Creating Coloured Porcelain

I have been experimenting with adding colour into porcelain slip. I've decided to colour the clay body, rather than adding a glaze or coloured slip on the surface, as I have been creating 3D textured pieces which I feel would lose their definition if I covered them. To get bright colours, quite a lot of underglaze needed to be added to the porcelain, because the porcelain is white, so all of the resulting colours would be tints.

I decided to test the colours at different temperatures as well as different concentrations of colour. Starting at 1g of underglaze to 100ml of porcelain slip, I also tested 2g, 3g and 5g. I poured out the slip onto plaster bats to dry, then cut each into 6 sections to fire at 1000, 1060, 1140, 1200, 1230, and 1260 degrees Celcius. I felt like this would give me a good overview of how the firing temperature and concentration alter the colour.

I used Picasso blue, black, turquoise, and lime green underglaze powders, and I plan to start mixing my own colours now I have a better idea of how they behave at different temperatures and concentrations. I remembered to label them before I fired them because I've made the mistake before of getting a beautiful result and forgetting how I got there!

I will make some texture tests with the coloured clay to see how the surface works with the colour, and I will also try putting underglaze powders into plastic clay rather than slip, to see if a uniform texture can be obtained by wedging it into the clay.

Ceramics: Textures and Slab Building

 I tore bits of clay, and folded and crumpled them to try to create a texture. I wanted there to be an element of chance in the making, to give it that imperfect feel, the idea that nature always has very slight difference and imperfections.

 I then used a small pine cone to make a texture in slabs of clay. I like the repeated pattern that this creates and the small repeating shapes.

For a 3D piece, I used slabs of clay and built them up in layers to create a form with leaves in a regular pattern. I think this works well to create larger pieces, and I could maybe put textures onto the slabs before building the form.

Glasswork: Organic form lost wax casting

 In our induction into glass, we started to process of making a lost-wax mould. we each got given an egg shape on a sprue, and could carve into this, or add bits to it, to create an organic form (still working within the theme of nature and culture) I decided to try to make a rose shape, and I did this by adding pieces of spare wax to make petals. I did this in a way that I think the glass would be able to flow through the mold (the sprue will end up at the top)

once I finished the rose, I weighed it to calculate the amount of glass I would need to use to fill the mould later.

I made a clay cone shape about the same size as the flower, and sat my flower on top of it. this will create the reservoir in the mould, to hold the glass before it flows down into the mould.

i decided to attach them together using a cocktail stick because it didn't feel very secure just sitting on top of the clay.

i used boards to create a box around the rose, making sure there was about 1.5cm gap around the edges. i secured the boards in place with clay, and then tied around it with string to make sure it wouldn't collapse when the plaster was poured in.

i mixed plaster and silica together with water, until it was the consistency of single cream. it had a slight texture to it because of the silica. i poured it in around the side of the rose, so as not to damage any of the petals.

once the plaster had gone off and was cooling down, I took the walls down. I also removed the clay, to leave just the plaster and wax. I left this on the side to dry a bit more, to steam the wax out another day.

I etched my initials into the side of the plaster while it was still soft so I didn't get it confused with anyone elses.

Folded squares: Making jewellery

I started by setting out my copper squares with other types of squares to spell out words. I decided to use tin plate steel to make some squares, and I acid etched one side, so the inside was different when folded. I spelled out the word 'hide' using the braille alphabet

 I then decided to try some clay squares using the same folding method, but I found these were more curved because of the nature of the clay. I enameled the clay to show the cross pattern more clearly. I had to try to make the clay squares the same size as the metal ones, and this was fairly difficult because clay bends in a different way to metal, and it also shrinks during firing.

 I then decided that it would be better if there was a colour scheme, so it wasn't just random, so I decided to take the warm colours from the copper and brass, and use enamels in these colours on the clay squares.

 The clay squares on this one spell out 'unnoticed'. I stuck the squares together with masking tape to make sure they were lined up, before sewing them onto a fabric base. I stitched wadding inside the fabric, to make a padded base. I then sewed the edges together, to create a cuff.

 I tried to make the stitching as invisible as possible, so the pattern wasn't interrupted by the seam.

I used the same method to make two other pieces, a bracelet and a necklace, spelling out 'hide' and 'observe'

Ceramics: using plaster stamps

I made plaster stamps by pouring plaster into clay walls. The first stamp I made by carving the design into the plaster while it was still soft, and the other three I made by creating the design in clay, building walls around it and pouring the plaster in.

I then used these stamps to impress designs into slabs of clay. I tried to make regular patterns with the stamps, but also change the amount of pressure I put on the stamps to get different effects.

I also rolled balls of clay, and stamped one design on each, which I really liked because the random shape of the outside contrasted well with the very geometric stamp designs. I made 25 of these, to set out in a 5 x 5 grid, so they create a pattern when all put together.

Ceramics: Natural pattern.

After a visit to West Midlands Safari Park, I started to think how pattern is used to hide animals in their natural habitat, and started thinking about how I could hide things in pattern, instead of hiding the pattern itself. I think this will make my jewellery a lot more patterned and decorative, but also keep the idea of hiding  something in it, so what you see at first is not all that it is, and the jewellery will be more special and valuable to the person who owns it. I first looked at the pattern on zebras, and how this helps them to hide and be protected from predators  I then thought how a zebra shape could be hidden in a patterned background, carrying on the stripes outwards.

I used a photo of a zebra I took at the safari park as a guide for the outline and stripes, then continued the stripes out, up to the edge of the piece of clay. when the clay was a bit drier, I carefully took the zebra shape out, then stuck the outside part onto another piece of flat clay with slip.

 This made a base which the zebra fitted in, and could be taken out like a jigsaw piece. I am planning to fire them with the zebra in, using a powder to stop it from sticking. Because clay shrinks as it dries, when it is fired, the thicker base part may shrink at a different rate to the zebra, so it may not fit exactly, so by leaving the zebra in it, I am hoping that this will be less likely.

I have made two small tunnels on the back, which will hold the weight of the piece, which I hope to use as the centre piece of a necklace. I have left a gap between them, to leave space for a small metal clip, which will hold the zebra in place. I hope to use oxides when it has been fired, to make the indented stripes black, and leave the more prominent parts white.

Ceramics: After glazing and firing.

I think the cabbage looks really good, because the stripes are straight when looked at from straight on, but the lines are wobbly when viewed from an angle.

I think this has worked really well with some parts shiny and some left matte, and also the very small detail with the larger pattern works really well together.

I think these squares worked really well, because they are so simple and not overly busy. I think together, the larger one in the middle and two smaller either side, would look good on a statement neck piece.

I like how this mosaic piece has turned out, the brown stain in between the tiles make it look old, like a roman floor.

The transparent glaze has worked really well on this woven piece. Because of the shine, I think it looks like a jewel, and the colours work well together.

I also like the matte piece, where the texture is the main feature and it is accentuated by the colours in the dents.

 I was a little bit dissapointed that the darkening of the orange red parts, which I was hoping to be more vibrant.

 I used the same colour on this piece, and this has come out a terracotta red, not the very dark brown that is on the edges of the diamonds. this could have possibly been because of the thickness of the glaze, or because it was on top of a glaze, so could not soak in to the clay.