December 22, 2009
Feldspars are minerals of varying composition commonly used by potters. Feldspars form a glassy, white surface when fired high enough. They have a very long range, they begin melting at cone 4 and continue fusing beyond cone 10. They also tend to stiffen a glaze due to their high alumina content. In ceramics there are two basic categories of feldspars: potash feldspars, in which the primary melting oxide is potassium, and soda feldspars in which the primary melter oxide is sodium. Soda and potash have the highest thermal expansion and contraction rate of all the ceramic melter oxides, they promote color brilliance and luster at most firing temperatures, and they encourage specific color results.Soda feldspars melt at a ...Already Registered? Please sign in.
December 5, 2009
Edited by Anderson Turner When potters are ready to go beyond dipping, pouring and brushing the sam e palette of glazes onto their work, they'll find the alternatives to surface decoration offered here to be an excellent jumping-off point. In this collection, thirty of the most innovative and talented contemporary ceramic artists share the techniques and processes that make their work unique and expressive.July 6, 2009
Nifty Nests: Using Kitchen Gadgets and Textured Slabs to Create Square(ish) Nesting Bowls
Denver potter Annie Chrietzberg demonstrates her creative technique for making nesting pots from slab-built forms. This step-by-step how-to project illustrates how to use tart tins from a kitchen store as templates, how to cut darts in slabs to make square forms and how to work with textured surfaces to get truly unique dishes.April 19, 2009
Glazes & Glazing: Finishing Techniques covers many aspects of glazing—from formulating your own special concoctions to working with various combinations and applications.April 13, 2009
In Raku, Pit & Barrel: Firing Techniques you’ll discover some of the most beautiful alternatively fired work, as well as extensive how-to techniques and step-by-step instructions to help you duplicate the processes in your own studio. Explore dozens of techniques and discover the many special effects available using these ancient firing methods. You’ll love the experience of working with glowing red-hot pieces in a raku kiln, uncovering pots from a pit fire or peeling the aluminum foil off your latest saggar experiment.January 2, 2009
Ceramics Decorating Video: Using Paper Stencils for Precise Underglaze Decoration
We're kicking off 2009 with a how-to ceramics video about using paper stencils and underglaze for surface decoration. The video features ceramic artist Eva Kwong and was filmed during the recent Potters Council workshop "Surface, Form and Substance" in Indianapolis, Indiana.December 29, 2008
One of the things I really like about clay is how easily it meshes with printmaking, another art form I really dig. I remember making linocut prints back in grade school art class with Mrs. Duffy. It was one of my favorite projects and perhaps where my love of printmaking and texture first emerged. The January/February 2009 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated (hot off the presses!) got me thinking about linocuts again. Today, we'll present an excerpt from Annie Chrietzberg's article featuring potter Cynthia Guajardo's linocut technique, a fantastic method for creating repeatable customized texture on pottery.December 24, 2008
Pencil Pushing: A Homemade Pottery Tool for Stippled Texture
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love when potters come up with clever homemade tools. When perusing the latest issue of Ceramics Monthly, I came across yet another great idea for a homemade texture tool for clay. It seems #2 pencils aren't just for standardized tests anymore! Studio potter Emily Rossheim and her apprentice Tom Marrinson use a bundle of them to create stippled texture on her work. Today, we'll explain how they create and use these low-tech but super cool tools. I don't know about you, but I'm already scanning my office looking for other things to bundle together for texture tools.December 17, 2008
Paste-on-paste—decoration in which sculptural relief decoration is built up with contrasting slip on surface of leather-hard ware.December 5, 2008
Classic East Asian transparent or translucent glaze with small percentages of iron and/or copper and/or chrome, giving range of soft greens, blue-greens, and gray-greens. Most desirable Chinese celadons often contain minute air-bubble inclusions, giving slight opalescence.December 5, 2008
Usually purposeful effect where carbon is trapped within surface of the glaze, giving smoky shaded areas, especially in shino glazes. Encouraged by slightly early body reduction; can be promoted in high-fire by brushing saturated soda ash solution over glaze.December 5, 2008
Method of achieving a shine by rubbing clay or slip with smooth hard object.December 3, 2008
Inspired by Terra Sigillata: A New Twist on an Ancient Surface Technique
When I think of terra sigillata, I think of the soft, satin surfaces of low-fired earthenware, like Greek red and black ware that still has that great surface sheen. But Anne Fløche has taken terra sigillata in a different direction. She's allowed herself to use it in a way that goes against tradition, but is true to her own inspiration and way of working. This is a classic example of taking a tried-and-true technique and making it personal. Whether you're using terra sigillata in a traditional manner or pushing it to try something new, Fløche provides a great tutorial (and a recipe) for making this versatile material.November 30, 2008
Robin Hopper is the author of three of the most highly acclaimed books for the studio potter: The Ceramic Spectrum, Functional Pottery and Making Marks. These three comprehensive books form the core of any ceramic art library because they exhaustively cover three critical areas for the ceramic artist or potter: color development, design and surfaces.November 14, 2008
The accepted standard for understanding glazes, this book explores glaze and color making in a hands-on way that follows the empirical understanding used for thousands of years. Hopper provides an impressive description of his extensive research into glaze, color, texture, and surface enrichment. It is the perfect practical complement to any glaze theory or process of calculation, including glaze calculation software programs.November 12, 2008
Making Marks is about ceramic surface enrichment, the processes used for achieving it, and the thought concepts, idea development and personal research behind it. “Making marks” is a generalized term used through the visual arts when referring to the alteration of any surface by any of the tools that artists employ. In using this term for the title of this book, I am referring to the huge variety of marks that may be achieved through ceramic decoration processes, at any or all of the varied and various stages that the clay object goes through in its transformation from soft, wet, malleable clay to heat-hardened, impermeable ceramic.November 3, 2008
Adding Depth to Your Ceramic Surfaces with Commercial Glazes, Part II
Last week, we shared one way to use a mixture of commercial glazes and custom-mixed glazes to make interesting surfaces on your pottery. Today, we’ll share two more effects Lisa Bare Culp has come up with using pouring and layering to create visual texture. She also uses a tactile texture to add another layer of interest and complexity. Try these techniques with the same glazes she uses or with your own. Happy testing!
