Archive for January, 2008

Clay & Underglaze Monotype Experiment

Published
by
Cynthia
on January 30, 2008
in Ceramic Techniques and Kid's Clay Projects
. 8 Comments

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

Ceramic Buttons & Handmade Purses

Published
by
Cynthia
on January 28, 2008
in Business of Art and Uncategorized
. 13 Comments

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

Soup Can Textured Mugs: Clay project for grades 2-5

Published
by
Cynthia
on January 24, 2008
in Kid's Clay Projects
. 14 Comments

Roll out a 1.5 pound slab of clay
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.

Use rolling pin to add texture
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.

Use paper templates to cut out clay for the body and handle
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 can and tape in place
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.

Roll the pre-cut clay around the paper sleeve and can, smooth seam
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.

use the clay wrapped can as a template for the bottom of the mug
Reposition the can and clay back onto the slab to cut out the bottom.

score and slip the circle and the bottom of mug
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.

After attaching the bottom to the mug body, smooth the seem with fingers and damp sponge
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.

attach handle to mug
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.
remove the can, leave paper sleeve voila a 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

Pulling Handles for Handmade Pottery Mugs

Published
by
Cynthia
on January 22, 2008
in Ceramic Techniques
. 8 Comments

Clay carrots will be pulled to become handles
One of my least favorite tasks to do in the studio is to pull handles for mugs. If you’re not a clay person and have never done it before, it’s a bit like I would imagine milking a cow would be like. To start the process, I generally make a “carrot” sized length of clay. I also make more than I will actually use since it normally takes me 1 or 2 tries before I get into the swing of things.

Getting in the right frame of mindSunday evening, I ventured into the garagio since it was relatively warm inside (the kiln was running) and my 4 thrown mug bodies were drying to the point where it was now or never. For motivation, I took a little nip with me (in a handmade tumbler of course) and turned on the radio.

7 handles pulled for 4 mugs
Voilà! After maybe 30 minutes of carrot making and pulling, I have 7 freshly pulled handles that I attached to a cement board to set up. In the mean time, I began trimming the bottom of the mugs.

Pulled handled attached to mugs
After all was said and done, I breathed a sigh of relief after all the handles are chosen and attached to the mug bodies. I’m trying something a little different this time. When I went in search of my bottle of liquid wax - so that I could paint a little wax around the handles to prevent cracking, I found a frozen bottle of wax. I had to laugh because on the outside of the container, it reads, “DO NOT FREEZE”. Too late…. I tried defrosting the wax in the microwave to no avail when I remember the can of shellac (which is not frozen) that is sitting on one of my shelves. I reckon that the same principle of slowing down the drying between the joints where the handle meets the mug will apply to the use of shellac instead of wax. Time will tell. The mugs are currently drying inside the house as I write this.

Meanwhile, my week looks manageable. I teach my after school clay class this afternoon and am only scheduled to substitute teach one day this week. I hope to use some of this time to make some more work.

Have a good week everyone,

~Cynthia

Colorado Potter’s Guild Interview

Published
by
Cynthia
on January 20, 2008
in Professional Ceramic Memberships
. 14 Comments


This morning, I met with three lovely members of the Colorado Potter’s Guild for an interview to become a member. I think it went well - but I’m up against 4 other applicants - and judging from the other work that was left by two of them, it’s going to be a tough decision. I was treated to a tour of the facility which is, quite frankly, luxurious compared to my humble garagio. I think the guild membership will be making a decision at the end of this month so I’ll be sure to share my fate either way. Thank you to the members with whom I had the pleasure of talking this morning!

Japanese stab binding book

As part of my interview, I left some work for the guild membership to look at, along with the book above. I really enjoy making handmade books and have been looking for an excuse to make one recently. I included my resume, images and a sampling of my web and blog pages in the book.
The book was constructed using the Japanese style stab binding techniques. If you are at all interested in making artist style books, I highly recommend Cover to Cover by Shereen LaPlantz. It’s a gorgeous book (currently available used for under $8.00 on Amazon) with instructions and oodles of photographs. Click here for step by step instructions for making your own 4 stab binding book.

Meanwhile, it’s in the high 30’s today - it feels down right balmy. I think I’m going to take this opportunity to do a little trimming out in the garagio this afternoon.

Have a good week everyone,

~Cynthia