly stiff so that the walls would not flop over during construction. As with many things in life, timing is everything. 
Meanwhile, I am chaperoning a field trip to the Denver Art Museum and the Colorado History Museum tomorrow with my daughter’s class. I’m bringing my camera and also a sketch pad so that I can get some ideas for new designs. I’m always amazed when I see pottery from eras past - still very fresh – or maybe it’s just that there are only so many things/forms etc. that one can make with clay so we keep reinventing the past? Not sure what the answer is.
See you Friday,
~Cynthia
Bisque Texture Plate
Gingko Bisque Texture Plate about 12 inches x 18 inches
Last fall, I made a bisque texture plate by impressing leaves from a ginkgo tree that I planted in my front yard about 2 years ago. As you can see from the photo, it cracked right smack down the middle (a crack developed along one of the stems while drying and then during bisque firing, the heat did the rest). It doesn’t mean that I can’t use it anymore, but the crack limits the size of work that I can make with it. Each side is still large enough for me to make the base for a hand-built mug (see below) and when I had an hour to spend in my garagio the other day which wasn’t enough time to really get into any kind of production mode, but just long enough to test out some of this plate’s other possibilities.
Hand Built Ginkgo Printed Mug
Ginkgo Texture Close-up
The texture is pretty to look at, but also very delicate and fine which proved a little problematic for printing purposes. After my first try, the impression was spotty at best, so I had to smooth out the clay and try again. Since my bisque plate is fairly delicate, I placed a towel underneath the plate and then put my clay slab on top and used a rubber mallet to make sure that the entire surface would be left with an even impression. After tapping the slab with the mallet, I used a rolling pin and my favorite Sherrill rubber rib to smooth out the clay on the non-printed side.
Ginkgo Plate Trio – still green
Since I knew I didn’t have enough time to make a mug, I decided to make a few small tea bag/soy sauce dipping sized dishes with the amount of clay that I had impressed and ready to go. I’ve been lacking motivation after taking such a long break from my studio, but know that doing something even if it’s small, is a step in the right direction in regards to getting back into some kind of a routine.
Small Ginkgo Plate
As with any type of printing – whether on paper or clay, the reverse is always true and what shows up. If you take another look at the ginkgo mug (above), you’ll notice that the ginkgo leaves are not raised as compared with these little plates. That’s because I impressed actual leaves into the slab I used for the mug, and I used the bisque plate for this one which left a raised impression. I’m not sure which one I like better – I’ll have to decide after I glaze it. If I prefer the former, I’ll have to make another impression of the bisque texture plate and then bisque this one – or wait till spring when my tree leafs out again.
Pink Glazed Flower Pendant
I’m still making jewelry – this one is available in my Etsy Shop for $20.00.
Porcelain pendant with slip inlay – still green
To make the jewelry just a bit more interesting, I tried my hand at doing a bit of mishima or slip inlay on a porcelain pendant. After it’s glazed and fired, I’m going to add a ceramic laser toner decal for a third layer. It might be just a bit too busy with the slip inlay, glaze and decal, but it will be a good experiment. I was a bit too hasty when I removed the excess slip and then I sanded fairly vigorously on top of that. Note to self – don’t rush…. Once it’s fired, I’ll add a silver plated Aanraku bail (used by dichroic glass artists) to the back with epoxy glue.
Meanwhile, ever put the wrong cone in a kiln sitter and not realize your mistake until it was too late? I’ve over fired a kiln once before and you think I would learn, but luckily, this time I put a cooler cone in the sitter rather than a hotter one. Yesterday, I fired the kid’s work for my Tuesday clay class and this morning when I went to pop the lid open, everything looked just plain drab ugly. I grabbed the box of cones that I left laying out near the kiln and luckily I put a cone 018 in the cone 06 glaze fire. Thank goodness I noticed my mistake early enough and since class isn’t until tomorrow afternoon I replaced the cone with the correct one and am refiring the kiln as I write this post. It should be cool by tomorrow morning in time for me to unload and pack the work for class.
Bonus – it’s freezing in Denver today and we’re expecting a high of only 18ºF so my garagio will be nice and toasty when I head out in about an hour to work since one of my kilns is firing.
Have a great week,
~Cynthia
Colorado Potters Guild Website is Finished
Colorado Potters Guild Screen Shot
WHEW, and let me just let out one more extended audible wheeewwwwwwwwwwww for my own benefit. I finally finished the Colorado Potters Guild website today – what a relief! I feel like I can finally get on with my life and I’m sure my family will be happier too since I will no longer be multi tasking every single minute of the day. Go ahead – head on over and take a looksie.
The good news about building a site from scratch is that I benefited from the knowledge I gained from all the mistakes I made on my own site. The bad news is that now I have to fix a lot of stuff on my own site – including my – the archive search is broken, among other things. It’s all good though because my own site isn’t nearly as pressing as the Potter’s Guild site. I’m going to make a list and tackle one or two items a day which will eventually get the job done.
More good news to share – my husband was spared the ax at work which is a relief and now we are making a few plans. I have decided to attend my first ever NCECA conference (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts for you non clay readers) taking place April 8 – 11th in Phoenix this year. I think the family is going to come along, but I’m not sure how much time we’re going to spend together. We have friends in Phoenix that we haven’t seen in awhile, including friends from high school and one of my husband’s college buds and former room mates.
We also renewed our passports recently and are planning to take a summer vacation. Hubby is trying to talk me into a European vacation, I’m still on the fence about where to go. I have to think of the dogs after all – one of them fasts whenever we leave for an extended period of time.
And finally, in regards to my last post about my daughter’s solar heat collector that she made for her school science fair – she won 2nd place overall for her school! Pretty cool if you ask me…. She was relieved because she didn’t want to go to District Science Fair (don’t ask me why, I never got a straight answer) and only the 1st place winner gets to go, but also pleased because she won a prize and was rewarded for all the hours she invested in the project. She was also happy because one of her best friends won 1st place which is cause for celebration. At any rate, we brought her project home and we’ve decided to do some more experiments on our own with her solar heat collectors. We saw some plans for ones with fans that are generated by mini solar photo voltaic panels – so we have some work to do. By the time it comes to make a larger version for me, we’ll be all set to go! I told you I was being a little selfish.
I’m signing off for the day to hit the studio for a tad and now that I’m finally finished with the CPG site, I’m going to install my Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet that I haven’t allowed myself to play with out of fear I would become too distracted. I made a couple of porcelain pendants the other day that I thought would be good canvases for some ceramic decals.
I hope to catch up with what everyone has been up to lately in the next week,
~Cynthia
