Stenciling Ceramics with Colored Slip
I’ve start working on series in my wheel throwing class that involves stenciling Polk-a-dots on vessels. I started with a bowl and placed circle stencils around the bowl after I trimmed it but before it was bone dry. It is best to get the stencils wet so they adhere to the vessel more easily. With the dots in place, I proceeded to paint black slip over the entire bowl. Using a heat gun, I aimed it at the dots and began to dry the slip around the edges so I could more easily pull the stencils off and not break the shape of the circle that was left behind. After all the stencils were removed, I placed the bowl on the ‘to be bisqued’ shelve and crossed my fingers!
I found my bowl the following week, the firing worked, and I now had a black bowl with white Polk-a-dots ready to be glazed! For the glaze I went with Mason Clear to keep the white of the clay white and the black of the clay slip black. Once glazed it was back on the ‘cone six firing’ shelve and more fingers crossed! I’m pleased to report that the experiment worked, and I now have a beautiful black and white Polk-a-dot bowl.
This success inspired me to try it in reverse on a candle stick series that I sketched out in my ceramic’s sketchbook the week before. For this series I’m throwing vessels that very in height, have a small opening at the top the size of the end of a candle with a wide outer edge that will act to catch the wax when it melts. That is the theory anyway, the big challenge is figure out the size of the hole and the shrinkage of the clay! I’ll see if the design works as planned once this first set is complete. After I finished trimming the bottoms, it’s time to add the dots! This time the vessel will stay white and the Polk-a-dots will be black. To pull this approach off, I cut a strip of newsprint paper about three by six inches and using the plastic circle stencil I bought previously, I drew circles of varying sizes on the newsprint. Next, I cut the circles out. As I worked through this process, I discovered that if you make a cut in the center of the circle by folding it in half, you can more easily cut around the round edge of the circle and thus keep it symmetrical. Originally, I thought I’d just wrap the strip around the vessel but that proved to be awkward so I cut the circles out leaving edges around each one. This proved to work so much better because I could reuse the stencils several times before the paper disintegrated due to over saturation from the water. Before reapplying the stencil, it was helpful to wipe off the slip that was left on the edges of the paper, otherwise the white clay would turn gray. With all the slip Polk-a-dots in place, the firing process was the same as before. If all goes well this time, I should have black Polk-a-dots on a white clay surface of which I will then glaze with the Mason clear. Overall, it’s been a fun experiment and I see a lot of potential for future vessels. In fact, coffee cups are next on the list!
I’ve never actually made clay slip before, not yet anyway. If this experiment continues to be successful, I will add that to my ‘to do’ list to be completed when Palisade Posh studio is up and running in Palisade. Until then I researched information on how to make colored slip and the things to keep in mind when doing it. See below for the highlights of this research and a link to the full article below that:
To make colored slip, you mix a powdered oxide or stain with clay slip. The amount of stain added is normally between 5 and 10% of the weight of the clay in the slip. The best percentage depends on the color of the stain. And how deep you want the color of the slip to be.
In the article below, the author looks at how to make colored slip in 3 very easy ways. But before going onto the first method, here are a couple of general points:
When handling powdered ceramic products like stains, or glazes, always wear a respirator to protect your lungs.
You can make colored slip from stains or oxides. Although this article refers to stains, the techniques can be used for coloring slip with oxides.
Each of these ways to make colored slip is quite easy. But the one that suits you best, will depend on how much slip you need to make. And what you are going to use it for.
You can also make colored clay using stains.
For the full article on how to make colored slip for decorating pottery see link below:
https://thepotterywheel.com/how-to-make-colored-slip/
