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January 6, 2010

Layers of Information: How to Build Surface Texture Layer by Layer

by Annie Chrietzberg Read Comments (17)

The Alabama Clay Conference is just around the corner (February 19-21) and, once again, Potters Council is proud to be a sponsor of this great event. This year the presenters are Marko Fields, Brian Nettles, Juan Quezada, and Lana Wilson. The conference also includes special guest Spencer McCallum, an American anthropologist and business consultant known for his discovery of the pottery of the town of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico. Should be most interesting! Today, I am presenting a small sample of the good stuff that will be demonstrated at this conference. Annie Chrietzberg explains how Lana Wilson uses bisque stamps, textured materials, rolling, and paddling to create layered texture on her work. She also explains her darting technique for creating a slab-built platter. - Jennifer Harnetty, editor.

Lana Wilson’s career spans more than 40 years and includes a vast repertoire of pieces and surface considerations, which she regularly shares with students. She teaches, on average, a workshop a month, and loves to do so. “It’s so easy, really. The people are always interesting; you are instantly submerged in a milieu of like-minded people. I love the humor, and people are so kind.” Lana applies texture in layers, and does so throughout her making process. During my visit, she made a serving platter to demonstrate how she works.

For more ways to add texture to your work, download your free copy of Ceramic Carving Tool Techniques: Bringing the Ceramic Surface to Life!

The Texture Process After using a slab roller to make a large slab, she lays out some fruit netting on the table, and sets the slab on top of it. This netting forms the basis of the texture composition on the back of the piece, though Lana will embellish it more at later stages. After smoothing the front of the slab with a small squeegee, Lana uses a wooden rolling pin from a pastry store to lay down some waffle texture, which created impressed squares, then in an adjacent area, she lay down and rolled over plastic sink mats that left larger, high-relief squares. I watched her then target and go after some of the high relief squares with her small hand-held stamps, hand tools and some found objects, inverting them with embellishment.

I was surprised when she picked up her rolling pin and rolled over the work she had just done, but she explained to me, “You see, this softens it and makes it more interesting. I don’t want it to look like plastic surgery. I don’t like the whole Southern California glitzy sequin scene, I like old, worn friends. I like layers; I walk regularly in the Torrey Pines State Reserve when I’m home in San Diego. I love those layers of information around me.” I looked, and the effect she had created by rolling over existing texture was to ‘tuck in’ all the little marks she had made, like treasures in lockets. After tucking in her preliminary and secondary texture with a rolling pin, Lana embellished further with one of her new favorite items, the red scrubby applicator from a Shout bottle, and an old favorite, a seamstress’ marking tool.

Forming the Platter Lana had created a slab much larger than what she actually needed for the piece she had in mind. She cut a framing device out of a piece of paper roughly the proportions of her intended serving dish. She used this viewfinder to locate the best part of her texture drawing, marked the boundaries by laying down a straight edge then, using the straight edge again, cut out the shape. Lana needed to take two darts out of each end to have the flat shape rise up into the form she wanted. “Oh, I suppose I should use a template, but I never do,” she quipped, knowing that I am a template fiend. “I can never find the one I need when I need it, besides, I know what shape I need to cut out, and after I cut the first one, I’ll use it to cut the other three,” she explained, as she cut out and removed the first dart. She took the triangular piece of clay she removed, turned it over, and set it gently down to trace it where she wanted the second dart. She then took those two cut-out and placed them on the other end, and traced and cut out the remaining two darts. The size of the dart determines the  shape of the final form. After slipping and scoring, she simply lifted and butted the joining edges together, and then used small pieces of foam to prop up the ends of the serving dish which allows them to firm up while supported. She fills in gaps in the texture where the darts were removed with paper clay to prevent cracks from forming along the seam. To address the sides, Lana grabbed a couple of paint stirring sticks, which she used to lift the sides and then shoved pieces of foam beneath to hold them in place. She filled in gaps that had been made by cutting through existing texture on the edges, and then compressed and beveled those edges with a pony roller. Then, she used a spirit level to make sure the edges, were, um, level. “I don’t know a gallery who would take a piece that’s not level,” she murmured as she made slight adjustments. “There we go!” Making Handles The next task was to make the handles. First, she textures a slab and cuts out large triangles, then she rolls them into a cone, seals them using a pony roller, and drops them on her workbench. They magically gain character with each whump. Once she is satisfied with the result, she cuts away excess clay with a fettling knife, scores and slips the end of the serving dish, as well as the inside of a handle, and then attaches it, stacking foam beneath it for support. Lana constantly manipulates the surface of her pieces as she is making, adding texture as she goes. After attaching the handles, she grabbed a wooden dowel with sharpened ends (a pencil would work, too) to both re-draw and enhance existing lines. After the piece had dried to leather hard, she removed the bolsters and turned it over on a large piece of foam to access the bottom. She filled the gaps in the seams with paper clay, again to strengthen them and prevent cracking. When she makes a repair like this, she adorns it. “I could teach a whole course on cheating,” she joked, while rolling a seamstress’ marking tool over the filled-in seam. Adding a Foot The last part of the serving dish project was to make and attach a foot. Before she had turned the piece over, she had taken an approximate measurement with a seamstress’ measuring tape, and had created a long slab to texture. She played around a bit with some scrap clay to determine the appropriate height, textured the slab, and used a straight edge to cut a long strip of clay for the foot. She picked up the long strip in loose folds and dropped it a few times on the table. “This makes an undulating line I just love,” she told me as she worked. She placed the foot on the bottom of the pot, shaped it how she wanted it, and cut the excess away, then joined the foot into a ring. After scoring and slipping the areas that need to be joined, she attached the foot ring to the bottom of the serving dish and used a dry soft brush to remove excess slip and blend the seam. She then used a common loop tool to create a little looped arch on each side of the foot. She rolled the edge with a pony roller, used a ware board to flip the piece right side up, and used the spirit level again to make adjustments. Lana has a delightfully free, direct, and easy way of making, but don’t let that fool you into thinking she doesn’t take her time in the studio seriously. “I’ve changed my style of work about six times through out my career., and each time it takes me about six months to a year to figure it out,” she told me. “People don’t realize that being an artist is really about daily discipline; when I’m working, I want my time to work. I’m not one of those ladies who does lunch. Ceramics is far too expansive for that.” To see more of Lana Wilson’s work, and for contact information, visit her website at www.lanawilson.com.

See an article on how Lana Wilson decorates her textured work with bursts of color in the Ceramic Arts Daily Feature Archives.

 

Tags: Annie Chrietzberg, Ceramic Decorating Techniques, Handbuilding Techniques, Lana Wilson, slab building, surface texture

17 Comments

1. Anna | January 6th, 2010 at 11:25 am

   Very informative article, but after looking at the picture of the tray, I wonder if there is an addition of a rim to the original slab, and if this is the case why is it not mentioned in the article.

2. Christine | January 6th, 2010 at 12:21 pm

   Love the handles!!

3. Babs | January 6th, 2010 at 12:35 pm

   I love her approach. I am lost about one thing. how is paper clay used again?
   I didn’t understand where it went and how it would prevent cracking. I’m assuming it it is used only in construction. Does it burn out or is it removed or what?

4. Lana | January 6th, 2010 at 1:06 pm

   The reason the rim looks like an addition that was not shown in the article is because I only had an image of a finished tray when the article was printed. Sorry for the confusion. To make that rim in the finished piece I rolled the edge back over on itself and rolled it down to flatten it.

   Paper clay is used to help assemble the piece. So for attaching the two pieces after making the darts, attaching the handles and the foot, I scored and then used paper clay instead of slip. The paper must burn out but you don’t notice any problems or holes are crevices where it was used. It is the best attaching “slip” I have ever used.

5. Jennifer | January 6th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

   Hello Babs,

   For your reference here is a link to another article that explains the basics of paper clay:

   http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/pottery-clay/lose-weight-get-strong-put-your-ceramic-work-on-the-paper-clay-diet/

   -editor

6. Joe | January 6th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

   texture rules.

7. jan | January 6th, 2010 at 7:17 pm

   what is a pony roller? thankyou jan

8. Lana | January 6th, 2010 at 7:41 pm

   A PONY roller is sold by Falcon and is a wooden beveled roller on one end, about 4 inches long, and a plain roller without a bevel, about 5 inches long on the other end.

   Lana

9. Carole | January 7th, 2010 at 7:22 am

   I have had the pleasure of attending a Lana Wilson workshop. It was inspiring and has made a significant impact in my artistic growth. Thanks Lana!

10. Lana | January 7th, 2010 at 10:50 am

    Thanks so much, Carole!
    Lana

11. jacquie | January 8th, 2010 at 10:51 am

    Can’t wait to absorb all of this great info. It’ll take time for me, but I must learn more. Thank y’all.

12. Phyllis | January 8th, 2010 at 2:41 pm

    I have always been and continue to be, a total texture nut. I have applied many of the techniques I have learned from you and I love all the little nuances that appear when you drop or toss slabs around. I also love that softened, undulating effect when to drop a slab for a foot. Thanks, Lana, you’re my most favorite inspiration.

13. Elizabeth | January 9th, 2010 at 5:37 am

    beautiful work, I am a huge fan of handbuilt pots

14. Karen | January 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

    Thanks! great article

15. Barbara | January 10th, 2010 at 8:55 am

    Very good info but I am confused about the colored picture of the finished piece.

    It looks like colored clay was used. Is that correct?

16. Lana | January 10th, 2010 at 9:44 am

    Hi Barbara,
    It is made with colored slips put on after I bisqued the textured piece. If you go on my website http://www.lanawilson.com and go on the right side click on How To Make a Black and White Plate with Slivers of Czolor and that should help explain it. The article is from a longer article by Annie Chrietberg.
    Lana

17. Lindy | January 12th, 2010 at 5:19 am

    Really inspirational work Lana! I like the way you soften the marks. This way of working will definitely go into my repertoire for making ‘non-round’ pots this year.

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