glazing vases

Glazing is a long process, can't say it's my favorite. So much can go wrong, and you don't know that it has gone wrong until the pieces are fired. Dust is enemy No. 1. It can prevent the glaze from sticking to the surface, and you end up with bald spots. Glazing vases is especially tricky. It's hard to get inside to sponge off the dust, so I blow it out as much as I can, and then, well, hope for the best.

This batch came out well, yeay.

Applying the transfers is the next step. Many ask me to explain my transfer process. And all I can recommend is to visit BelDecal. And test their transfers with your clay body and your glazes at your temperature.

My glazes work well with my porcelain. I fire my transfers at a specific temperature that works for my glazes. What works for me will not work for anyone else, as I mix my own porcelain and glazes. I'm not being rude when I say the best way to learn is by trying and failing, and by taking a class. I failed many times, and I spent two years in grad school developing what I do now. And I still fail often. But I still love it, and keep on trying and testing. And when things turn out just right, well... it's like Christmas.

boat vases, continued

I’m a little surprised that the boat vases survived the bisque firing completely intact. There have been so many issues in their making, that I keep expecting next steps to bring more trouble. I was happy to discover that was not the case when I unloaded the kiln this morning. I proceeded to glaze their insides, the exteriors will be glazed once the interior dries. Here they are, happily drying.

fail and pass

Yesterday I walked into my studio to find Bethanie, the kiln, flashing “FAIL” on her control panel. Not a good way to start the day especially since the kiln was filled with orders that were in their glaze firing. The pieces did not reach the necessary high temperature, and look all shriveled up and color-less.

Bethanie’s “fail” message pretty much summed up the day to follow: I had another failure casting the large boat vases I have been working on for months. Huge cracks formed on the sides, as the porcelain was not shrinking off the mold evenly. Sigh. That was my fourth attempt. Coincidentally, a potter from Austen, TX wrote me asking for my advice on her plate molds. Her pieces were forming huge cracks as they dried in the molds, too. Needless to say, I did not have a solution for her, but wait, maybe I do now...

Today I walked into my studio to find the vases dried off the mold perfectly! Tears of relief welled up as I popped open the molds. Here is the result, next to it’s wooden original. Whew.

How did I finally achieve this, you are asking? Simply by dusting the mold with a light coating of Nepheline Syenite (no, it’s not something you find on the ingredient list of Twinkies, but a genuine mineral). This trick was suggested by my former professor at RISD, Larry Bush, so I can’t take the credit. My somewhat uneducated guess is that the fine particles of Neph Sy allow the porcelain to slide along unhindered as it dries and shrinks in the mold. Oh happy day.

As for Bethanie’s “fail” message, once I stopped hyperventilating, I looked it up in the manual. It meant that I needed to replace the thermocouple. All that drama for a simple fix. If any Skutt Kiln techs read this, please consider programming something like “time to change that pesky thermocouple, don’t panic” instead of “FAIL” into the control panel. Gentler wording might prevent a heart attack... just puttin’ it out there.

small swirl plates

For the past few months I have been working on a new shape of plate. A small plate that can be used for a salad or dessert. I was motivated by a client who liked the swirl plates, but requested a set of eight slightly smaller and the swirl in a variety of bright colors. A good challenge, making a new plate shape from scratch is time-consuming.

First step is to pour a block of plaster, and carve it to the shape I want. I use stainless steel sheeting due to its bend-ability. It works well to create round shapes.

After the original is carved, I make a set of casting molds, or negatives of the original shape. Before I can start pouring in the porcelain, the molds have to dry, which takes a few weeks.

When the porcelain is poured, the sides are always a mess and need cleaning. I don’t mind this step as it gives me the opportunity to create a variety of edges, making each plate unique.

The cast porcelain takes a few days to dry out before it can be fired for the first time.

The swirl is painted on during the "green" stage, when the plate is dry, but not yet fired. The color appears dull at this phase, but that will change in the firings: a bisque followed by a high-fire glaze.

In the glaze firing, the porcelain turns white, and the swirls brighten to their true color. I’m happy the way this particular clear glaze retains the color’s juiciness and makes it look like watercolor.

The final plates are a handy 7" in diameter, perfect for a slice of cake or cookies. Click here for ordering information.

the month of molds

January was a month of making plaster molds. Remember these shapes?

I finally finished sanding and sealing the wood with polyurethane to get ready for making the molds out of plaster. I started with the largest shape. It is a two-part mold, and half of it was made first:

This plaster half was then sealed with mold soap, and set up with coddles (the wooden parts) to pour the second half:

The two parts have to dry out completely before I can start casting with porcelain. The vase will be 15"h and 6" across, and I will start casting it next weekend. I can’t wait.

a very big mold

For the past few days I have been casting from a new, very large mold. It was made for me by Silvershell Ceramics, in New Bedford, MA. The mold is so large, I am unable to lift it, and have to "roll" it along the 2x4's to be able to empty out the porcelain slip (liquid clay). It takes five gallons of slip to fill up this mold.

The cast piece emerges as mold parts are removed one at a time.

The mold is made up of three pieces, two sides and a bottom.

The original vase is on the left, I hand-built it with coils a few years back. The black lines indicate the seams for making the mold pieces. The cast vase is on the right, slightly smaller, but in every other way exactly the same. As water evaporates from the clay, the piece shrinks. It will shrink again in the firings, ending up about 10% smaller than the original by the time it is glazed.

all better

Bethanie the kiln is fixed and all filled up with freshly glazed porcelain. I am especially excited by an order of 12 wee tea cups, each stamped with a different letter for a family member. How fun. Here they all are tucked in for their glaze firing, don't they look cozy?

technical difficulties

This week is probably the worse week for my kiln to break down. On Monday I saw that the kiln continued to fire after the display panel indicated that the firing was done. This weird phenomena is due to a bad relay, for all those ceramists out there. When you see this happening, the only way to turn the kiln off is to unplug it, difficult to do if it is hard wired in, like mine is. So I had to cut off the electricity to my studio. It could have been worse, I could not have been here.

While I wait for the technician to come by and fix my relay, all my work is on hold. The benefit of this is that I have some time to share it, in process, with you.

This is the errant kiln (her name is Bethanie), loaded up with bisque, which I think is fine after the misfire.

The unloaded bisque, waiting for the glazing table to be cleared.

The glazing table is busy with the pieces shown below, those with wax resist waiting to be glazed, and the glazed waiting to be loaded into the kiln, which is, as you know, broken:

Perhaps it's not horrible that Bethanie, the kiln, is taking a time out. This past weekend at the Brooklyn Flea Gifted was a lot of fun, but also exhausting. Perhaps I needed a time out, too.

Since there is no table or shelf space left in the studio, instead of using all the molds to make more stuff, I can just look at them, and take pretty pictures.

shipping and receiving

I've been shipping out many gleena packages lately, and have to admit, I very much enjoy the packing up process. I try to picture the person opening the box, and want to make it as much of a gift-opening experience as possible. It was such a fun surprise to see Nellie's post about receiving her gleena order. Nellie ordered six blue rustic bowls, numbered 1-6. Here are her images of unpacking the box:

What a rare glimpse! Thank you, Nellie.

numbered dinner set for 12, in progress

I am working on a table setting for twelve for a friend, who happens to be a graphic designer. He requested that the plates be numbered. Since I have a beautiful cut of Caslon 540 metal type, I was happy to accomodate his request.

This is a dream commission, combining porcelain with metal type and a painterly brush stroke. Three of my favorite things: ceramics, typography, and painting, all on one plate.

astronomy, math & weather: at farm

Now showing at farm in Wellfleet, MA.

2009 has been declared the International Year of Astronomy by the UN. In 1609, Galileo Galilei first recorded astronomical observations made with a telescope. Also, Astronomia Nova was published in the 17th century, in which Johannes Kepler examines the motion of Mars. I am forever fascinated by this science, and how the movement of celestial bodies affects us in our daily lives.

astronomy, math & the weather: No. 3

astronomy, math & the weather: No. 2

astronomy, math & the weather: No. 1

Something new I am working on.

one more to add to the collection

Cynthia Treen finished another illustration for our plate collaboration. I love the delicacy of this fern, look at all the fine little thorns along the stem (click on an image for a larger view).

When I first saw it, I thought I needed to make an oval plate for it. But then I placed it on a round plate in Photoshop, and really love it. Centered? Off to the side? Two ferns? Three little ferns? What do you think?

fern plates and dessert bowls

Fern plates are out of the kiln, with the lovely illustrations by Cynthia Treen. Both Cynthia and I are mighty pleased.

end of summer gleena dinner platter with fern drawing by cynthia treen

Cynthia Treen draws delicately and exquisitely. Perfect for gleena plates which exist only as a Photoshop mock up at the moment, but will soon be a real thing, can't wait.

unglazed porcelain and handwriting...

Decided to experiment more with typography on unglazed porcelain. I am liking the results. Bowls and handwriting go so well together, don't you think?