Resist fire results, and a screenprinting test

resist with underglaze and clear glaze

SO
this is what came out of the kiln!


Details?
 CONE  04 Diamond clear glaze over very old Turquoise duncan underglaze.

















The color in the closeup image seems closer to the actual turquoise,
and also shows the sponged texture a little better, as well as what
 I think is a nice roughness of some of the edges.

AND now for some screen printing experiments! 

Let's try underglaze on top of a pre-glazed tile. 

PART ONE, three steps ~   
                                                                                                                          

First I misted the tile very lightly with water
and smoothed the screen down with a cloth
to adhere it closely.
Use an absorbent lint-free cloth to remove any extra moisture to minimize the glaze bleeding.

This is a RISO thermofax 70 mesh screen.
In our screen image gallery we offer 100 mesh for paper prints which also work with finely milled glazes BUT recommend 70 mesh for glazes and slip.
 You can also email us an image for a custom screen design!
  http://www.northwoodstudios.us/screen_making_services.html

Please let us know if you are ordering for ceramic work.





The glaze used here was straight out of the bottle

For the purpose of this test and considering that the design will only be a background image, the thin glaze was ok.
For better resolution, using a thicker body glaze is better.  (More on that later)

 

squeegee away! 

Big screens like this 8 x 10 require some care in keeping the screen in close contact with the tile surface.






and here is the unfired result:

Can't wait to get a load done and fill the kiln again :~)

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 In case this interests you please visit some of our gallery pages for ready made screens you can try with your own glazes.  Small screens are $5.00 Since we are as excited as you to see what you come up with, we ship promptly via Priority Mail Flat Rate or First Class as you choose.   Or stop by if you're in the neighborhood. We are usually here :~)

resist painting on bisque

Clean the bisqueware well and let dry thoroughly.
Draw or trace your design. I used a 2HB pencil, very lightly.  Carbon paper is fine too.

Fill in the drawing with resist: here we used a latex-ammonia emulsion that is sold for watercolor painting resist.

 Next we sponge painted the entire surface with a turquoise underglaze tapping out from very thick in the center and under the big flower to a lighter dapple moving towards the edges.

Looks pretty funky at this stage!
Once the layers of underglaze dried thoroughly, we removed the resist using a thin wooden skewer to prevent scratching.  The stiff coat of underglaze sometimes wants to chip along the edges as the latex is peeled off, so in some spots I chose to use a razor knife to cut a clean line.

This platter is 16" wide which is too big for me to dip it into the clear glaze so I sponged on 3 coats of clear. This is what it looked like with the first coat; after the third it was entirely opaque.

Once this was thoroughly dry I turned the platter over onto a big clean felt and gave the underside several coats of clear glaze.
and once that dried? Ready for the kiln!

XO.j

dragonflies and the king of swamplandia

We went for a first swim in the quarry this weekend :)
The weather was warm and the water was cold, which was just as it should be, so we stayed a little too long & soaked up too much sun, requiring aloe applications on our return. Well, on our skin actually.

The dragonflies at the quarry come in all sizes and are a delight to watch as they zig and zag and flit and spiral
tracing unexpected invisible calligraphy.  Each dragonfly has distinctive markings that resemble iconic Japanese crests, under the wing attachment. I think they are samurai groups, defending the world against the hordes of mosquitoes.

Stained concrete casting, my molds. 12" x 12"

We live in Gainesville, aka gator ville...great college sports!  Real gators abound also, even right on campus in beautiful Lake Alice.  

Fortunately for us, there are no gators in the quarry! The water is constantly refreshed by the aquifer, it's not connected to other bodies of water for easy access, and for the most part, the banks are steep. 

  Not good gator conditions.