A cracked dish – my first failure

 Remember this lovely (even if I do say so myself) dish I made ….. well, it’s now in the clay recycling tub ☹

I was looking through the firing shelves to see if any of my work had been done, and there I saw it…. My dish, which a huge crack right across!

I hunted down Mary, our technician, and asked why … there’s quite a few reasons, but in reality..”shit happens”!

Maybe it dried out too quickly, maybe I didn’t compress the clay enough.  Either way, I was a little bit broken hearted I have to say!

I did ask if there was any way of repairing it, and was told two or three times it would be easier and quicker to make a new one.  (and basically learn to cope with disappointment).

So, with a heavy heart I took it to the recycling room and dropped it in the tub.

It was quite sad to see it sink down into the murky water…. But all good practise I suppose.    Best go and make another one now!

Slump Mould - kidney dishes.

 For this slump mould I drew a shape on a piece of A4 mountboard and cut it out with a sharp craft knife.

Then I rolled out my clay to 0.6mm and laid it over the top.

Very carefully, with a slightly damp sponge, I eased the clay down through the hole, until it was the depth I wanted it to be.

Once I was happy with the depth, it was time to trim off the excess.

Then for some reason, I decided to make a second one.  I copied the shape and did the whole process again.

 

I then left them resting in a couple of buckets to dry a little.  The next lesson was going to be on slip decorating and sgraffito, so we needed to have something ready for then.

Sling Mould – flower print dish

 Today we had a demo in making Sling or Slump Moulds.

You create a sling over a frame, using a towel (or other fabric) – but first you need to find a form.

I had an idea that a lampshade frame would make a good form, so I trotted off to the charity shop to see what I could find.  I found a vintage lampshade that was plastic with a veneer inside.

I draped a towel across the top of the lampshade and tied it tightly with string. 

Then I rolled out my clay and laid it over the top.

Very carefully, with a slightly damp sponge, I eased the clay down onto the towel sling.

Once I was happy with the depth, it was time to trim off the excess.

Then it was time to smooth the whole thing out and make it all neat and tidy.

I decided I would like to experiment and see how rubber stamps might work. I only had a set of two different sized flowers, so went with those.  Have now decided to get some more in different designs 😊

Really pleased with how this turned out – now it was time to cover it lightly and wait for it to become leather hard so I could trim it a little.

Once leather hard, I could trim the lip off a little and tidy it up, then it was ready to dry properly and be fired.

Watch this space for the next update on this dish  :)

Making a hump mould - nibbles dish

Today we had a demo in making Hump Moulds.

You create a form either from handbuilding or throwing, make a plaster cast of it, and from the plaster mould you can reproduce many dishes the same by using slabs of clay that are coaxed into the mould with a damp sponge.

But first the mould………

I decided I would like a kind of pear shaped nibbles dish, that would sit in an almost flower shape when in multiples.  So I formed a solid lump of clay into the shape I wanted.

 Next I put my shape on an acrylic board and built a little wall of clay around it so I could judge where the plaster would go.

Time to mix up the plaster mix….

Plaster Recipe for hump mould:  (to be measured up as required)

• ·       1.5lb plaster powder
• ·       1 pint water

I built up the plaster in layers by hand – I didn’t want the mould to be super heavy, so I added an even layer around the clay but not too much.

Once the plaster was set it was time to flip it over and scoop out the clay.

A quick wash and brush up later and the mould is now ready to go……