Starting up again

I didn't really intend to take such a lengthy break from working with clay, but things kept happening, and all of a sudden I realized that I hadn't gone into the studio since mid- October.
However, last weekend I picked up some clay, and my niece came for an overnight visit, and we had a nice time doing some hand-building.
That seemed to get the ball rolling again, and today I spent a few hours in my backyard studio here in Asquith.

I noticed that someone had been interested in how the silkscreening with underglaze is done, and a while back I had taken some photos to illustrate the process.
I won't go into how to make the silkscreens, since that is pretty technical, and you have to do some trial and error to get your setup right. It is also explained in various places if you google it.

This is what I do:
Sometimes I lay down a base layer of underglaze color by painting three coats onto a leather hard clay surface
In the photos, I am working on some tiles, although I am usually working on a rounded surface.
If I want to mask off a section or a shape, I use newsprint shapes that are dipped in water, then they stick to the leather hard clay surface.
Dip the silkscreen into a bucket of water and then blot off the extra water on a towel. If the screen is damp it sort of helps the underglaze to pass through the mesh better. Also it clings better to the surface
Hold the screen against the surface of the clay.
With a small piece of a dry sponge, dip into some thickened under glaze, I usually let some get thicker by letting some of the water evaporate out of it. If the underglaze is too runny, it makes a mess, and the image is blurred.
Dab the underglaze through the screen, or you can rub it in a circular motion.
You can add more than one color to get shaded effects. Take the screen away from the surface
You can screen other images to layer patterns.
If you used a newsprint resist, take it off when everything is still damp. I use a pin tool to lift a corner and then pull it off.

Often I then add slip trailing, or scratch some marks over the screened image for more interest.
I usually bisque, and then cover all with a clear glaze, but recently I fired some things up to cone six with no glaze over, and that was an interesting surface.