Studio Updates

First you’re gonna need a plaster mould to dry out colored slip. Then you basically take slip (liquid clay) add mason stain (ceramic equivalent to food dye) and mix it with a hand mixer. From there you just pour the slip onto this plaster mound and let it start to dry out. It takes about 15 minutes total to make a fresh batch of colored clay. And it is a much simpler and easier process than my old method of just wedging mason stain and clay together.

Okay, let’s get right into it. I’ve been making colored clay! Also trivets!

Making colored clay has really opened the door wide open on my productivity. For anyone not proficient in ceramics, let me give you a quick run down on the process of making a batch of colored clay.

Because it’s been so easy making batches, I have found myself using more colored clay in my work. My newest obsession are these spiral trivets. I made a few experiments awhile back, and they just weren’t quite sturdy enough. So I made a bigger coil, and it feels sturdy but as you can see in the image below the yellow one went very wonky. I have adjusted my drying time, and am hoping this next batch comes out of the kiln with just a hint of wonk. I haven’t tried a big coil with the zig-zag design, but i’m hopeful I can get one in before the next firing. If these turn out i’m going to do a big photo shoot with them, maybe buy a new cute tea kettle to showcase them.

Also word mugs.

I’ve been really trying to solidify my new word mug designs. My current process, is currently still just finding quotes and phrases. I have been doing a lot of work on my I-pad trying to make appealing letters. I think I need to learn about fonts, i’m also thinking of purchasing a cricket for vinyl. I think these mugs are really going to be great, but I’m definitely in the 1st draft phase. I have a lot of work to do.