Surface Decoration Techniques, Part II

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I continued working on surface decorating at last night's class. Over the weekend I had finished the sgraffito piece, so I just had to set it out to dry:
I call this one "Apatosaurus Under the Rising Sun". Or something. Anyway I quite like how it came out, though it was a little difficult keeping the edges of the carving smooth.

I also made a third plate with the scraps from the last 2 plates (which was a weird pain; the scraps didn't seem that dry but were very hard, so it took a ton of wedging):
It's not very exciting yet, because I want to do slip trailing on this one. That means using a squirt bottle type thing with a very thin nozzle to draw a design on the clay using an underglaze. Unfortunately the underglazes have to be prepped for that. They have to be pretty runny and there needs to not be any clumps, so they actually get forced through a sieve. Our teacher will work on that before the next class, so I'll be able to finish this on Saturday.

Finally, I worked a bunch on the oval box made of red raku clay. I got the long side cut out and decorated with a zigzag pattern, and I got the box very roughly assembled:
The bottom is all done, attached, reinforced, and paddled. You have to paddle the edges to get them all melded together, but I didn't have time for that on the top, so it still looks rather rough. Hopefully at home I can paddle the edges, then cut the lid off and reinforce the top. I'll do some sort of decoration or carving on the top, too.

I also got a bunch of raku clay all rolled out so I can make a garden decoration or two, but I haven't actually started on that yet. I'm definitely going to make a toadstool, but I'm not sure what else. I'm still pondering.

During the next class I intend to roll out enough cone 10 clay to start on the dragon egg I want to make plus the big garden decoration I'm hoping to do. I decided on a dinosaur for sure. It's going to be challenging, but it'll definitely give me growth opportunities, so that's good. ;)

I'm also hoping during the next class to make another couple of small bowls to decorate. Last night's demo from our instructor was a couple of interesting techniques that've been going around the interwebs. One is bubble glazing although it's not *really* glazing; it's actually an underglaze so you have to put a real glaze over the top. It's super cool. You just thin out some underglaze and add soap, then use a straw to blow bubbles and scoop them out onto the pottery.

The second technique is mocha diffusion, which is created by adding something acidic to an oxide wash. Our instructor used vinegar. You dip the piece in slip then while it's still wet apply dabs of the acid/oxide mixture, and it has a chemical reaction (the slip is basic) and creates this amazing feathery design.

Anyhow our instructor has supplies for both of these techniques so I'm going to try those out, hopefully. The mocha diffusion is done while the clay is still wet, but the bubble glazing has to wait until the piece is bisqued, so hopefully I can at least get both of the bowls molded and finished up that way on Saturday. It'll be a busy day!

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