Paper Clay Slip and New Work
I’m happy to report that my studio time is on the upswing- time and productivity wise. I’m not quite at my 20 hour per week goal yet, but close. Last week, I spent 18.5 hours in the studio either making work, trimming, loading the kiln, cleaning and otherwise organizing my space. I should probably start keeping track of the business end of things such as answering emails, blogging, accounting etc. I might be surprised to learn that I work closer to an average 40 hour work week.
Ewww moldy paper clay slip
I was eying a hand built pint sized printed tumbler/cup that I made last summer - unfortunately, it didn’t survive the neglect and heat of the summer, but I kept it because I thought the shape and size would make a nice large tall mug. For hand building, I use a white cone 6 stoneware clay called “Ash” that I buy from Mile Hi Ceramics. The clay is not as creamy and white as the porcelain clay that I prefer throwing with, but it holds up better for hand building.
To seal the joints, I use clay super glue - a paper clay slip that I make out of scraps of the same clay body, toilet paper, a little water blended to a smooth consistency. Since I haven’t made a lot of work in the last few months, I was greeted by a jar of moldy and smelly paper clay slip yesterday. Yummy. I was taught that mold is not a bad thing when it comes to clay - and after I stirred it up a bit, my nose became accustomed to the, ahem, fragrant clay. Reminds me of a favorite past time of my hus…oh never mind - don’t want to embarrass anyone.
Hand built imprinted pint sized mugs
I spent the latter half of the afternoon yesterday reacquainting myself with the hand building process. I only made 3 mugs, but after building these and remembering the steps involved, I feel confident that I can make these more efficiently today.
Close up of mug and hollow handle
This mug was made using a template that I made from - you guessed it - a pint sized beer glass sitting in my cupboard. While my goal is to use custom lino-cuts and textures to print my work, I used a heavy embossed paper to print the design onto these slabs and then assembled the mugs one at a time. I think I can probably work on about 4 at a time today if I work fast. The trick is using a fairly wet and plastic slab of clay. If the clay stiffens too much, it will crack and won’t cooperate. The handles are also hollow and are from a template that Annie gave all the participants of a hand-building workshop last summer here in Denver.
I love the look of the fat handles, but am not sure if I’d prefer holding one of these or a thinner pulled one. I should glaze a mug and test it out pretty soon. I might use underglazes to get the eye popping color I’m looking for in my pottery since I haven’t worked out a new glaze palette yet.
Slab built hump molded serving dishes with wheel thrown dip bowls
I’ve been reacquainting myself with my wheel again too which is just like riding a bike. Since I have an abundance of clay scraps sitting around, I’ve been recycling clay old school - add water, put on plaster slab, wedge when dry enough. The result is a really, really soft porcelain clay body that needs a slightly different touch than when it comes fresh out of the bag. Very gentle on the joints; however, overly forceful movements can cause a pot to slump unexpectedly or warp something fierce.
In other news, I was recently contacted by a local wellness/massage business that will be opening in Denver next year to make some custom mugs for them and am going to start working on some prototypes shortly. The mugs have an interesting twist - so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I fear that we might go straight to winter from summer - SNOW is in the forecast for Denver this weekend! Say it ain’t so. Actually, gauging from the temps that the meteorologists are predicting, if we get any snow it will be the wet slushy kind, though we will be experiencing the first hard freeze of the season.
It’s a good thing I ripped my tomatoes out of the garden last weekend and I’m drying herbs in my kitchen too which smells delicious. I now have an abundance of green tomatoes, some of which are ripening on my kitchen counters and many others that will require some culinary creativity. I want to thank whoever it was that suggested the podcast “The Splendid Table” - I just love listening to the show and have many new and interesting ideas of how to use green tomatoes including chutney, tomato pie, relish, salsa, and of course fried green tomatoes.
That’s it for today,
~Cynthia
