Posts Tagged “cake platter”

Porcelain cake platter, with colored slip and sgraffito design
Underneath
I had enough ware to have a glaze fire the other day in my electric kiln. I used one of my new favorite clear ^6 glaze recipes, courtesy of a Lana Wilson. Though it’s not on her website. The clear is so easy to make and gives consistent results. It also brushes on quite nicely so that one doesn’t have to make a big bucket batch if space is limited. I sieved it 2 times in an 80 mesh sieve before using.

Clear ^6 Glaze
Gerstley Borate	50
Kaolin	20
Silica	30
Totals	100

I had my glaze fire on Monday, and yesterday morning when I cracked open the kiln to let it continue cooling, I was super excited. I noticed that the cake platter had not warped and was intact. Boy, was I happy! Later in the day, when I unloaded the kiln, I noticed a hairline crack on the interior rim. Sniff, sniff, I was so sad. I’m trying to think how I can avoid this in the future. Maybe, I need to use stoneware instead of porcelain for objects that consistently have issues. So, I’ll try again. I think it takes a certain masochism to work with a material that isn’t always guaranteed to come out perfectly everytime. What’s that old saying, “That which doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” I’m holding out hope.

Yikes - notice the hairline crack

On another note, the smaller porcelain platters that I had expected to warp or slump in the firing came out great! Don’t have photos yet, maybe later today. I had intended to take my photographs yesterday, but it rained all afternoon and I shoot all my photos outside.

But, I do have lots of pendants and earrings!
On the bright side, I have lots and lots of porcelain pendants and earrings! That seems to be what has been selling lately in my Etsy Shop.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Tags: cake platter, ceramic jewelry, cone 6 clear glaze recipe, porcelain, sgraffito

Handbuilt plate with accent glaze
Notice the ruler - this time the plate should be large enough at about 11.5″ in diameter
It’s been a lazy weekend around Denver, mainly because it’s been raining on and off and all I want to do is take a nap.

I did manage to get out into the studio today and weighed out 5 pounds of clay to attempt another cake platter. It sort of boggles my mind that a plate requires that much clay. But, after you take into account 10-15% shrinkage, trimming etc. I guess that’s about right. I probably could have used 6 lbs, but I just didn’t want to waste too much clay since this won’t have a foot like a normal plate would.

I need to let these set up a little bit so that I can assemble it tomorrow. Though, I am tempted to fire them separately and attach the pieces after firing. At this size, I worry about warping during the glaze fire. While I was out in the studio, I threw some more mugs. My goal for the Summer Art Market is to have at least 20 mugs. I have a schedule of how many platters, vases, spoon rests, plates, etc. that I want to have ready in time for the market. I should just spend the next week throwing and then the following trimming, followed by a week of glazing so that I’ll be ready for the market come June 9th.

In other news, I was contacted by a gallery in Louisiana asking if I would be interested in being represented by them. We’ve been emailing back and forth and I’m trying to see if this would be in my best interests. It’s a fine art/craft gallery so it seems like it would be a good fit medium wise. I’ll let you know in the next week what I decide.

eeec-FFw-eeec-FFwFFw by Ingrid Calame, enamel on aluminum, 2003
I was glancing through a magazine on Saturday and came across the work of artist, Ingrid Calame. I was immediately drawn to her art work and paused to read the article and look up information on her art on the ‘net. She considers herself a realist. Not my first thought when I looked at her artwork. Her work is similar to the philosophical idea behind “Trashball Art”; she traces stains and other marks left by humans and then transfers the marks to aluminum. Her drawings are exquisite - multiple layers of vellum trace.

Have a good week everyone!

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to hearing about “Art Ball” by Jafabrit and cohorts.

Tags: cake platter, ceramic cake platter, ceramics, ingrid calame, porcelain, pottery

Carved raised bowl side view - 9″ wide x 6″ tall
Top View
Before carving
Before Carving
A wonderful reader asked me if I could make a custom raised cake platter a couple of weeks ago and I thought, why not give it a shot. It’s basically a plate on top of a pedestal, right? Well, it’s turned into a good challenge for me. The photos above are my first attempt at making one and like many things, it didn’t turn out the way I envisioned; but I have learned something from the process.

It’s way too small for a 8-9″ cake. The problem? I only used 3.5 lbs of clay to throw the plate. If I use 6 pounds, almost double, I think that will do the trick. So, today, I’m going to give it another whirl times deux.

This forlorn raised pot has been sitting in my studio all wrapped up in plastic (so that it would remain wet enough to still work), waiting for me to decide what the hell to do to it. Yesterday, I had a couple of hours to kill and I thought to myself - carve it up girl. And, that’s just what I did. I brought it inside to show my partners in life and they liked it. My husband even said, “this would make a great centerpiece!” So, I may have an addition to my line of pottery. Thank you HMBT! Keep in mind that the shellac will burn off during the bisque fire and will leave just the raised design.

Clay canvases
Meanwhile, I decided to try making some ceramic paintings. I rolled out 1/4″ slabs of porcelain clay and I’m letting the set up just a little more before I “paint” them with slips, stains and glazes. These are about 12″ square or so.

In other news, I read this article in the Denver Post last weekend about, artist, Christopher Goodwin - the brains behind Trashball Art. I find the concept so interesting. He searches for interesting tidbits of cast off garbage and repackages his finds in little plastic capsules and sells them for .25 cents apiece in gumball machines. He’s based out of Washington D.C. and views his installations as archeology.

I heard this the other day and loved it: There’s no right or wrong way, there’s only your way.

That’s all for right now,

Tags: cake platter, ceramic centerpiece, ceramic paintings, ceramics, clay, pottery, trashball art