Jason Burnett’s Newspaper Printing · main determiners of texture and how much the glaze will flow on the pot. Knowing the chemistry and characteristics of your materials is important

Sept/Oct 2011

Letterpress Decoration | Sgraffito on Plates | Naked Raku

Jason Burnett’s Newspaper Printing

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http://www.amaco.com

PotteryMaking Illustrated | September/October 2011 1

http://www.baileypottery.com

2 PotteryMaking Illustrated | September/October 20112 PotteryMaking Illustrated | September/October 20112 PotteryMaking Illustrated | September/October 2011

POWERFULTOUGH

INNOVATIVE

ERGONOMICVALUE

SMOOTH

Judi Dyelle/Porcelain Artist

“Because I work exclusively in porcelain I need the control of a Thomas Stuart. The smoothness of this wheel does the job for me. ”

to see judi’s finished work visit

skutt.com/video/dyelle

http://www.skutt.com/video/dyelle


table of contents

departments6} In the Mix

3 Ingredient Glazesby Holly Goring

8} Tools of the TradeUrchin Textureby Annie Chrietzberg

10} Supply RoomRoll Callby Bill Jones

12} Tips from the ProsOn a Rollby Rick Berman

40} Instructors File Thrown Portraits by Tony Natsoulasby Don Hall

44} Off the Shelf Stencil and Colored Clay DVDsby Sumi von Dassow

features17} Deep Plates

by Kristin Pavelka

Pavelka leads you

through the steps to

create gorgeous plates

with colorful low-fi re

glazes and sgraffi to.

22} Slippery When Wetby Jason Bige Burnett

Add color images to

your surfaces by using

newspaper and slip

transfers. An easy pro-

cess with great results.

29} Say It With Clayby Connie Norman

When clay is the

medium, the message

takes on a whole new

meaning. Decorate in

your own words.

35} From Oh No! To Oh Wow!

by Kate & Will Jacobson

Find out how a couple

of potters discovered the

naked raku technique and

set out on a new path.

48} Pottery IllustratedRoulette Patterns

Illustrated by

Robin Ouellette

On the CoverJason Bige Burnett dem-onstrates that reading the comics as a kid can have a lasting effect.See story on page 22.

4 PotteryMaking Illustrated | September/October 2011

fired upProcrastination

Like many people, procrastination is a lifestyle I’ve never quite adjusted to, although I’ve had lots of practice. I’m bringing up procrastination

now because early fall is when I begin to think about the holidays. With gift lists, holiday sales and special orders, there’s plenty of work to be done before the year runs out, and this year (once again) I hope to

tackle the procrastination now rather than later.Since ceramics is a linear process—do something, learn from it, make

corrections, do it again—you have to start early because you can only fire the kiln so many times. When you consider all the possibilities in forming, finishing and firing, and the many steps in between, you understand the need to get your act together.

This issue concentrates on the surface, although it has a few other goodies added into the mix. We’re featuring Jason Bige Burnett in this issue because his work just makes you smile. I’ve always admired whimsy of the furnish-ings and décor in those cartoons from the 50s and 60s, and Jason captures that sense of style with his slip transfer technique.

Kristin Pavelka looks to Iranian sgraffito wares from the 11th and 12th centuries for her inspiration. She’s mastered combining the soft muted colors that blend and sometimes drip with her sgraffito and inglaze decora-tion technique.

For anyone who appreciates writing and type, you’ll love Connie Nor-man’s wordplay-as-decoration technique. While she uses letterpress type, you’ll find many choices for stamping letters on the web or at your local craft store. My favorite aspect of this technique is that text takes on a differ-ent meaning when fired in clay—different media, different message.

Kate and Will Jacobson demonstrate a technique they accidentally dis-covered 25 years ago and that helped begin a new aesthetic within the raku community. Over the years they’ve continued to experiment with the proce-dure and as you might guess, it’s pretty well fine tuned.

Anything from this issue can be used while you’re preparing items for the holidays. But they all take practice and a little getting used to before you can incorporate them into your style, so there’s no better time than the present to get started. In three months, you’ll be glad you did.

What are you waiting for?

Bill JonesEditor

“Robinson Crusoe was the only one who had everything done by Friday.”

— Anonymous

Volume 14 • Number 5

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http://www.bennettpottery.com


in the mix3 Ingredient Glazesby Holly Goring

I’m all about simple when it comes to glazes. First, my studio is small and I don’t want to sacrifi ce room for a lot of glaze materials. Second I don’t want spend

time repeatedly testing glazes when I could be making work. While I enjoy the experimental side of making my own glazes, I want to eventually have consistent glazes that I know will work every time.

With those requirements in mind, I started by defi ning my basic needs: glossy, matte, and satin base glazes for a cone 04 clay body. They need to be consistent and stable, and work well with both stain and oxide colorants. They also need to work well over underglazes and slips.

Starting From ScratchTo determine what to start mixing I began with the fundamentals of what’s in a glaze. In its most basic

Glossy BaseCone 04

Ferro Frit 3124. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 %EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Total 100 %

Matte Base Cone 04

Ferro Frit 3195. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 %EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Total 100 %

Satin Base Cone 04

Ferro Frit 3195. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 %EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Dolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Total 100 %

form, a glaze is composed of a glass former, a fl ux, and a stabilizer. A fl ux is any ingredient used to help melt the glaze or to lower the melting point. A stabilizer is any ingredient used to stiffen the glaze and hold it onto the clay body, as well as to extend the melting range of a glaze in some cases. In ceramics this is typically alumina. The glass former is the main ingredient of a glaze and is supplied by silica. When combined in various pro-portions, these three basic ingredients will yield a wide variety of base glazes. The melting points and ratios of the three basic ingredients to each other determine the fi ring temperature.

Ratios and LimitsNext I determined the ratios of each component. For a glossy glaze, the silica must be at least 8 to 10 times

GLO

SSY

GLA

ZE

MA

TTE

GLA

ZE

SATI

N G

LAZE

15% Delphinium Mason Stain

1% Chrome1% tin

10% orangeencapsulatedMason stain

4% copper carbonate

10% marigoldMason stain

5% rutile 3% copper carbonate

15% dark purpleencapsulated Mason stain

15% red encapsulated Mason stain

2% coppercarbonate

.25% chrome

10% red encapsulated Mason stain

10% vanadium Mason stain

base glazeno colorant




greater than the alumina. For a satin glaze, the silica is 5 to 8 times greater than the alumina. A glaze needs only 1 to 5 times more silica to alumina to yield a matte surface. The flux ratio balances the above two components. With a dozen or so possible sources of fluxes, many combinations are possible—this is where the real ex-perimenting comes in. Fluxes are the main determiners of texture and how much the glaze will flow on the pot.

Knowing the chemistry and characteristics of your materials is important when deciding what to toss in the bucket. I’m generally not one to sit down and fine tune the science. However, I am willing to do a triaxial blend of three ingredients based on the information above.

Choosing MaterialsI started with EPK kaolin in each of my glazes as my stabilizer, as it supplies a good deal of alumina. It also provides the silica I need for the glass to melt. It’s fairly plastic and is considered the best kaolin for use in suspending glazes.

I added Gerstley borate as a flux in the glossy glaze. It’s a generous contributor of boron, which can decrease crazing and intensify colors. Gerstley borate is a bit controversial among ceramic artists—it has good application and melt properties but can cause glazes to settle over time.

For the flux in the matte glaze, I added whiting (calcium carbonate) which is known to work as a matting agent at low temperatures. It can also harden glazes and prevent pinholing.

I used dolomite for my satin glaze. Dolomite forms crystals upon cool-ing, and these crystals produce a smooth, silky surface.

I also added a Ferro frit to each glaze. Frits are premelted glazes ground into powder and some are formulated to melt at low-fire tem-peratures. Frit 3124 is an all purpose frit for developing strong colors. Frit 3195 is also high in boron and is very fluid. Frits add both glass form-ers and fluxes to the mix.

Finally, colorants were added in small amounts to the base glaze in the form of metal oxides or commer-

cially-made stains. Oxides generally give you a transparent glaze while stains yield an opaque surface. I used a combination of both.

ResultsAfter running a triaxial blend of my three ingredients and narrowing the results, I came upon three suitable recipes to test with colorants.

The glossy glaze recipe is very clear and stable but exhibits a small amount of crazing and could benefit from the addition of more silica. It

produces excellent color with oxides and stains while maintaining the white underglaze underneath.

The matte glaze recipe produces a wonderful clear matte. It works well over textured slips and also pro-duces excellent color with oxides and stains. Apply slightly thicker than the average glaze for good coverage.

The satin glaze recipe makes a beautiful buttery, waxy surface. It is opaque and works best when applied thick. Both oxides and stains work well in the recipe. n

Sigrid K. ZahnerAssistant Professor

Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts

Purdue University

“ We only use brent®. They can handle all the abuse our students inflict on them and then some.”



tools of the tradeUrchin Textureby Annie Chrietzberg

Marcos Lewis’ Sea Urchin vessels are inspired by the time when he lived in the Pacific Northwest working as

a commercial fisherman. “All my years, first as a kid on the beach digging clams, looking un-der rocks, and later working as a commercial fisherman, have filled my memory with shapes and patterns,” he states. Marcos has been mak-ing sea urchin forms for about seven years and he has developed a process and a few tricks along the way that he’s happy to share.

Marcos throws his urchin form on the wheel, using a rib to form the inside, then closes the form until only a tiny hole remains on top (fig-ure 1). He throws with very little water in or-der to trim and decorate as quickly as possible. Once the piece has set up to leather hard, he places the pot back on the wheel and brushes the inside of it with a white slip. He then trims the outside of the form to match the space he created on the inside, taking care to leave an even wall (figure 2).

After trimming, Marcos uses a ball syringe with a piece of an ink tube from a ballpoint pen fitted into the end to slip trail the textured bumps similar to a sea urchin. As he trails slip, he scores the sur-face of the pot with the tip of the ball syringe for better adhesion (figure 3). “When making the beads of slip, I tend to poke and jab the plastic tip of my trailer into the clay, this makes small cuts and dents in the clay under the slip and gives the slip a rough scratched surface to adhere to. I also sometimes go back and gently press the bumps onto the clay as they dry if I see some separation happening,” he notes. When his syringe is not in use, he uses a piece of guitar string to plug the hole. He joked, “It’s ironic that when I was a commercial fisherman in Alaska, I used to keep my hands in shape when not fish-ing by squeezing a rubber ball, now I make my living by squeezing a rubber ball!”

Laying out the patterns by eye, Marcos makes a first line of bumps from the top of the pot, straight down the side of the pot, then does the next line directly opposite the first. By eye he finds the halfway point between two existing lines and continues his decoration around the pot,

but he doesn’t always stick to straight lines. He’s made a special tool to clean up around the bumps if he needs to; he simply ripped the foam rubber off of a disposable paint brush, and cut the plastic support inside down to the exact shape and size he needs. “This is also a good tool for cleaning up around handles,” he said (figure 4).

Marcos is experimental with his clay bodies, slips, and firing methods. He’ll run the gamut from using a white porcelain slip on a dark clay body and creating an atmospheric effect with soda ash, to a stark white on white with a clear glaze, and everything in be-tween. He’ll even modify the density of bumps to get particular effects from ‘stunt glazing’. “I pretty much use any combination [of clay, slip, and firing] I can get my hands on, low fire, micaceous, standard high fire, reduction, salt, soda, etc. If there is any. . .combina-tion that I haven’t tried yet, then I plan on it!” n

Marcos Lewis is now operating a pottery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Annie Chrietzberg is a ceramist and writer living in Texas. You can keep up with her ceramic meanderings at www.earthtoannie.com.

Large urchin form made from dark brown stoneware and porcelain slip, glazed with a green celadon; two smaller urchin forms, both made from porcelain and porcelain slip, one with a pale blue celadon, and the other with a clear glaze.


Throw the urchin form by bellying out then collaring in a cylinder and close it leaving only a small opening.

Place the piece upside-down in a padded chuck and then trim the bottom.

Slip trail a pattern of dots. Use the end the slip trailer to score the piece as you apply the slip.

Left to right: A disposable paint brush handle with the plas-tic support trimmed down, a wooden rib, and a squeeze bulb with a piece of an ink tube and a guitar string.

1

2

3

4

http://www.georgies.com

http://www.mudbucketpottery.com


supply roomRoll Callby Bill Jones

Nothing decorates a pot faster than rolling a pattern into wet or soft leather-hard clay. Whether you’re working on the wheel or with

slabs, rolling a decoration is fast, easy, and adds visual interest to your surfaces. There are two basic types of tools—roulettes and texture rollers—and they are both capable of impressing a continuous repeat pattern on clay. These tools are readily available from your local ceramic supply and you can also make your own.

ClayThe most readily available and flexible material to use for a texture roller is clay. Begin with a coil approxi-mately an inch in diameter and any length and allow it to set up. Roll it on a textured surface, like the back of a rug, then bisque fire. If you want to carve a tex-ture, do it freehand or create a pattern on paper (see p. 48) using delible ink so the moist clay will pick up the design. Your pattern needs to be a little over three times the diameter of the roller.

PlasterPlaster is a great material for creating fine detailed pat-terns. Set cardboard tubes upright in a pie pan and seal the outside bottom with a coil of clay. Pour plaster and allow to set up. Remove the cardboard, saw the rough ends square then carve. Be sure to clean up all plaster chips and residue so it will not contaminate your clay. Tip: Although not as durable, those big pieces of side-walk chalk are easy to carve as well.

WoodYou can make texture rollers from wood dowels or roll-ing pins using Puffy Paints or hot glue to create patterns. Also, wrapping a piece of wood with heavily textured fabric, doilies, yarn, string, or cord creates interesting textures as well.

MKM Tools manufactures a wide selection wooden roulettes in three different widths (1.5 cm, 3 cm, and 6 cm) called Rollers4Clay. Each roller can be easily mounted on a single universal handle, and there are doz-

Bisque roulettes can be carved (left) or have an applied texture (right). These roulettes can last for years.

Cast plaster into cardboard tubes then trim with a saw when dry. Carve into the surface. Good for fine detail work.

Puffy Paints or hot glue are a quick way to add texture to a roller. Ready to use in 1–6 hours.

Amaco offers a roller handle with four interchangeable texture rollers that are 4¼ inches wide.

Xiem utilizes a 7-inch roller handle and 31 designs made of high-quality nonstick rubber.

Bamboo Tools makes rope markers like those used for centuries in the Far East.


Rick McKinney, a potter, started MKM Tools to pro-duce tools he enjoyed using. His rollers come in 3 different widths and dozens of patterns. This cup is decorated with the tool shown on the left.

ens of patterns available. The rollers can be used by themselves or along with MKM’s wooden stamps. These rollers are made out of a fine-grained wood and cut deeply to leave a bold impression. The rollers are coated with Tung oil for durability.

BambooAlthough actually a grass rather than a wood (as you might expect due to its durability), bamboo has been used to make texture rollers in the Far East for centuries. Bam-boo Tools makes rope markers by wrapping bamboo with different thicknesses of rope in a variety of configurations. Rope markers were used on pottery during the Neo-lithic period in Japan and the name Jomon, meaning “cord-marked,” which described the pots made by these people, became the name for the entire culture.

Rubber/PlasticThe newest texture rollers on the market are made from high-quality nonstick rubber and fit on a small paint roller-type frame. The rollers are easy to change so only a single handle is needed. Amaco makes clay texture rollers with four different patterns that are 4¼ inches long and Xiem makes a 7-inch roller with 31 interchangeable patterns.

In addition to these manufactur-ers, Chinese Clay Art has patterned rollers the size of rolling pins in 9- and 10-inch lengths for texturing large areas.

SourcesCheck the websites of the manufacturers to see their complete selection of roulettes and texture rollers. Your local ceramic supplier may also carry a selection of their tools. n

Amaco www.amaco.comBamboo Tools www.bambootools.comChinese Clay Art www.chineseclayart.comMKM Tools www.mkmpotterytools.comXiem www.xiemclaycenter.com

Images of do-it-yourself rollers excerpted from Daryl Baird’s forthcom-ing book From a Slab of Clay. Thanks to David Gamble (Amaco), Rick McKinney (MKM Tools), David Lee (Bamboo Tools), and Kevin Nguyen (Xiem Clay Center) for additional images.

http://www.coyoteclay.com


tips from the prosOn a Rollby Rick Berman

About fifteen years ago I was bringing a ware board full of bottles back into the shop after setting them in the sun for a while to stiffen

up for trimming. While I was fiddling with the door, a pot on the end of the board fell to the ground. Af-ter taking the rest of the pots into the shop, I went back and picked up the one that was flat on its side.

To me, the obvious thing to do now was to pick it up and drop it on the other side to see what would happen. It completely collapsed, but I kind of liked the form so I blew into it. Lo and behold, it turned into what I thought was an incredible shape and I’ve been making it ever since, because I love having a pot with two or more surfaces to decorate. Now, of course, I make sure I have a little more control over the process.

ProcessI start by making a variety of bottle shapes using from three to five pounds of clay (figure 1). I allow the pots to dry to a soft leather-hard state so that when they’re rolled they won’t completely col-lapse. I realize that the term soft leather hard is very subjective, so you’ll need to do some experimenting to find the right working state for you. If the clay is too soft, the pot will completely collapse and if it’s too hard, the pot may crack when rolled.

Place the bottle on its side on a canvas covered ware board or piece of sheetrock (figure 2). Be sure to roll the pot on something similar since the clay will stick to non-absorbent surfaces. For best results, your hand should be relaxed but firm while rolling back and forth. Be sure to use your palm and not your fingers as they will make unwanted marks and dimples on the surface (figure 3).

After rolling one side (figure 4), pick up the pot cleanly by pulling it straight up off the rolling surface rather than rolling it up onto its foot (figure 5). If this is not done properly, the foot can get flattened on one side and may be difficult to repair. Next, turn the form to the other side, and repeat the same process. If the form becomes concave on either side, carefully pick the pot up and lightly blow into the opening to get the desired shape (figure 6). The piece could also be rolled

on three or more sides to get even more variations and shapes. If the bottle is rolled back and forth over half way on both sides until the rolls meet, a really nice point or hard edge can be achieved on both ends. Sometimes I paddle the meeting points on each side to get an even crisper angle.

Rolling thrown forms to alter their shape and create different planes on the surface is an easy and effective way to expand your technical vocabulary. There are countless ways that you could expand on this technique. n

Rick Berman is on the art faculty at Pace Academy. To see more of his work, visit www.rickbermanceramics.com.

Bottle, 9 in. (23 cm) in height, glaze, wax resist, raku fired and smoked with newspaper.


Make a variety of bottle forms on the wheel from roughly three to five pounds of clay.

1Place a soft leather-hard bottle on its side on an absorbent surface to begin the altering process.

2

While rolling, keep your hand relaxed but firm and be sure to use your palm and not your fingers.

3As the pot is rolled, the surface touching the table distorts and forms a soft plane.

4

After rolling one side, pick the pot straight up cleanly (not rolled up) and set it on its foot.

5After rolling the form, lightly blow into the pot until the desired shape is obtained.

6


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by Kristin Pavelka

fell in love with red earthenware after viewing the Iranian sgraffito wares of the 11th and 12th centu-ries in the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C. I en-joyed the casual application of glaze as it moved be-

yond its established etched boundaries or dripped down the sides of the outside wall. The pots displayed a depth and softness of surface that I was excited to utilize in my own work while putting a contemporary spin on these beautiful historical pots. My current work blends ideas from these Iranian wares as well as sugary confections, mid-century and Scandinavian patterns, personal sur-roundings, and the styling of Martha Stewart.

Throwing the PlatesTo make a 9-inch diameter plate, I start with 3½–4 pounds of clay. Working on a bat, I center the lump of clay into a low disk, wheel wedging a few times to work in some moisture if the clay is a little stiff. To open the form, I use the pinky side of my right hand in a “karate chop” posi-

Deep Platesi Above, tidbits and more! Kristin Pavelka’s patterned

plates may have different motifs, but the drawn shapes and layers of colorful satin glazes complement one an-other so well that they can be mixed and matched, just like your favorite appetizers.


tion (figure 1). I continue to open and compress the clay with the pads of my fingertips until I’ve formed a desirable curve for the plate (figure 2). A stiff rubber or steel rib is lightly pushed into the clay, working from the inside to the outside to finish compressing and to alleviate the peaks and valleys formed from my fingertips (figure 3).

The wall of the plate is now ready to be thrown. Before every pull, compress and re-center the rim (figure 4) to correct any wobbles that may have formed from previous touches. My right index finger forms a hook and the side of the first knuckle presses in on the opened clay at the base until the wall lifts slightly. Then with equal pressure from the right hand and left fingertips I gently squeeze the clay at the base and follow the small bulge all the way through the lip of the plate, easing up on the pressure as I get to the lip but sill following through. The wall is pulled up at a 45° angle (visible in figure 4). This is repeated two or three more times until the desired wall thickness is

achieved. I make sure that the base of the plate stays wide and that the bottom of the wall is slightly thicker than the top to support its weight. This support structure will be trimmed away later, so I don’t worry if it seems too thick. Before adjusting the angle of the rim, I use a wooden knife to cut off the skirt of clay at the base of the plate.

Using a stiff rubber or steel rib, lightly run it from the center to the rim of the plate one or two more times, gently laying down the rim and creating a gradual curve across the bottom (figure 5). Carefully cut the base with a taut wire and let the plate dry to leather hard for trimming.

Trimming the FootGet reacquainted with the form of your plate, feeling the thickness of the wall and bottom, so you know where to trim as well as how much to take off. Center and at-tach the plate to the wheel head with a few lugs of soft clay. Using a wide-edged trimming tool (I use the Dolan

To open the plate form, I use the pinky side of my right hand in a "karate chop" position.

Continue to open and compress the clay with the pads of your fingertips until you’ve formed the inner curve.

Using a stiff rib, press lightly into the clay to finish com-pressing it and to remove the ridges.

Compress and re-center the rim before every pull to avoid cracks and unevenness.

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complete my sgrafitto before the slip starts to chip when scratched. Because the slip dries quickly, I have to work fast to complete my design, so I plan the patterns ahead of time in a sketchbook or by drawing with a soft pencil on the unslipped plate itself.

Once I’ve decided on a pattern, I can begin slipping. Holding the plate vertically, I pour the white slip onto the middle of the plate using a large ladle, turning the piece clockwise until the entire face is covered (figure 7). Keep the plate vertical until the slip drips have firmed, then rest the plate on the tabletop and allow the slip to dry for a few minutes until you can touch it without a fingerprint remaining, but while it still feels cold and damp.

Lightly draw a grid on the piece using a soft pencil, like a 2B. Breaking up the space symmetrically on a circular form is a quick and easy way to understand the space. I sometimes draw my pattern on the piece to double check the placement of key elements, but usually I draw directly

310 pear tool) trim the profile of the plate first. I like a foot that is wide enough to support the plate when being cut upon, but narrow enough that it gives the pot a nice visual lift. Once the plate’s profile and the outer edge of the foot are established through trimming, draw the inside circumference of the foot ring with a needle tool, and trim out the interior, starting from the center and working out to your line (figure 6). Level the foot ring if needed and compress the bottom of the foot to cre-ate a smooth surface on which the pot will sit. Carefully remove the attaching lugs of clay and, keeping the plate centered, lightly trim the edge of the plate so the profile has a continuous flow.

Decorating with Slip and SgraffitoI slip my pots when they look dry but have a small bit of moisture in them. This allows for a relatively even coating of slip, yet it dries a bit slower giving me time to

Lightly run a stiff rubber or steel rib from the center to the edge to lay down the rim and create a gentle curve.

Trim out the interior of your foot ring, starting from the center and working out to the scribed circumference line.

Pour white slip onto the middle of the plate, turning the piece clockwise until the entire face is covered.

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7Scratch through the slip so that the tool just barely digs into the underlying clay.

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with my sgraffito tool using just the grid as an aid for plac-ing the design.

My sgrafitto tool had a previous life as a dentistry tool and is thicker and duller than a standard needle tool. A long nail with a dull point is a good substitute. The line created is thicker than an X-Acto blade or needle tool and can give a similar line quality as a standard-sized pencil lead. Medium pressure is exerted with the tool tip so that it scratches through the white slip and just barely digs into the red underlying clay (figure 8). I brush a stiff yet soft-bristled brush across the surface of the plate once the design is carved to clean up the edges of the incised lines as well to rid the surface of the slip crumbs (figure 9).

Finally, a Scotch Brite pad is lightly rubbed along the rim to help expose the red earthenware beneath. This final touch helps create a little more depth to the surface once it has gone through the glaze firing. Note: For all three of the above steps that create crumbles or fine powder, wear

a mask and work over a bucket of water to minimize the amount of dust entering the air and to make clean-up easier.

Glazing by NumbersI bisque fire to cone 01, then, to prepare the piece for glaz-ing, give it a good shower under running water to clean any leftover sgrafitto dust from the surface. Leave the piece to dry overnight. The first glaze application is much like a paint-by-number painting. Often using two tones of the same color, I’ll load up a small brush with the darker tone and fill in the “pod” shapes. Little pressure is used when painting as the glaze should flow from the brush onto the bisque, eliminating brush strokes (figure 10). I fill the sgrafitto lines with this first glaze, which helps eliminate pinholes in the glaze-fired impression. This first layer of glaze is left to dry several hours to overnight.

The second, lighter tone of glaze is then poured on the plate in a similar fashion to the white slip—rotating a ver-

Brush the surface once the design is complete to clean up the edges of the incised lines.

Load up a small brush with the darker-toned glaze and fill in the pod shapes on the bisque-fired plate.

Once the first glaze is dry, apply a coat of a lighter-toned satin glaze using the same technique as for pouring the slip.

Apply the accent glazes, starting with the lighter glaze, and finishing with small dots of darker glaze.

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RecipesPete’s Forgiving White Slip

Cone 04Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 %Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10OM4 Ball Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 100 %Can be applied to leather-hard, bone dry, or bisqued clay .

Satin Base Cone 04

Ferro Frit 3124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 .5 %Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 .0EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .5Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 .0 100 .0 %Add: Bentonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .0I use Mason stains to color this glaze . For the plate shown (right), the dark yellow is 4% MS Vanadium Yellow 6440, the light yellow is 2 .5% praseodymium yellow 6450 . Light and dark pinks are 1% and 2% MS Crimson 6003 . Add an Epsom salt solution to the wet glaze to help keep it suspended . Add the Epsom salts to boiling water until the solution is supersaturated . Add 1 tsp at a time until the glaze changes from thin and watery to light and fluffy, or the materials no longer settle out . Use 1 tsp for a 1000 gram batch and 3–4 tsp for a 5-gallon bucket .

Worthington ClearCone 04

Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 %EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 100 %I use this base glaze along with colorants to create my red and orange glazes . (Used with 10% Degussa Orange stain for orange dots on the plates on page 17 .)

Kat Red Cone 04

Wollastonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 .7 %Ferro Frit 3195 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 .5EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 .5Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 .7 100 .0 %Add: Bentonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .0 Degussa Bright Red stain . . . . . 12 .0This is an opaque, fat-looking satin glaze . Used to make the dots on the plates on page 17 .)

"Frosting" Maiolica Cone 04

Ferro Frit 3195 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 .8 %F4 Feldspar (Minspar 200) . . . . . . . 14 .3Georgia Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .5EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .5Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .2Zircopax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 .7 100 .0 %This glaze has the look of marshmallow when layered on top of my other glazes .

tically-held plate clockwise while pouring the glaze in the middle of the piece (figure 11). This second coat is left to dry.

The final glazes are now ready to be applied to the dots using a small soft brush or a fingertip. I can usually see a light indentation of the sgrafitto dot through the poured glaze to use as a guide for dot place-ment. If I am unable to determine where to place my dot within the design, I sometimes guess and other times fire the piece and then apply the dots to the fired glaze and refire. The final dots are made up of a lighter-toned large dot with a smaller dark toned dot on top (figure 12).

The dry, glazed piece is fired to cone 04, held at that temperature for 15 minutes and then fired down to cone 010 before being turned off. This schedule helps to produce a nice satiny finish to the glaze surface. n

Kristin Pavelka is a full-time studio potter living in Maplewood, Minnesota. To see more of her work visit www.pavelkapottery.com.


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Too Much Television, uses newsprint and slip decoration combined with incised decoration, decals, luster, and glaze, creating dimensional surfaces that also pop with color.

by Jason Bige Burnett

y childhood interest in television cartoons infl uenced my current ceramic forms and surfaces. The bright colors, graphic pat-terns, and illustrative qualities recapture and

celebrate my fascination with whimsical domestic repre-sentation. I’m inspired by the stylized hand-drawn utili-tarian objects like a coffee mug in a cartoon character’s hand or the mixing bowl displayed on the shelf in their kitchen. I hope to continue that sense of wonder through real physical objects.

The combination of commercial stained slips and newsprint create a stick-and-peel process. By applying slips saturated with bold colors onto newsprint, then transferring the drawn images to a slipped clay object, I can achieve an animated surface. Playtime doesn’t end there; I continue by introducing stamps, stains, and stickers to further enhance the ceramic surface until the desired effect is fully achieved.

Creating Newsprint TransfersThe process I’m using is equivalent to making a monoprint in traditional printmaking. Instead of drawing on a metal plate and transferring the image to paper, I’m drawing on newspaper then transferring to clay. As with all monoprints, keep in mind that the image you create will be reversed. Text must be backwards and layers of color must be applied foreground to background (fi gure 1). Whether it be stripes, shapes, illustrations, or a color fi eld, start with an idea of how you would like to approach the surfaces of your piece before you start.

Apply your pattern or drawing to strips or blocks of news-print, varying the colors of slip using brushes, slip trailers, and sponge stamps. Use caution as the paper causes the slip to dry; and if it dries too much, it may chip off. Use a spray bottle to keep the image damp but don’t spray too much water, as it could puddle and smear the slip. The local news-

Slippery When Wet

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All Purpose White Slip Cone 04-10

Ferro Frit 3124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 .2 %EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 .0 OM4 Ball Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 .0 Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 .4 Zircopax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .4Total 100 .0 %

Add: Mason Stains

Mason stain percentages vary per color . Try testing within the range of 3–10% to start .

paper works well but I prefer using Strathmore brand Newsprint Paper available at any art supply store. The thickness and tooth of this paper is durable and tough enough to hold and transfer slip.

Slip it and Stick itAfter you’ve completed the newsprint image, wait for the slip to become leather hard and then apply a slip coat over the drawing. Lightly dab the fi rst coat of slip on (fi gure 2), wait for this coat to become leather hard and then brush on a second coat. A hair dryer assists in getting the slipped newsprint to leather-hard. If the slip has a glossy shine then it’s too wet to continue.

The slip application works best on leather-hard clay. Using a hake brush, apply a moderate coat of slip to the surface of your piece. This layer of slip shouldn’t be too thin or too thick and it should be the consisten-cy of heavy whipping cream. This slip coat creates a tactile surface perfect for pressing newsprint into and absorbs transferred slip and imagery well.

When the slip-coated clay piece and the slip decoration on the newsprint are both at leather hard, you are ready to print. There is a narrow window of time here where the surface of your piece and the newspaper are perfect for application. If one or the other is too wet when ap-plied, the result could be sloppy and undesirable. If the image and object are too dry then this affects the qual-ity of adhesion. When the slip on the object is soft but not tacky and all the slip on the paper has lost its sheen, you’re ready to transfer the image.

Carefully pick up your piece of newsprint and slowly bring it towards the object. You’ll see the image through the newsprint and that assists with placement. Once any part of the newsprint transfer touches the object, gently press the rest of the newsprint onto the surface (fi gure 3). Note that air pockets result on curved surfaces. These are addressed after the pressing. Softly press the news-print transfer onto the surface with your hands, working over the general area. The trapped air pockets can be removed by piercing them with a needle tool or a small X-Acto blade. If the air pockets are not taken care of, they can cause defects or misprinting of the transfer.

Now that the newsprint has been applied to the object, there’s a layer of moisture trapped between the object and the paper. Within the fi rst minute or two the clay object begins absorbing that moisture.

Using a soft rib, press the newsprint down, applying more pressure than before. Between thirty seconds and two minutes is about the time when you’ll notice the newsprint drying out again. Now take a slightly hard-er rib and, with more force than before, rub the news-print one last time into the clay. Rubbing too hard could smudge the slip underneath or tear through the paper. Practice and experience with this method is the best way to fi nd your limits.

Grab a corner or take the edge of the newsprint and slowly begin to peel away (fi gure 4). It’s important to do this slowly so you’ll catch the spots that did not adhere to the surface. Just place it back down gently and mas-sage the spot down into the surface with the medium-soft rib. Repeat if necessary. Not addressing the spots creates potential reservoirs for stain and glazes later. Now that your image is transferred, handle the piece carefully. Ap-plying slip onto leather-hard clay will make the clay soft and malleable again. I suggest waiting until your piece becomes fi rm and the slip isn’t sticky to the touch before applying anything else to the surface.

Additional DecorationsIf you want a contrasting decorations in an adjoining area, apply another coat of slip to the leather-hard clay. This time, try cutting out stripes or shapes of plain news-print, spritz with water until slightly damp, and lay them over the slip coat to act as a stencil resist (fi gure 5). Brush over the piece with another slip, again any color works, and let sit until the slip fi rms up (fi gure 6).

On top of the slip and strip layer, I also like creating built up textures of slip. Brush a moderate coat of slip onto a wide strip of newsprint and vary the thickness of application. Once leather hard, place the wide strip over the slip-coated object

Circus Stars and Stripes, 7 in. (18 cm) in height, earthen-ware, slip, underglaze, glaze, iron-toner decals, and gold luster, 2010.


Create patterns with colored slips. Remember to paint on the colors for the foreground layer fi rst and the back-ground last.

When the slip on the newsprint has become leather-hard, blot and brush on the background slip which also serves as a transfer coat.

Gently apply the newsprint to the piece. Use your hand and a soft rib to ensure good contact and pierce any trapped air.

When the slip has had time to absorb and the newsprint has lost a lot of the moisture it had, slowly peel it away from the surface.

Apply damp newsprint strips to the surface and press down all edges to prevent the second slip coat from seeping underneath.

Brush additional slip coats over both the fi rst layer of slip on the piece and the damp newsprint strips. Use any color or combination of colors you wish.

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Create more of a tactile surface by applying another layer of thick slip onto a fresh piece of newsprint and wrapping it around the object.

After allowing the slip to absorb into the surface for a minute or two, peel away the newsprint again to reveal the varied, textured surfaces.

Mark the surface with stamps, rollers (like a fabric trac-ing wheel), and carving tools, creating new patterns and echoing the lines of the form or of the colored slip bands.

Take advantage of the piece being leather hard and carve away some larger areas of the slip, revealing the contrast-ing color of the clay body below.

After the work has been bisqued, apply underglaze or stain over the object and wipe away to accentuate the process marks.

Apply soda ash wash, wax resist, and glazes to desired surfaces. This is the time to plan for a fi nal layer of decals and lusters.

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with the newsprint stripes still in place (fi gure 7). Be more relaxed with this and just gently pat down the strip. Give it a variation of rubs and pressings, then peel away and notice the loose quality and nature of the slipped surface (fi gure 8). Any sharp edges of slip should be tapped down or pressed in with your fi ngers. After this surface has been bisqued, stains and washes enhance the loose look, suggesting surfaces such as torn wallpaper or chipped paint.

Next, carefully peel the stripes away. If locating the paper and peeling it away is diffi cult, lightly heat the surface with a blow dryer until the slip above the newsprint becomes no-ticeably different in color and dryness. Now the paper can be removed with the aid of a needle tool or an X-Acto blade.

Stamp it OutSince the object is still leather hard after the newsprint and resist techniques, more adornment may be applied. You can create additional marks using stamps, drawn in lines, and texture rollers (fi gure 9). Larger areas of slip can also be carved away and create more surface depth (fi gure 10).

Layering After the BisqueStaining the work with an underglaze creates more depth and enhances the process marks and indentations previously made on the surface. Coat the entire piece with one or two layers of underglaze, let dry, and sponge it away from the high points leaving it in the recesses (fi gure 11). I use a black underglaze to give my work a distressed look and to

enhance all the intricate marking made up until this point. Let the underglaze dry prior to applying wash and glazes.

Tip: Since the whole object will not be covered in glaze, some areas will remain matte. If the matte surfaces remain untreated they come out looking chalky and dry. To prevent this, apply a soda ash wash over the piece in two generous brush coats. To make the soda ash wash, combine 57 grams of soda ash to 1 cup of heated water and stir to dissolve the ingredients. Allow the piece to dry again. The soda ash wash will cause the matte surfaces to retain a moist and saturated look. I fi re the stains, glazes, and soda ash wash together to cone 05–04, and then do a second fi ring of the iron toner decals to cone 08, fi nally I do a third fi ring of gold luster and commercial decals together to cone 017. I’ve fi red the soda ash wash up to cone 2 but not past that.

I use a variety of shop-made and commercial glazes. For many, glazing is the last and fi nal step, but I fi nd glaze fi r-ing is only an intermediate step when pushing surfaces even further. When glazing, try setting up areas for decals and lusters by selectively applying the glaze (fi gure 12). Remem-ber, decals and lusters refl ect the surface below them and work best when applied to a shiny surface. n

Jason Bige Burnett received BA’s in both printmaking and graphic design, and a BFA in ceramics from Western Kentucky University in 2009, and fi nished a two-year fellowship as a Penland School of Crafts core student. He now teaches workshops at the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts in Asheville, North Carolina. To see more, visit www.JasonBigeBurnett.com.

Swirls and Stripes, 101/4 in. (26 cm) in diameter, earthenware, slip, underglaze, glaze, iron-toner decals, commercial decals, and gold luster, 2011.


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by Connie Norman

y current style of working all start-ed one day during a workshop. The man standing next to me smiled and secretly showed me some hole rein-

forcements labels. (You know, the little white round things that go around paper for three ring binders). He was acting as if he was showing me a secret family recipe. He was using them for glaze decoration and after I saw that, I was in hot pursuit of office supplies. Texture has always been important to me, but I now use it in a subtler form. I balance text as pattern and texture, with passages of color and line. The text in my pieces acts as a path to look inward, a glimpse into my private thoughts, which at times are playful and at others are much darker in tone.

I create architectural vessels using slab construction. All my forms are made with glazing in the forefront of my mind. Al-though every step of my process is ex-tremely time consuming, the glazing takes the longest.

Making the FormTo begin, make paper templates for each side of the vessel, including the bottom. You can use tag board, although it doesn’t hold up very long, or you can use tar pa-per from your local home store.

Roll out ½-inch thick slabs. I like this thickness because the slabs support them-selves when attached. Compress the slabs with a rib, this weaves the clay particles to-gether to give the slab a stronger working strength, and makes them fairly smooth.

After the side slabs are leather hard (the bottom slab should be kept to a slight softer leather hard), use your templates to cut out the pieces of the vessel. Tip: Cut each slab edge with a bevel to help join

M

Connie Norman uses letterpress patterns as a signature design element.

SAY IT wITh CLAYSAY IT wITh CLAY SAY IT wITh CLAYSAY IT wITh CLAYSAY IT wITh CLAY

SAY IT wITh CLAY SAY IT wITh CLAY


the corners together. Score and slip heavily, attach two of the beveled sides together, creating a 90° angle, then repeat with the other two sides. After you have two "L" shapes or two halves, place these together and join the remaining beveled edges to create a box. Add a thick reinforcement coil to the joints (figure 1). The re-inforcement coil is very important because of all the handling of the slabs from this point on. Finish the edges by blending in the coils and then smooth out the form.

Attaching the Bottom and LipTurn the vessel upside down and attach a bottom with a softer leather-hard piece—it should be flexible enough to stretch around the vessel if you have a curved foot or rim (figure 2). Once the

The LetteringI use old letterpress type to make my texture and patterns (figure 5). Rub-ber stamps don’t work because they are not hard enough, so if pos-sible, try to avoid them. Use a rubber tipped clay shaper to draw guide lines for the text. The clay shaper will lay down a light line with-out marring the surface. Decide how to divide up the vessel to then add text. As the surface is divided, think about what enhances the form vertically, horizontally, and three dimensionally.

Score and slip the beveled edges of each slab heavily and add a reinforcement coil to the seam.

To make the bottom of the vessel, flip it upside down, lay the slab on top of the arch, and join.

A Surform tool refines the shape of the vessel by removing extra clay from the reinforcement coils.

Trim the extra clay off the rim using a fettling knife and clean up the edges.

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FAIrYTALeSnevergrowoLdFAIrYTALeSnevergrowoLd


reinforcement coils for the bot-tom are blended in, everything needs to firm up again.

When everything is leather-hard, use a Surform to refine the shape and remove any extra clay from the reinforcement coils (figure 3). Remove the Surform texture with a rubber rib. The smoother you get the clay the better the decorating and glaz-ing will go. Once the clay can support its own weight, flip it over carefully and add a lip or rim to the vessel (figure 4). The original template, used to cut out the sides and the bottom, is used again to create the arch at the top of the pot. Use the pattern piece to draw the curve, then cut off the excess clay. Follow by adding one-inch slabs to the top to cre-ate the finished rim.

Press letterpress type into the clay to create a pat-tern with shape and line.

Wipe the extra glaze off the text with a sponge, making sure it remains in the recessed patterns.

Tape off the dry, glazed text with masking tape. Press and seal the tape well to prevent glaze leaks.

Use fine-line auto-body tape to make thin lines on the bisque ware.

glazingAfter bisque firing, brush glaze into the text, and wipe off the excess with a sponge (figure 6). Then glaze the inside by pour-ing glaze in, rolling it around to cover all the sides, then pouring out the excess. Because the ves-sel is now saturated with water from the sponging and glazing, it needs to dry at least 24 hours before continuing. This is im-portant because if the bisque is damp, the masking tape won’t stick to it.

Bare clay is great! I love how the shiny and the matte surfaces play off each other. Mask off the sections that will remain bare, in-cluding all the text sections that already have glaze (figure 7). The beauty of masking tape is that you

can draw on the bisque because the tape is translucent enough to see the pencil marks. I find the pencil drawings helpful with making registration marks. If you don’t like drawing on bisque ware you can draw on the masking tape instead. Leave the tape on the text section during the entire glazing process.

The best tape to use for thin lines of decoration is Scotch Fine Line Tape (figure 8). This tape is polypropylene plastic film, and it adheres well to the bisque, makes a very clean line, and also works well for curved lines. It can be found in automotive stores in the paint section.

When first creating glaze resist shapes I started with plain office supplies—whatever my local store had available. I then started hole

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Hirsh Satin Base Cone 04-02

Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 %Lithium Carbonate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Total 100 %

Excellent Black Cone 04

Lithium Carbonate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 %Wollastonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ferro Frit 3195 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Total 100 %

Add: Bentonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Black Iron Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Black Mason Stain . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Cobalt Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Punch holes into stickers to add additional decora-tion to your pieces.

Brush three even coats of glaze over the applied stickers and allow the glaze to dry.

Apply stickers onto the bisque to create a pattern or layered design.

Use an X-Acto knife to peel off the stickers before you glaze fire.

punching the round circles and looking for other ways to alter my office supplies (figure 9 and 10).

Once you finish applying tape and other resist shapes, brush on three coats of glaze, making sure to change directions of your brush strokes to ensure even coverage (figure 11). Peel off the tape and adhesive decorations before the glaze firing (figure 12). Make sure to remove the entire sticker and all the tape. If any adhesive from the sticker remains on the bisque, it leaves a residue and does not burn away in the kiln. Glaze fire to your clay body's temperature. n Connie Norman is a ceramic artist and teacher. She is a graduate of the New York State College of Ceram-ics at Alfred University and is cur-rently represented by Plinth Gallery, Crimson Laurel Gallery, and Artful Home. To see more of her work visit www.connienorman.com.

Black Tar Cone 04

Borax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 %Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Total 100 %

Add: Red Iron Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Cobalt Carbonate . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Iron chromate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Black Copper Oxide . . . . . . . . . . .10 Rutile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Jacquie’s Crimson Cone 04

Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 .0 %Lithium Carbonate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 .0Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .0EPK Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .0Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 .0Total 100 .0 %

Add: Crimson Stain . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 .0 Veegum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .5

9 10

11 12


%%%% %

%

%%%%%


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From

When we were in our twenties and making pots in the desert, it never occurred to us that we were making history. We were just having fun; exploring the materials, tech-

niques and inspirations that caught our fancy. Admittedly, we were creating art for our own pleasure and selling a few pieces along the way to sustain our lifestyle.

Now that we are in our fifties, we look back and real-ize what a free, indulgent life we led and hope that the generations to come get the same opportunity. Creating history is what artists do. We reach to the outer limits of everyday life: trying to divine the sublime from the banal. Artists and youth explore and then try to make

Oh No!to

Oh Wow!

When a piece of glaze popped off of a piece after a raku firing, what could have been just another pot for the shard pile led the Jacobsons to discover the possibilities of naked raku and create pieces like this one.

by Kate and Will Jacobson

sense of the chaos around them. The tough part is ar-ticulating that individual sensibility to others. So it has been for centuries.

In our case, we were playing around with low-tem-perature techniques, focusing on contrasting textures in relation to form. When a piece of glaze popped off af-ter pulling a piece from the reduction chamber, an “Oh no” moment quickly became an “Oh wow” event that changed the direction of our work for the next twenty-five years. We started down the road to making work with the naked raku technique.

In 1989, while showing our work at an American Craft Council exhibition, someone from Ceramics


Speigle-Kramer to teach the very first naked raku work-shop. In subsequent years, we returned to Europe to teach and share our love for clay, fire, and laughter. Our stu-dents taught their students who taught their students and the result, many years later, is an international community of naked raku enthusiasts.

The ProcessAlthough we’ve lived in many different places and ex-perimented at length with materials, our approach to na-ked raku is basically the same as it was 25 years ago. We like to throw thin-walled pots with cone 10 Laguna clays (Amador and WSO). When the pots are leather hard, we apply colored clay slips. Most of these pots are colored porcelain, but we also use some white stoneware and red earthenware. The slips are first brushed on and allowed to dry for 10–15 minutes. By using colored clays in a

Left: Preheating in kiln, 10 minutes. Below: Pot fired to 1364°F (740°C) distinct orange peel texture.

Monthly encouraged us to write an article. We were honored to be noticed by people knowledgeable about our medium and eager to share our excitement over discovering a new pottery technique. Our recipes were published in Ceramics Monthly and reprinted in Raku Firing: Advanced Techniques.

Positively IncompatibleNaked raku utilizes an incompatible slip/glaze combina-tion. The slip doesn’t fit the pot and the glaze does not mature at such a low firing temperature. In short, it was everything in a glaze that Daniel Rhodes warned against in his classic 1957 book, Clay and Glazes for the Potter. Of course, as young artists, we were thrilled at the hint of rebellion.

Only two months after the Ceramics Monthly article was published, we were invited by Dutch artist Margot

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Will and Kate’s Raku Glaze Recipe

Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 %Ferro Frit 3110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Total 100 %

watered-down state, you can get the color underneath to show through when burnished.

Once the colored slips have dried, they can be bur-nished. The first burnish is just to smooth the slip out. Care is taken to fill in any divots or rough spots. We then let the pot sit for 1–4 hours to dry further, then burnish at least once more to get a glossy surface. To retain this gloss, the pots need to dry slowly for 1–2 days.

We then bisque to about 1427°F (775°C). We find there is a fairly wide temperature (50–70°) variation that can be acceptable to us for our clay body and style of work.

After the bisque, we apply the resist slip and glaze com-bination that gives naked raku its special look. For the resist slip, we brush on a thin layer of our Amador throw-ing clay. It holds on to the pot very well throughout the process and comes off with ease after reduction. We have experimented with making the resist slip from lots of dif-

ferent stoneware clays with excellent results. We often draw patterns or images through this slip, creating a sort of sgrafitto effect. Although a temporary coating, the act of drawing through the slip creates areas for the smoke of the reduction chamber to penetrate the surface.

The glazing happens once the pot doesn’t feel too “cool” to the touch. If there’s too much moisture in the pot or in the slip, the glaze layer won’t stick very well. We continue to use the glaze we developed in 1985. We have used other raku glazes and experimented with the percentages and variations of frits and borates in the glaze, but have not found one that works better than the original formula. The glaze is poured on to the pots and may be brushed on to smaller pieces or sculptural work. As the glaze con-tains a lot of Gertsley borate, it quickly begins to set up or thicken. This happens in 30–45 seconds after it has been stirred. So, time is of the essence in getting it to pour well.

Left: Place the pot in reduction cham-ber, uncovered for 3–4 minutes. Below: Allow the pot to cool normally once out of the reduction chamber.

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We suggest you try two or three different thicknesses until you get a feel for what each layer will do in the firing. Generally, the thinner layers will have tighter, smaller crackle lines than a glaze that was put on slightly thicker. If you go thick, the crackles will be very large and spaced far apart. Thick glaze also can fire out with dots and shadowy areas with very little crackles. There is simply no substitute for firing a lot of pots to get a feel for the slip/glaze relationship.

After the glaze has dried for a few minutes, you can then etch drawings through the slip/glaze layer. We use a wooden tool with a sharpened point. This is done gently so as not to scratch the surface of the pot.

After preheating in the kiln for 10 minutes (figure 1), we fire one piece at a time to about 1364°F (740°C.) The best indication of when to pull the pot out of the kiln is when the glaze matures to an “orange peel” look (figure 2). There should be plenty of very rough texture all over the pot. Once the glaze has reached this stage, remove it from the kiln and place it in the reduction chamber (figure 3).

After it has cooled sufficiently, the drawing or pattern made in the slip appears as black lines, while carbon cov-ers parts of the surface (figure 4). Once the piece is cool to the touch, start to flake off the black carbon coating and any loose areas of the slip/glaze coating layer, revealing the slip colors below and the smoke patterns (figure 5). Rinse off any debris, then remove the remainder of the slip/glaze coating using a metal rib to separate it from the surface of the pot. (figure 6).

When experimenting, remember that kilns heat up at different rates, clay bodies mature differently and the slip/glaze combination has variations. Firing six to ten pots, one after another, will give you a good idea of how the kiln, glaze and ambient temperature are working together. Glaze and fire often, and keep a journal of it all. Remem-ber, you’re making history every day! n

Kate and Will Jacobson live and work in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. They are featured in the forthcoming book Naked Raku to be published in the spring of 2012. To see more of their work, visit www.JacobsonArtStudio.com.

Left: Glaze begins to pop off. Below: Finishing glaze removal.

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instructors fileThrown Portraits by Tony Natsoulasby Don Hall

Hearing the term “throwing clay” always made me think of a potter’s wheel, but not any more. My friend Tony Natsoulas throws clay

too, although not in the traditional way. He throws it against the wall as the first step in creating his unique ceramic portraits. Tony notes that he didn’t invent the technique, he first saw students using the process when he was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis.

“California Funk” is the term used to describe the style of clay art that began in the 1960s in Northern California. It’s a style that brought clay art into the mainstream of the national art scene and is uniquely associated with Northern California. The Clay Funk movement grew out of the Funk Art Movement in San Francisco during the Beat Era in the 1950s.

Funk artists like Bruce Conner and George Herms created assemblage sculpture from found objects in a Neo-Dada style that broke all rules of traditional sculp-

ture, especially in regards to craftsmanship and sub-ject matter. With influences from the Funk artists like Conner and Herms, and borrowing from the Abstract Expressionists and the Pop artists of the 60s, the idea of what clay art could be changed forever.

Humor, obscenities, bodily functions, even art itself became the subject for the new Funk clay sculptors. Robert Arneson and David Gilhooly were two of the main practitioners of the new direction that clay was taking. Arneson in particular influenced numerous stu-dents at UC Davis where he taught from 1962 to 1991. Since the 1960s, the influence of the California Funk Art Movement has had on contemporary clay art can’t be overstated.

Tony, who studied with Arneson and Gilhooly, is one of the pre-eminent California Funk ceramic art-ists working today. His work is in the collections of numerous museums, businesses, and private collections around the world.

Whimsical and wry, Tony Natsoulas’ thrown portraits take shape quickly, yet deftly capture the subject’s personality.


Throwing the HeadWhen I visited Tony’s studio, he was working on a series of humorous high-relief wall pieces depicting people swimming. Each face is unique and up to its neck in water. Before Tony starts any portrait, he takes photo-graphs of his subject from several angles to help deter-mine the facial proportions. He begins the process by en-ergetically throwing handfuls of sculpture clay at a piece of damp plywood that leans against the wall (figure 1). Tony prefers to sculpt with the work at eye level because that’s the way it’s viewed on a gallery wall.

After he has about 20 pounds of clay stuck in a lump in the middle of the plywood, he begins to form it into a face by pushing and pulling it into an oval shape (figure 2). He forms the brow first, near the middle of the clay mass, then quickly forms the major planes of a face. Once the basic shapes are formed, details are added to complete the likeness. In a matter of minutes, Tony has formed a face out of what started as rugged clay lumps (figure 3).

After about two hours, the clay firms up to leather hard and Tony cuts it off the plywood with a wire (figure 4). Now that the piece is removed from the plywood and it is dry enough to handle, it is time to hollow out the back. He places the piece on a piece of foam rubber and scoops out the unneeded clay until the face is about an inch to 3/4 of an inch thick (figure 5). This will lighten the sculp-ture and make it easier to hang on a wall. The scraps are saved and stored for reclaim later. With the face still sitting on the foam rubber, Tony forms two tabs for wall mounting on both sides of the back of the face. The tabs should be able to sit flush against the wall and a hanging

Start the form by throwing handfuls of clay onto damp-ened plywood.

Form the clay into a basic face shape by pushing, pulling, and carving on the rugged lumps.

Add details to the face. Use photographs as a reference to achieve accurate details.

Cut the face off the plywood using a wire tool.

1 2

3

4


wire can be strung between them. Using a drill, he makes a hole in each tab for the hanging wire (figure 6). The waves for the bottom of the face are made using the same throwing technique, and are intended to fit snugly around the neck. They are a separate piece and are attached at the end of the process. Once completed, the face and the waves are set aside and allowed to dry for a week. Then they are bisque fired on a very slow cycle in an electric kiln to cone 1.

GlazingTony’s glazing technique is almost as interesting as his forming technique. He began glazing the piece shown here by rather haphazardly dabbing a commercial blue cone 06 glaze onto the piece. He did the same thing with green glaze, and finally one last time with orange (figure 7). Whichever colors he uses, for this first step, when the glazes are dry, he washes most of them off with a wet sponge. The glazes remain in the nooks and crannies to add layers of color and mimic the shadows on the face of a live person. In a few moments the face dries enough to add the final coats of glaze. For this piece, again three commercial glazes were used: first an opaque layer of peach, then a coat of translucent peach, and final-ly a transparent coat of pastel peach. Brown was added for the hair, blue for the eyes, and red for the lips. These glazes change depending on the subject of the portrait.

Glaze FiringOnce the piece was glazed and dry, it was ready for the final firing. Tony fires his pieces to cone 06 because he likes the range of colors available in low-fire glazes. Since he bisque fires higher, the pieces are more durable. After the firing and cooling, he attaches a wire to the back of the piece, looping it through the holes in the tab and twisting the ends to secure it for hanging. n

For more information on Tony Natsoulas and his artwork go to www.tonynatsoulas.com.

Don Hall is an artist living in Turlock, California. He creates and exhibits both ceramic objects and two-dimensional works on paper. He is a part-time drawing instructor at Modesto Junior College and gives workshops in both ceramics and drawing. For more informa-tion on Don’s work go to www.donhallworks.com. You can email him at [email protected].

Trim the excess clay from the back of the face in order to lighten the sculpture.

Drill two holes using a 3/8-inch drill bit into clay tabs on the back of the face.

After the bisque firing, the piece is painted with several layers of low-fire glazes and fired to cone 06.

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CALL

FOR

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2012

Potters Council

Juried Show

“The Chromatic Edge”

Seattle, WAExhibit Dates: March 28-30, 2012Deadline to Submit: September 1, 2011

For more details go to: www.potterscouncil.org



• 20% Discount on Magazines, Art Books

and DVDs

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Potters Council Celebrating 10 Years

2011 NEW Member Benefits

• Online Member Directory

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NOW is the time to join an organization that works for you. Our member benefits touch every aspect of your life — from money sav-ing discounts, and eligibility for group health insurance, to learning new techniques at conferences. Visit www.potterscouncil.org or call 800.424.8698 to join and celebrate our 10th Birthday with us.

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create imagery by mixing and layering different colors of clay. The two basic techniques he demonstrates are neriage and nerikomi. Neriage, sometimes called marbled clay or agateware, is relatively simple and can be very striking, and even if you have experimented with marbling clays together you will find some helpful hints to improve your success rate with this fun technique. Nerikomi is very time consuming—Benzle wryly admits there is a lot of somewhat tedious preparation—but this technique can be used to create luminous, translucent porcelain pieces with crisp patterns embedded in it. Similar techniques are used by many artists who work in polymer clay, but the end re-sult is far more beautiful in translucent, fired porcelain. It is fascinating to watch Benzle work, there is a lot to learn from him about working with colored clay.

For anyone who is frustrated with the limitations of brushed, dipped or poured glazes and underglazes when creating precise imagery, one of these DVDs is likely to give you ideas you can use. Even if you only want to dabble a bit in screen printing or colored clay, these DVDs will get you started. They’ll open your eyes to new ways of working and thinking about imagery and color in clay. n

off the shelf

Fundamentals of Screen Printing on Clay with Paul Andrew Wandless Ceramic Arts Publications Westerville, Ohio, 2011 www.ceramicartsdaily.org

Screen Printing & Colored Clayby Sumi von Dassow

While most people who study pottery are content to dip, pour or brush glazes onto their work, there are always some potters who want to

create imagery on their work. Of course there are lots of ways to do this, but if you’re looking for crisp imagery with no chance your designs will be ruined by glazes run-ning or bleeding together, you’ll want to use colored clay, slip, or underglazes, which stay put.

Two new DVDs from the Ceramic Arts Daily video series introduce you to decorating processes you may not be familiar with. In the DVD, Screen Printing on Clay, Paul Andrew Wandless guides you through the process of using a silk screen to transfer imagery onto clay using underglazes. And a DVD by Curtis Benzle titled, Expand-ing Your Creative Palette with Colored Clay, reveals some of the methods he uses to create beautiful patterns and imagery using colored porcelain.

The Wandless DVD begins with showing you how to stretch a silk screen, then progresses through various processes involved in creating an image. Wandless demon-strates how to draw an image directly onto a screen, how to use stencils, and how to use photo-sensitive emulsions. Screens can be printed alone or multiple screens can be used to create complex, layered imagery. Wandless is clearly very familiar with the processes but he doesn’t go too fast or skip over important details. He explains how and why to do every step and what problems you are likely to encounter, while never making any part of the process sound too overwhelming or difficult. The equip-ment and materials needed are simple and easily acquired. Wandless demonstrates printing on slabs, explaining that once printed, the slabs can then be formed with whatever process you typically use. He demonstrates how to care-fully handle and form a printed slab and how to print on a simple curved surface.

While screen printing involves applying colored under-glazes onto a base clay, there are many ways to work with color. Curtis Benzle makes exquisite porcelain vessels using clay he colors with stains. In this two-disc set, he demonstrates his preferred method for creating colored clay and then goes through several processes he uses to

Paul Andrew Wandless is a studio artist, author, and educator who regularly gives workshops and lectures regarding his art, techniques, and research around the US and Canada. He has taught at sev-eral universities and art centers since 1999, and maintains a studio in Chicago. He is the author of Image Transfer on Clay and his articles have been published in Pottery Making Illustrated. Visit www.studio3artcompany.com for more information and to view more images of his work.

– Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, managing editor, ceramicartsdaily.org


ceramic arts daily video library

Fund

am

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Prin

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on C

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In this presentation, Paul Andrew Wandless shares some of the funda-mentals of the screen printing process and shows you how to screen print images on clay. He covers techniques that are easy and accessible so that you’ll be ready to experiment with them right away. Best of all, the processes in this video can be done in any home studio and do not require any expensive or specialized equipment. Through his diligent step-by-step demonstrations and explanations, you’ll learn how to create screens and put images onto those screens using a variety of techniques. In addition, you’ll learn successful methods for printing your images alone or in combination to make beautiful and complex images on both greenware and bisqueware. The creative possibilities are limitless!

ceramic arts daily video library

ceramic artsdailypresents

gCopyright 2011 The American Ceramic Society

Running Time: 1 hour 37 minutes

with Paul Andrew Wandless

Screen Printing on Clay

Fundamentals of

Expanding Your Creative Palette with Colored Clay with Curtis Benzle Ceramic Arts Publications Westerville, Ohio, 2011 www.ceramicartsdaily.org


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Paul Andrew Wandless • Nan Rothwell • Sandi Pierantozzi Curt Benzle • Paul Lewing • Guy Michael Davis

Angelica Pozo • Erin Furimsky

PRESENTS

More titles coming!

c e r a m i c a r t s d a i l y . o r g / b o o k s t o r e 8 6 6 - 6 7 2 - 6 9 9 3

The NEW Ceramic Arts Dai lyPresents Video Ser ies

Learn new techniques or enhance ex is t ing sk i l ls in your own studio at your own pace



INDEX to ADVERTISERS

Aardvark Clay & Supplies . . . . . . . . . 43

ACerS Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 16, 34

Amaco and Brent. . . . . . . Cover 2, 7, 33

Bailey Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Bamboo Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Bennett Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Bracker’s Good Earth Clays . . . . . . . 15

Carolina Clay Connection. . . . . . . . . 27

Ceramic Arts Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

CeramicArtsDaily.org . . . . . . . . . 14, 46

Chinese Clay Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Classifi eds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Clay Art Center/Scott Creek . . . . . . . 39

Continental Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Coyote Clay & Color . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Dolan Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

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Great Lakes Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

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L & L Kiln Mfg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4

Larkin Refractory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Master Kiln Builders. . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Mud Bucket Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mudtools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Olympic Kilns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Paragon Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Peter Pugger Mfg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Potters Council . . . . . . . . . . 33, 42, 43

Runyan Pottery Supply . . . . . . . . . . . 27

SchoolGlaze.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Sheffi eld Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Skutt Ceramic Products . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Smith-Sharpe Fire Brick Supply. . . . . 39

Socwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Spectrum Glazes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Speedball Art Products. . . . . . . . Cover 3

Trinity Ceramic Supply . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Truro Center for Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Xiem Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Learn Precious Metal Clay! Works like clay, fi res in minutes to fi ne silver or gold. This astonishing new medium opens a whole new world for ceramists. In addition to working directly with the silver clay, the silver or gold in slip form can be applied deco-ratively to fi nished ceramic work! Weekend work-shops, two days ($300) or three days ($450), are given once a month in Vera Lightstone’s midtown Manhattan loft studio. For more information see silverclay.com or email [email protected].

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Submit a video clip for review by our editorial staff. If selected, your video clip will appear on Ceramic Arts Daily and be viewed by thousands of artists just like you. For more information, please visit www.ceramicartsdaily.org and click on the video tab.w

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rg Lights!

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Documents

Jason Burnett’s Newspaper Printing · main determiners of texture and how much the glaze will flow on the pot. Knowing the chemistry and characteristics of your materials is important