October 10, 2008
Pottery Decorating Video: Trimming, Slipping and Raw Glazing for Texture and Depth
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The texture on these cups, made with a bisque stamp, is accentuated by slip and raw glazing. Don’t miss the glaze and slip recipes below. |
Last week, Mark Peters made a bisque stamp and used it in making a cup on the wheel. In this week’s video, he shows us his technique for finishing that cup. He accentuates that great texture using slip and glaze at the leather-hard stage of drying. He includes recipes as well as tips for success along the way. If you missed last week’s video, you can check it out in the archives by going to “videos” on the navigation above or click here. There are some tricks to applying slip and glaze to leather-hard work, and Mark has a few tips to help you through the process. Below, you will find a pictorial representation of the video, detailing the trimming, slipping and glazing of this piece, along with his recipes for iron slip and shino glaze.—Sherman Hall, Ceramic Arts Daily |
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Trimming happens when the pot becomes leather hard, but so does the application of slip and glaze. |
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Mark goes over the foot with water after it is trimmed, but he is careful to use a rib to smooth the surface and remove excess water. Even so, the pot should dry before the application of slip. |
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It’s packed with more useful tips and techniques like this one!
| Leathery Iron Slip Recipe |
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| Silica | 30% |
| Ball Clay | 30% |
| EPK Kaolin | 20% |
| Nepheline Syenite | 30% |
| Red Iron Oxide | 8% |
| Bentonite | 2% |
| Total: | 100% |
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Mark applies the above slip for use in salt, soda or wood firing. He recommends that, if you are firing in gas reduction, you may want to use an ash glaze or a clear glaze over top of it. If you’re firing in oxidation, try it out and let us know how it looks. |
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Since the pot is leatherhard, it will soak up water from the slip and become softer, so it needs to be allowed to dry out and stiffen again before the application of glaze. |
| Shino Glaze Recipe |
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| Soda Feldspar | 15% |
| Spodumene | 12% |
| EPK Kaolin | 3% |
| Nepheline Syenite | 50% |
| Ball Clay | 17% |
| Soda Ash | 3% |
| Total: | 100% |
| Add: | |
| Bentonite | 2% |
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This Shino Glaze is a cone 10 glaze, which Mark uses on the interior of the cup. |
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It will re-saturate the clay like the slip did, so if you’re applying glaze to both the inside and outside, be sure the pot is thick enough to absorb that much water without getting floppy—or wait between applications. |
Tags: bisque, glaze, leather-hard, Wood Kiln Firing
Joan | June 12th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Thank you so much for all the teaching you do for us. I live in Tyler, Tx. and we are a long from any teaching studio. It was very simple and clear dimostration.
Joan
Oath | June 13th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Wow! It is really help me and easy understanding how to do glaze. I am a new potter just study 8 weeks (24 hrs.)
Oath
yael | June 13th, 2009 at 6:53 am
do you actually put the bowl into liquid (slip) before bisque-firing it? does it not disintegrate?
yael
Joseph | July 15th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Hi,
Many thanks for your valued instruction. I have been doing amature pottery for about six years and still find difficulties. Many thanks. Regards. Joseph