From slab to lidded box
Stoneware lidded boxes
Better late than never, I have begun production mode (well for me at least) in an effort to have a decent amount of work at the Colorado Potters Guild show opening April 30th here in Denver. I keep forgetting to ask whether or not we are allowed to bring ceramic jewelry for sale, because then I would have no trouble producing 105 pieces in time for the show. Some members do bring buttons and in my mind the leap from buttons to jewelry isn’t a big one, though as a newer member I don’t want to raise the ire of any of the long time members. While I haven’t made any buttons in awhile, I might bring some to this show because they aren’t terribly hard to make and I could crank some out pretty fast.
Meanwhile, my covered boxes are my best sellers – though this time around, I’m breaking the mold a bit. Instead of hand painting the designs in under-glaze like this one that I made last year:
Hand painted lizard box before glazing
I will be adding laser toner decals for the graphic decorations like I did for this one recently:
Seashore themed porcelain box with decals
On the one hand, it loses part of the hand made touch by not painting the boxes, but it does speed up production significantly. Speaking of speeding things up, I was perusing the Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting Ceramics by Andrew Martin again yesterday while I had some time to kill and think the boxes are the perfect candidates for slip casting! No time to make any right now with a deadline looming. I’ll wait until after the show is over. Until then, I make these boxes 3 – 5 at a time small batch style like artisanal wine or cheese depending on how large of a slab I roll the night before and the size of the boxes I decide to make from each slab. 
I roll a slab from about 4-5 pounds of clay (not sure because I don’t weigh it) and then after smoothing each side with a Sherrill rib, I place the slab between 2 pieces of dry wall to allow it to become leather hard overnight. I suppose these fall into the category of “stiff slab construction” as opposed to soft – which I also dabble in occasionally.
I’m getting better at prying myself away from the computer in the morning – so with no further adieu…
Signing off for the day,
~Cynthia
P.S. I know my theme looks rather boring right now, but several people using IE were having difficulties with my site. I need to personalize this one, but in the meantime, I’m pretending to be a minimalist [as if such a thing were possible].
