Dipping bowls

When I purchased a set of wood forms, I didn't think about how small the resulting objects would be. I thought they would be good for mini-experiments, and they are, up to a point. Per usual, most of the pottery I create is a learning experience.

I started by tracing the outline of each form onto a slab of clay (3/8" thick, I think). I applied the underglaze tissue pieces and wiped them down with a damp sponge before positioning the clay on a piece of foam rubber (purchased at Joann) and centering the wood form on the clay. A quick push downward created the shape. Only then did I remove the transfer.

These pieces are so small the cat underglaze tissue objects barely fit. Being a bit frugal, I cut out some of the half-cats along the paper's edge, then placed them so that they look like they are parading across the dish. I squeezed one cat onto the triangle piece.

The flamingos could not be snipped out individually, so I used the wood form to trace a shape for each of these. As an experiment, I applied pink underglaze before adding the transfer. I have to admit, I like the results.

These were all bisque fired, then I applied clear glaze to just the tops. In the future, I plan to apply the clear glaze all over, and use stilts to keep the pieces off the kiln shelf.

Even with the wood form, there is still a bit of wonkiness on the finished items.

One lesson I learned doing these is to smooth the edges of the slab *before* making the shape. Another lesson is to be more careful creating the shape to eliminate that wonkiness. Yet a third lesson: make sure most of the underglaze transfers from the paper to the clay. I purchased some other transfers, so plan to continue these experiments.

Chopstick holder

One of the pieces I made recently at home was a holder for chopsticks. I had been using a drinking glass - perfectly serviceable, but not very decorative. Also, I wanted to improve my slab-building technique.

I posted about this earlier, but I'll repeat myself here so that I have all the information in one place, more or less.

Instead of using a stamp or roller for the design, I snipped some tips off an arborvitae in my yard.

Each side is about 3"x6". I left the sprigs on the clay while I assembled the container, to prevent smudging of the design. That's something one can't do with rollers and stamps.

This is where things get hazy since I didn't take any notes, nor did I post about the progress. I *think* I had it bisque fired, then added detail using underglazes.

I *think* I did not like this red underglaze, so removed it and started over with the original underglazes?

At some point, I applied wax resist to the bottom, using a brush. Then I covered the whole thing with Amaco Celadon 'Snapdragon'. It came out darker than I expected, covering the detail more than I wanted.

But it's functional! It even holds water.

Lessons learned:

• The wax resist looks uneven along the bottom. I would prefer to dip pieces into wax to get a more even edge.
• I wish I had used a darker underglaze to accent the detail.
• The whole thing is a bit wonky, so that is something I need to work on.

Initially, I did not like the transparency of the Celadon glazes, but they are growing on me.