Planning with Paint

It seems that when I approach an object with the aim of decorating it, I tend to feel a bit paralyzed. I do have my trusty stash of idea generators to help with getting a start, but still, I often have that feeling of , "what if I decorate all these things with mediocre designs, and then I figure out something really good and I have nothing left to put it onto."
so, I decided to spend a bit of time with paper and watercolor to try out a few patterns to try to get over this.
First, I got out the stack of test tiles with the colors of the underglazes that I have, (with the exception of the red, I still need to do a tile for it.  also, should I get a light purple?)

 I took photos of each pair outside, but the photos aren't too good, as there were a lot of shadows from the trees. 

 However, I did notice that the tiles with the black wash, where they are unglazed, do have a bit of a sheen that is lacking in the plain "non-washed " counterpart.  Presumably it must be that little bit of gerstley borate that it is mixed with.  (This bodes well for the birds)

Then, I put out watercolors on a palette that corresponded to the colors that I have in underglaze.
Most of these have a tinted element to them.
I started by  drawing a simple outline of the mug shape that I've been mainly using.  Then, decided to simplify by using a rectangle divided into the basic zones of the cup.

rim,
 top band,
dividing band,
 main area,
 bottom rounded edge








Of course, the main area gives the most opportunity for pattern, but I think it is important for all the areas to balance out.

As I painted, I tried to keep in mind how this would actually play out on a 3-d object, and how the brush would behave with underglaze as opposed to watercolor.
Sometimes I go over the underglaze more than once to make sure that it isn't too streaky.  This is particularly prone to happen with the pink.

 I jotted down some questions as I went along.  For instance on this one, if the grid behind the small dots is made in pencil, will it impress on the clay enough to trap the black wash enough to make a light outline of the grid?
 In the center sample below, I used pencil cross-hatching to simulate scratching texture into the clay with a jagged metal rib, again to hopefully catch the wash of black

 I'll need to see how much of the black wash is enough, or too much, or not enough for the effect that I'm looking for.
I like to use white slip in the slip trailer to make dots and lines, and tried to simulate that with thick paint.  I outlined it with pencil in some of the sketches, hoping to approach the effect that the black wash has on it.

 If the bands of underglaze overlap, will that provide enough of a line to capture the black wash as an outline?

the background on these two on the left is an ombre effect, I need to see if that can be done with the UG's,

The test tile with the white underglaze picked up the wash in a particularly effective way.  Unglazed, it looked almost like birch bark.  Under the clear glaze the effect was a bit more diffused, or blurred.  However, the unglazed effect might be nice on scuptural things, but not on functional ware,

 Also at some point, I realized that I had enough room on my page to do an extended upper band painting.

These ones sort of remind me of beach umbrellas, or awnings.  I tried to add a slip trailed diagonal line over the strip on the left design

 I think that it is good to try these patterns out a bit like this,..  It was very similar to painting the actual ware, in that the background is painted, then set aside to dry before additional pattern is added.  So, sometimes i might have an idea when I put the base coat on, but can't remember what it was when I come back to it later on to add the pattern. 

I think this idea is sort of fun,

 I know that over time I'll evolve into a set of more easily recalled patterns and combinations, but for now, it is good to try to come up with some new ideas. 

At the end of this exercise I have 2 main avenues to pursue:
1.  explore more the ways that black can be used as an outline:
             through impressing the clay when damp to catch the wash later
             mishima when leather hard, areas filled in later with color
             outlining with brush-strokes of underglaze
             adding black on the rim or base edge with wash over the raw glaze
              (the underglaze pencil-- I like the effect of it, but don't like the process of using it on bisque)

2. thinking more about forms with which this type of pattern would be compatible.  Right now I think that clean, flat areas might show off this type of decoration well, but are those the kind of forms that I am wanting to pursue?  How do these patterns lend them selves to more rounded forms? and what about texture on the pots such as throwing rings-- how would that affect the patterns?

3. And don't forget that it is fun to carve designs into leather hard clay as well as painting stuff.

Tomorrow I hope to go to the studio again, and a glaze load should be ready to unload! Yay!  It has in some mugs using the Loafer's Glory clay, which is great, because I don't like the Moon White clay body at all.  It doesn't seem to vitrify and all the foot rings and bottoms are going weirdly grey.... :(

Out of the kiln

After missing my class last Monday it was especially nice to go last night. It was also exciting because some things had been fired.
The test tiles with the underglazes were especially interesting to me. Some of them were really altered by the addition of a black stain wash.

I noticed on the two small mugs that the glaze was a bit thin in spots. I could either hold it in longer or try to let it dry out between the time when I apply the wash and when it gets glazed.

A bisque fire had also completed and so I have some things to glaze. I put a black was on most of the stuff and will go back and glaze it this afternoon. The birds I decided to just stop at the wash and get them fired to cone six because I still am a bit puzzled on how to keep them from sticking to the kiln shelf. Later I may need to devise some sort of apparatus to prop them on to similar to stilts.

What to do with the Birds..

 I made some birds without a clear plan of what to do with them.  So I have been thinking about it.   I did put two little holes in each to put wire legs in later, so that I can perch them somehow. 
I have these two wooden birds by Jim Mullen (Mullenium) that he puts on vintage objects. Which is a thought. Or a person could make some sort of object out of clay.

 I also have this little vintage bird ornament where the birds perch on a branch,

 I think this has a lot of potential, and maybe I could do one where there are places to put more birds,
I think it would be best to make the pedestal and the birds separately and then combine them later. 
I love these ones, they are so pink.

Clay on Pause button

Last night was our clay class (thanks Mitzi!) and it was fun, again.
I threw some mugs and a bowl, and so I went back today to get handles on them and clean them up since I'll be away for a couple of weeks.
It is a nice place to go.  Lisa is the owner, and I believe that a place like that ( workroom, or a studio) takes it's cues from who is running it. She is very calm and laid-back and really willing to help out if you want advice.  There are also some "regulars" who go there in the afternoon who are also interesting to talk to.  It was such a good idea to get back to clay via this route.

I photographed a couple of things from the last glaze fire, and a couple of things from in the cupboard here, too!

 this mug used moon white clay, with medium blue moon white slip, and the rectangle of white is Loafer's glory slip. I wanted to see if they are compatible, and they are.  (No cracking in the white).  After they were bisque fired, I used a black underglaze pencil to draw the little dandelion design, and rose underglaze dots.  Covered in clear glaze.
Used this mug a couple of times and there is crazing in the glaze-- maybe the glaze fits the Loafer's glory clay better?

 A small mug-again with the moon white, with white satin glaze, with dots of Moss Green glaze, and the light green stripes are with avocado glaze stain/Gerstley Borate half and half.  Again the crazing, but what is nice is that the glaze stain is really nice on this glaze.  (I've had a lot of trouble in the past with overglaze decoration)

 Another small little cup, with the same combo as previous little mug, with the addition of the rim being dipped in Neptune blue glaze.  The blue was not as dark as I thought it would be. 
The white satin came out more as a translucent satin,
We'll see how it behaves on the Loafer's Glory.

The following are from ages ago, when I did the navy slip sgraffito stuff. 
It was such a dark blue that sometimes people thought it was black,

 We use this sugar bowl all the time. 
It has a chrysanthemum design on the lid.  It was inspired by Japanese designs.

 I was doing some decorating today, and Lisa surprised me by saying that she should try to be a little more loose in her decoration,( i.e. like I was being).  which surprised me a great deal, since I have always been so controlled.  You can see that on these last two pots, they are very "not loose", but my goal is also to be less tight, and more spontaneous.  Funny, isn't it, how we sometimes see things so differently.

Some Mugs to Decorate

When I was at the studio yesterday, there were lots of glaze results to see,
Most of them were bad, but there was some good information.  Of course I totally forgot to take photos! 
I left a few of the reference pieces there.  They were the ones with the stripes of underglaze colors under the clear glaze and over top of the satin and gloss whites.
I brought some of the others home, so as not to clutter up the studio, so I will take photos later-- for sure! 
I glazed the test tiles and two of the mugs that I had decorated with the underglazes with clear glaze after painting on a thin wash of black to antique them. Hopefully they will be fired by Monday night so I can see them before I go away.
I also brought home a bunch of greenware mugs to decorate!
Most of these mugs are in the shape that I associate with Mel Bolen.  (my hero!)  I have always liked his pottery best of any I've ever seen.
He has used this wide-based, concave shape for many years, and we've used his mugs for a long time at home.  Richard likes the cups a lot because of the stability that the wide base provides.  I like the way they balance. 

 There are a couple of other shapes here, just to try.  The tall cylinder, and the one below that has the orange on it.
In the cylinder one above, I did some incised lines with a pencil, and have painted the motifs with a white glue.  After it dries I will try to wipe away the clay background with a damp sponge.  I'll glaze it with one of the glazes like Butterscotch that breaks over texture. 
The other ones will be straightforward painting in colors.  Maybe a little bit of slip trailed dots or squiggles....

I like the clay so much at this stage....

mugs..

Can't believe it- I wrote a post and it disappeared!
Went to studio this afternoon, threw mugs (loafers glory-- LoVE) and put handles on some from the other day and did some underglaze decoration. Lisa fired a glaze load and it should be ready to open tomorrow. It should be interesting to see what comes out although I don't have particularly high expectations.

Glaze testing

Spent the afternoon at the clay spot studio. It was quite a productive session. Several pieces had been bisque fired, and so I tried to glaze them somehow. Because the glazes are new to me I tried to keep a record of what I was doing but this soon became pretty hit and miss. Lisa has a nice reference set of tiles that are very helpful and so I hope that a couple of the pieces will turn out okay. I haven't done much with double dipping pieces before so I tried that on a few things-- note to self-- be sure to let them dry thoroughly before yanking so as not to disturb the glaze.
Then I tried some glaze trailing with one of those bulb things you squeeze that has different size ends. This was pretty messy. It has potential but I would have to practice a lot to avoid runs and gain some sort off control over where it goes.
Lisa gave me a bit of gerstley borate and so I mixed it half and half with the glaze stains I got in Asheville. I did some brushwork with it and also tried some banding on the wheel with it in the squeeze bulb thing and it worked okay.
I did some dots with dark blue and dark green glaze on lighter colored glazes. By that time I was getting a bit confused.
I did a few more glazy things and then realized I had come to the end. I washed the glaze off from one of the bowls since it was definitely ugly.
After all of that I was in need of a bit of fun. So I got a new bag of clay-- a different kind from before. It is called Loafer's glory or some such thing and it is a mid fire combo of porcelain and stoneware.
I loved it! It was creamy and smooth (except for a few bits of sponge it had picked up from the table when I was wedging it). I threw some cylinders to use for mugs. They have thin bottoms so that I won't need to trim them very much. They are sort of mel's shape, since I think that over time it is the mug shape that I like best. Also Richard likes that wide based shape for stability.
For the next glazing session I would like to work in some of the celadon glaze in combination with the satin white and maybe some blue accents.
I don't mind a bit of glazing but so far I think that I like using the undergazes better on the leather hard stage. I don't like handling the bisque as much. Also, I really like carving into the clay, whether through slip or not.
Also it might be interesting to try the shellac resist where you wipe away clay, but use something like polymer paint medium or wax.
So many things to try in order to find a combination that works that is fun to do and is aesthetically appealing.