I entered the studio yesterday with the intention of throwing some ceramic tumblers to use as backgrounds for my lino-cut prints. And, I did, however, I got sidetracked making these little canvases (photo above) and some more pendants. I rolled out a few slabs of white stoneware clay because I’m just not going to deal with the slumping of the porcelain for this type of work. Some of the best tools that I use are a transluscent 18″ x 24″ self healing cutting mat, a metal ruler and an X-Acto knife. I use these tools for multiple mediums from painting, ceramics and fiber art. Couldn’t live without them!
Choices, choices, choices…I decided that I wanted 3″ square clay canvases for my prints for a couple of reasons. The lino-cuts I made are small, and I wouldn’t be using a lot of material if things don’t work out. I don’t have a slab roller in my studio, so I roll these out by hand with a rolling pin, and some 1/4″ thick pieces of wood to use as guides so that I can get an even slab. Once I let the slabs set up for about an hour, I placed the slabs directly on the cutting mat, lined up the clay with the 1″ guides and cut the slabs using my ruler and an X-Acto knife. I’m trying a couple of different techniques and 2 of the canvases are like tiles with no walls, however, the for the other 6, I added walls to the back so that they’ll protrude 1″ from the wall when they’re hung.
In the past, I’ve constructed ceramic boxes, by mitering the slabs for a really seamless look. It’s a little tricky, but it looks good. Last week, I watched Mary Cay demo making a box from clay using the butt to end joint construction method and decided to give it a try. It was fairly easy, but I’m not sure I’m sold yet. I’m going to sand the edges of the boxes today to see if they clean up a little better. I was perusing claystamps.com the other day because I’m considering buying a signature stamp to use on my ceramic work, and saw the owner also has another cool tool for sale: the Bevel-O-Matic - a tool that bevels clay slabs. I might have to pony up the $14.00 for this tool. When I was in college, I beveled slabs using a 2 x 2 which I had mitred using a power saw to use as a beveling guide. I can’t find my bevel guides, and while I like power tools, I’m a little afraid that I’m going to cut off afinger or two I tried this again.
I threw 3 tumblers yesterday. Don’t ask me why I stopped at 3, because I had prepared 8 - 1 lb. balls of clay. I think the idea to use the lino-cuts on a flat surface popped into my head and I left my wheel to pursue that. I sometimes work in my studio like I talk - in tangents. And boy oh boy - they zing out from no where sometimes. Anyway, when I went back to my tumblers, they were too dry to work anymore. I cracked 2 of them trying to alter the shape. So, for the 3rd and final one, I just printed my ginkgo leaf lino-cut using blue underglaze.
The remaining 2 tumblers, I cut in half. They felt a little heavy and since I have decided not to trim the bottoms of these, I wanted to see how well I did getting the side walls thin. As you can see from the photograph, the bottom is a little too heavy in comparison to the walls. That tells me that I can can go a little further down when I open the clay up and begin to throw. Now, if I had decided to add a foot to these, I think these would have been perfect.
I’ve decided to pass on the Gocco for right now, because I found EZ-Screenprint. You can create 8.5″ x 11″ screen prints that develop using light and regular water - no special bulbs, chemicals or goop. I think I’m going to order one of these starter kits and give it a try. I also found a supplier of special ceramic ink to use to make custom color ceramic decals. First things first…I must push the relief printing a little more.
What are your favorite tools?
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