Linoleum block I carved last year to use on clay

I haven’t spent much time in the studio lately…but I have been thinking about new projects related to clay and print making.  I feel like branching out partly inspired by the following two books:

Printing by Hand - Lena Corwin

I had picked up Lena Corwin’s book, Printing by Hand, from the library last year but felt it didn’t apply to my projects at the time.  Most of the examples and projects involve printing on paper, fabric, furniture and walls.  But, I have a hankering for printing some note cards and stationery and remembered her book.  I did some internet sleuthing (read googled the title of the book) and landed on Lena’s blog.  I don’t know how much time I spent perusing her blog, when eventually I saw mention of Lotta Jansdotter.

Lotta Prints by Lotta Jansdotter

I managed to find two of her books at the Denver Public Library – Lotta Prints & Lotta Jandsdotter’s Simple Sewing.  I’m inspired by both Lotta’s and Lena’s use of printmaking to make beautiful and decorative items.  I can’t wait to explore some of the resources they list in their books on the web this afternoon.

PhotoEZ Screen Print Starter Kit

I am particularly interested in screen printing which both Lotta and Lena describe in their books and am reminded that I still have the PhotoEZ Screen Print Kit that I haven’t used yet.  I should mess around with it before I leave on vacation next week.  One method of screen printing that I also want to try is using drawing fluid and screen filler to create easy original screen prints.

If you visit regularly, you might be asking yourself – “What about clay???” Wait for it…………wait for it…………okay….. I mentioned above that I want to branch out a bit.  I’m going to try my hand at making some paper products for sale along with some fabric/sewing projects for the new/old home we’re moving into in late August.  It will give me a chance to do some drawing and think that the projects will translate really nicely as color ceramic decals if I can get my act together.  The screens would also work nicely directly on raw clay using underglaze.

The paper & fabric projects will give me some instant gratification unlike making pottery (okay there is gratification in making and designing, but less so when the firings don’t always turn out as expected).  These projects will also be more portable when I consider that my studio is also going to be moving cross town – a task I am looking forward to.  Why?  Because my studio needs some serious reorganizing!  What better way to accomplish the task than a move to light the fire under my behind.

Signing off,

Cynthia

White earthenware butterfly tile before adding decals

Early this week, I fired a successful cone 04 decal kiln on cone 6 glazed work – the kin included the star initial pendants that I made for my students.  As an experiment, I decided to add some decals to a low fire white earthenware tile I had made as an example for one of my student’s projects and intended to fire it in the same kiln load since I had a little extra space.

Butterfly tile before firing decals

I had previously consulted Linda Arbuckle’s website – she provides a handout in pdf form that discusses firing laser toner decals at different temperatures dependent on the temperature of the glaze surface to which the decal will be adhered.  If you’re a clay person, you know that there’s a huge temperature difference between cone 06 and cone 6 – roughly 400° F.  I don’t know about you, but I decided to use this piece as a test – does firing temperature of decals really matter or is the rule really more of a friendly suggestion?   I know I’ve broken more than my fair share of clay rules with barely any consequences – sometimes, happy accidents are the result.

Post decal firing to cone 04 decals are barely visible

Guess what friends?  The photo above post decal firing shows that the recommended firing temps based on glaze temp is a hard and fast rule – though I’m sure it could be exploited somewhat for artistic means.  The decals are faded and in the case of the one applied to the chartreuse yellow butterfly – barely visible at all.  Seeing is believing.  So, what does Linda recommend as a firing temp for decals adhered to cone 06 glazed work?  Answer: cone 010-06.  If I used a lot of low fire clay, I would probably start experimenting with decal firing around cone 010-08 (1657-1728°F) because it seems like the decal firing should be lower than the glaze firing temperature.  Keep in mind that I used commercial Duncan under glazes and clear cone 06 overglaze for this tile experiment – so results might vary depending on what glaze materials are used and firing temp. For my cone 6 glazed work onto which I’ve fired decals successfully, I use bucket glaze recipes vs. commercial glazes.

Meanwhile, a select few (about 1/4 – myself included) of the members of the Colorado Potters Guild have decided to staff a booth to sell handmade pottery almost every month of the summer at the Old South Pearl Street’s Farmer’s Market this summer beginning June 7th.  I’ve elected to participate on June 7th, July 12th and August 2nd.  After the first week, where almost all interested members will have work represented, the subsequent weeks will only feature 2-3 members at a time for space purposes.  On July 12th, I’ll be sharing a booth with Sarah Christensen and on August 2nd a ? person.  I’m thinking of asking a non guild member of the Denver clay community to join me

It will be a good exercise to see if it is worth the effort on Sunday mornings.  The Colorado Potters Guild is located on Old South Pearl Street and since we are a member of the Old South Pearl Street Business Association, we are receiving our booth space gratis.  Our booth will not really be associated with the Potters Guild per se – each participating member is individually responsible for taxes and proper licensing.  We have also christened ourselves…drumroll please…Pearl Street Potters.  I know very original, but we can’t use the Colorado Potters Guild name for legal reasons.

So, what am I going to sell at the market?  Jewelry for one – but also thinking of pottery related items that will compliment the types of things available for sale at a farmer’s market.  Coffee/Tea mugs, soap dishes, bowls, butter keeps, small vases – ideas anyone?

Have a good long Memorial Day weekend,

Cynthia

5 Ravens Wall Box Tiles, printed stoneware clay, mishima, brushed glazes and laser toner decals

This trio was a ton of fun to make and decorate.  In fact I enjoyed making these so much that I had intended to make more right away.  Now that the show pressure is off and the making cycle interrupted, it’s been harder to get back in the studio groove.  It doesn’t help that the month of May is a terribly busy one with my daughter’s school activities and my extra volunteer/chaperone/sub duties related to school.  But, it’s almost over…the school year officially ends in a mere 11 days when my (weep, weep) 5th grader graduates to middle school.   Or as Denver Public Schools puts it – “continues” – sounds more feel good P.C., don’t you think?

Three 2.5" square by 1" deep wall boxes

After constructing the wall boxes, I played around with placement – shuffling them around until I liked how the textures lined up.   BTW, this set up was not my final choice.

Side view

To keep the boxes from warping after I constructed them, I weighted them between 2 pieces of drywall board and periodically checked on them until they were bone dry.  These were constructed with 45° degree beveled joints which I then scored and slipped with paper clay for strength before joining.

Added a small notched slab for easy hanging

Sarah, a ceramicist up in South Dakota, asked how these hang the other day and I just happen to have a photo of my system in the archives.  When I’ve made these in the past, I’ve tried different techniques from just using the upper edge, to punched holes for wire to these little notched additions.  The little slabs were left over after I constructed the boxes and just seemed like a good idea at the time.  I centered the notch with a measured center point on the top of each tile.  These can also sit on a shelf instead of being hung on a wall (see the first photo).

Meanwhile, I did a little pendant glaze firing last night in my mini Aim test kiln.  Tomorrow is my last teaching day for my after school clay class and I decided to give the kids a little going away present – star shaped pendants with their initials decaled on the front.  The kiln is still too hot to touch this morning – but I did prop the lid open to speed cooling.  After I drop my daughter off at the school bus stop and take the hounds for a run, I’m going to spend the am looking for a cool font and will print the initial decals.

Have a great week,

Cynthia

Rabbit Box

I really like this covered stoneware box, unfortunately, this is the only photo I have of it and I didn’t get photographs of the other side.  I like to put different images on each side to keep it fresh.   Why rabbits?  It reminds me – especially this vintage image – of one of my favorite childhood stories…The Velveteen Rabbit published in 1922 by Margery Williams.

Meanwhile, my husband and I are headed downtown tonight to celebrate our 20th anniversary (has it really been 20 years already?) – which isn’t official until May 19th.  Since the 19th is a school night, we’re celebrating early by spending the night at the Hyatt in downtown Denver.  We kicked around several ideas – the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park where Stephen King stayed and was inspired to write The Shining, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (another historic hotel) and even some other historic hotels in downtown Denver.  The Hyatt won out because I love their roof top bar that has a view of the mountains and the city – but also because the designers of the hotel decorated each room with individual artist’s work vs. cheesy giclee prints typical of most hotels.

Don’t worry, my sister in law is staying with my daughter and the dogs and they have quite an evening planned from what I understand.

Have a great weekend,

Cynthia