more and more

more handbuilding and more decoration.... I got back to the Clay Spot a few days ago and had some fun with Helios, 

Yesterday I spent four hours decorating the pieces I made, and then another hour today, 

decorating is time intensive!

Along with the silkscreening that I usually add, I did a bit of mishima on most all of the pieces, 

the stechnique is not complicated.  First, you incise a line into leatherhard clay

then, paint underglaze or slip so that it fills in the line,

In the past, I've mixed a bit of white clay into the black underglaze to produce a charcoal color, but this time I went for the whole black

After it sets up a bit you need to remove the excess color, just leaving the part that fills in the line

you can sometimes scrape off some of the underglaze with a metal rib, and you can also use a damp sponge, dampening and wiping, and cleaning the sponge over and over to wipe off more of the streaks

I was working on five small dishes, six squarish plates about five inches wide and three darted cups

some have just mishima, and others have screenprinting as well

I painted the undersides today and added some slip decoretion, but forgot to take any photos,

I also made another eight cups today, so I need to decorate them tomorrow!   

I got a few things glazed that I made last time I was here in march, so it will be fun to see them come out of the kiln.  I've had a bit of trouble figuring out how thick to apply the glaze-- too thick and it looks cloudy over dark colored underglaze, and too thin leads to roughness on the rims.  Hope I get it right this time!

Mostly Mugs

It seems that mugs are what I like to make.

When I say I like to make, that means getting them to the decorated stage, not necessarily to the glazed and finished stage

I like to use underglaze, and I like to do slip trailing,

I like to work in small groups, and use one color one day and use another color on another day

Although mostly the mugs I make  are about 4 inches tall, the other day I tried some taller ones, the ones decorated in pink, above.  The walls are quite thin and seem like they might be a bit fragile.  But I like the way they feel.