Fun with Texture

Not-too-well mixed slip applied is nice. Cheesecloth dipped in slip. Extrusions from the little tiny hand-held extruders. Textured and torn pieces applied.

Linda D

Lace too, I have not done it but apparently cotton lace works best. I have some lace that I bought to do this with, but just haven't yet. :o)

The latest Ceramics Monthly (Feb 2004) has some gorgeous texture pieces by Daphne Hatcher. She takes slabs of clay into the woods near her studio and presses them onto tree bark, then hand-builds with them.

I've actually been thinking about something like this for quite a while. I want to get impressions from trees that are not nearby, and would require hiking to get to them, but I haven't decided on the best way to do this. I'm thinking of something like thin plastic freezer containers that would fit into a backpack, each one holding a slab of clay, or maybe a couple separated by something soft.

Then when I get home, the clay patterns could be copied in plaster for transfer to other pieces. Or maybe wrap the clay around a drum to make a big roulette. Or bisque it and use for sprig molding the texture as a thin sheet that could be applied to something else. Lots of possibilities, once the texture itself is handy.

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

That sounds like it would make for some beautiful textures. There was an article in the Nov/Dec. issue of Clay Times about Bonnie Belt who does something similar with split wood to create an accurate texture for her combination handbuilt/thrown cypress creations---they are beautiful.

Something that makes a nice surface is to embed hamster litter into the clay and then let it burn out in the kiln.

Linda D

For press-molding, I've had good luck with flowers and leaves. I suspect that the same pattern could be added to an already-made piece (thrown or hand-built) by some scheme of applying slip to the surface and then pressing the articles in with plastic wrap or something. Or maybe dipping them in slip, applying to a leather-hard surface, and wiping back after it sets up a little.

I've also used millet and couscous to embed tiny spheres into the surface. One issue is that when they burn out in bisque, the surface can be pretty jagged... not good for something that will be handled a lot. But it certainly has texture!

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

Another article in CM talked about using steel in conjunction with clay, both for texture and in combination with a piece. The illustrated pieces were very beautiful and I expect to move to that in a while. The potter used various cutting torches to "fray" the edge of the metal before embedding or pressing.

One question in this area--how could the steel be used within a piece without the metal burning away? I think I remember the author talking about using the two materials together? Kathy

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Lcdumas) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m07.aol.com:

Embed the hamster. Should get good reduction.

Cheers AJ

If you are slab building, using stamps that you have made, or rolling leaves onto your clay. Fern leaves work very nicely, pine branches, etc. Look around your back yard and you will find all sorts of things to roll onto the slab. If you are near the ocean, drift wood has some interesting textures. Sea shells too. It is all fun. Making the item plus collecting things to texture the clay.

But isn't it bad for your electric kiln to create all this smoke in it? It's ok if you fire with gas or oil, but i was told, not to do it in an electric kiln.

Monika

-- Monika Schleidt snipped-for-privacy@schleidt.org

Every time a kiln is fired a microscopically thin layer of oxide is added to the surface of the element, and a similar amount of the element core is diminished. This eventually leads to there being more oxide than element core and firings begin to take longer and longer! Curiously this layer of oxide also acts as a protection from the highly corrosive atmosphere in a firing Kiln. With a partial or positive reduction firing the layer of oxide can be stripped from the element, probably shortening its life. There are 2 ways of dealing with this potential hazard, one is to fire the pieces in a fireclay box or Saggar, sealing the lid with clay/sand mix or bits of ceramic fibre, the other is to follow a very smokey or reduction firing with a short firing to red heat (say 700oC) of the empty kiln to re-establish the oxide layer. As a matter of interest it is also a good idea to fire the kiln empty each time new elements are fitted to give them the same protection.

Steve Bath UK

In article , Monika Schleidt writes

Monika: Technically, I suppose, it is more harmful to the kiln electric heating elements to fire with combustibles as oposed to a gas or wood kiln. However, many people here (US) regularly do so. With that, a qualifying statement:

I did NOT say it was ok to load the kiln with pots, wood, paper or anything else, and turn the elements on high to simulate pit firing :>) Yes, it's been tried. Burned down someone's garage in the process.

A bit of combustible material in or on a pot is not going to do much except create some smoke (and a reduction atmosphere). Since most electric kilns are located _indoors_, that could pose a serious health problem, or, as I found out, a problem with the neighbors calling the fire department thinking my house was on fire.

When I fire with combustibles (usually grasses or leaves impressed into clay during the bisque) I always make sure to vacuum the kiln completely afterward, so that it's clean again. Wait until it's completely cool of course, no sense in having the vacuum burst into flames (...oh the stories I could tell you )

You might also check to see that no contamination of the brick occurs, as it can with some more "exotic" elements (like synthetic fabrics, plastic sequins etc.)

Some people pick up a "well-used" kiln, and use that one exclusively for combustible experiments, leaving the "good" kiln for pure electric firing.

Once in a while won't hurt the elements... much.

Wayne Seidl

i've been doing textured pieces almost to a sickness for 18 years... i can't walk thru a store without seeing various things that would make great texture tools.

at the cylinder stage i run these tools up the side of a pot, and then expand the pot from the inside. the texture grows & stretches into the final piece.

try pastry cutters, paint rollers, toy truck tires, gears, saw blades, cake decorating tools, etc.

one great extra is textured pieces don't let runny glazes run as much and you can get some fun reactions of piled on runny glazes.

see ya

steve

steve graber

rice & saw dust & others like that burn out well. a crusty surface is left.

i used alphabet soup dry letters to make a few clay business cards.

see ya

steve

steve graber

Here's a follow-on question for Steve and Wayne: I've always assumed that the burn-out items would be pretty much gone well before the end of the bisque firing, and that any "reduction" atmosphere was happening too early in the cycle to be useful for anything. But I must admit I've never done any tests, like opening the kiln mid-cycle and extracting the piece. (I'm not into raku.) All I know is that after a C/04 cycle there is only ash left.

If the reduction atmosphere persisted up into the glaze-melt range, I imagine there would be some neat effects from embedding the combustibles in the glaze layer. Anyone every heard of this? Perhaps this could be done with a well-sealed saggar, but I've always assumed not out in the open in a conventional electric kiln (element damage or no).

Always looking for new things to try...

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

Thanks Wayne and Steve, this is good news. I was always tempted to put something or other combustible into the clay, but was always afraid to do in the elements. As long as i keep this away from my 22 potters kids, there won't be any harm done. I think Steve Graber's idea with alphabet soup letters is also grand! Another thing that comes to my mind in this connection: i have some rubber alphabet stamps, about 1 cm tall, which look very good imprinted in the clay and the kids love them. Unfortunately they are slowly deteriorating, (they are about

30 years old, still from the time when my own kids were little in the US) and i have been looking everywhere to replace them. They are just not to be had in Austria. Do any of you know of a source for rubber stamp letters about that size?

Monika

-- Monika Schleidt snipped-for-privacy@schleidt.org