March 3, 2010
The Perfect Cure for Cabin Fever: A Potter Shares a Cool Technique for Making Texture Stamps with Natural Objects
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Spring is right around the bend so I thought today would be a good day to present a project that involves getting outside. This technique for making simple plaster texture stamps out of found objects comes from Woodstock, New York, ceramic artist Meg Oliver. To make the stamps she uses to create texture on her pottery, Meg usually takes a nice walk in the woods and picks up objects that will make interesting marks in clay. Then, she uses pinch pots and plaster to transform them into fun, free-form stamps. I thought this would be a great project for teachers with students who are bouncing off the walls! Get ‘em outside! - Jennifer Harnetty, editor. |
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 Cherry Blossom Mugs, thrown and stamped porcelain with inlaid glazes, by Meg Oliver. My mark-makers, so to speak, are plaster stamps. Most have a biological origin. Some are marks from found tools - a broken paintbrush, a grapefruit spoon, to name two of my favorites. Most of the marks are unrecognizable from their original source. On stamp-making day, I generally go for a walk, pick things from the garden or use a flower from a bouquet that is about to go. I basically collect a whole bunch of things. I then make little pinch pots and embed my treasures into the clay or decorate the inside of the pot with repeated marks. If you are trying this at home, remember that undercuts are no fun in plaster.  Stack of Sorbet Bowls, thrown and stamped porcelain with inlaid glazes. The plaster is then dolloped into the little pots. Any extra gets poured out onto a bunch of leaves or pine needles, or anything that could be interesting later. For a while, I was enamored by the mark left by air bubbles caught in the plaster, so I intentionally added air to the plaster mix so I could get as many as possible because they wear out quickly. I make about thirty or so stamps at a time. I peel away the little pinch pots when the plaster is still quite soft. This makes it that much easier to remove things that get embedded in the plaster. Some are amazing as little vignettes, but as stamps, are not quite what I was looking for. Some will always be what they are and do not transcend into a mark. And some, if I just cut in half or break off an appendage and rub with a green scrubby - Aha! A new favorite! |
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Looking to spruce up your surfaces? Be sure to download your free copy of Ceramic Carving Tool Techniques: Bringing the Ceramic Surface to Life. |
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After making a selection of pinch pots and embedding them with various found treasures (as shown at top of page), plaster is dolloped into the pots (as shown at left). Then, they are left to stiffen up. |
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Meg removes the pinch pots when the plaster is still a little soft because it is easier to remove things that get stuck. This stamp is ready for clean up. |
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The plaster mold on the right was stamped into the soft clay on the left. |
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For a video demonstration on mixing plaster see “Plaster Mixing 101”
in the Ceramic Arts Daily Video Archives. |
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To see more of Meg Oliver’s work, visit www.missmegoliver.com. |
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Tags: Ceramic Decorating Techniques, Handbuilding Techniques, Meg Oliver, plaster mixing, stamps, texture
Karen | March 3rd, 2010 at 12:19 pm
LOVE it!!
Carol | March 3rd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
As a gardener/new potter and one who is not so good at drawing and carving this is a wonderful solution to decorating. thx
Julie | March 3rd, 2010 at 1:08 pm
YAY!
Kim | March 3rd, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Fantastic idea, thankyou. I will try this on the weekend.
Karen | March 3rd, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Perfect for my own spring fever, thank you!
shirley | March 3rd, 2010 at 6:07 pm
you can also make quick stamps by putting an object in the bottom of a styrofoam cup (or a paper cup) and then pour a dollop of plaster into the cup. Patterned buttons or buckles or shells are ideal
Tiffany | March 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Awesome idea, I can’t wait to try it. Old earrings that have lost their mate also make interesting marks
Meeta | March 4th, 2010 at 12:35 am
SIMPLY great idea. I wish I had a studio and I could implement all the little bits of others’ experince I gather from this site.
Valerie | March 4th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Nice. I have so many stamps. I make them from just about anything.while working on a piece if I get an idea for a stamp, I stop my work grab a piece of clay and make the stamp..set it aside to go into the bisque fire. Voila! Done. I love your idea though. I think I might give it a try.
julie | March 6th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Love it..thank you.
Luiza | March 6th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Great and simple idea! I like make it!!!
Plaster – the enemy of clay « Paper // Clay | March 19th, 2010 at 12:05 am
[...] in Uncategorized | Tags: projects I read Ceramic Arts Daily daily, and was recently intrigued by this post about making stamps of natural things using plaster molds. Jhanna and I made a bunch of plaster [...]