This stag beetle bowl was made using ceramic slip – I call it ‘ The Stag party’. Each section is cast separately and then joined together inside a plaster mould.
You can buy ready made slip in buckets or make it up yourself if you have a big mixer of some sort, or a blunger. We used this technique during a recent ceramic workshop.

First pour your slip on to a textured plaster tile and leave it to dry until its no longer shiny.

Remove your piece of textured clay…

And place it inside a plaster mould, textured side facing the wall…

You can also dip cotton textiles in slip before placing the cloth inside your mould. It is important that all clay pieces are properly attached to each other and that they lie flush against the wall of the mould.

It is a messy old job! Once the bowl is finished you leave it to dry for a few hours before removing it from the plaster mould.

I will upload the finished results shortly.  For more information, this is a link to my work shop diary.

The globe is taken out of the mold and patted into shape. We wanted round, not pudding!
As long as a shape is completely closed up so that no air can escape, it can handle a fair bit of abuse. But once you create an opening and the air escapes, you will need to make sure it is properly supported.

The globe is placed back in the mold to firm up a bit more in the sun.  And the details is added.

The globe is resting in a secure little nest of sheets while it dries up ready for the next step which will be the bisque firing.

www.annakeiller.com/workshops

Clay is great for picking up the most delicate detail. Use textured materials such as sacking or lace, corrugated cardboard, mesh produce bags, or found objects such as wood blocks, leaves and ferns and gently roll or press your chosen pattern into a thin slab of  clay. Peel away before you place the clay on your paper plates the way I described in my previous post.

You can also use plaster sprig molds to create small animals, shells or other figures to decorate your plates and make a set of plates held together with a common theme.

Bernard Palissy was famous for using sprig molds of fish, lizards, frogs and other creatures in his highly decorated ceramic plates!

If you can’t make it to my workshop, then this is what we’re going to do;  we start by  rolling out a slab to a desired thickness of about  1 to 1,5 cm . When rolling out a slab it is a good idea to start by throwing it across the table in different directions until it is somewhere close to 5-6 cm thick. Roll the clay with the rolling pin, taking care not to roll excessively over the edges as they may get too thin. Roll two or three times on one side and then flip it over and roll some more. Leave the slab to dry to a soft leather-hard stage. The clay needs to be able to bend without cracking, but you don’t want it to be so soft that you leave fingerprints in your clay as you work.
Choose the size of your plate and place it upside down to use as a template for cutting the slab.
As you cut, keep your knife perpendicular to your work surface to create a square rim. Remove excess clay and smooth out the rims by sliding your finger across the edge of the rim.
Flip the clay slab, smooth the top edge then place it into a paper plate, lining up the edges.

Experiment with pressing the clay into the paper plate with your hands or you can sandwich your clay between two plates.  The plate you are creating will have a different look depending on your
chosen method.
Allow the plates to dry to leather hard in the bottom paper plate,  and then check if they stack together nicely and if they sit on the table without rocking. If not, you will need to damp them up a bit with a flower mister or a wet sponge and then put them back in the mold to straighten them out. Next,  check  the rim of each plate to see if it needs shaping or smoothing down. You may want to write your name at the bottom of the plate at this stage.
During the next workshop on Thursday the 29th we will look at different ways of decorating the plates. I’ll discuss this  in my next blog, so welcome back!

To sign up for this workshop or any other, please go here

This bowl was made during  last week’s workshop – the tessarae has been pressed into the side of the bowl and as I fire it in the kiln I assume the glass will dibble down the sides. But I really do not know – and I can’t wait to see the end result.

If you would like to join us on the 27th please go here to find out more.

Here is Debbie building clay walls around her hand casts.

Maresa’s feet waiting to get filled with plaster…

If you would like to find out more about my popular workshops, please go here

to see what the smoke would do to the white clay at the top.
 It was a beautiful day with just the right amount of wind to fan the smouldering sawdust.
The smoke firing process takes about 15-20 hours and it is best not to remove the lid until the heat has died down, or the sudden change of temperature might cause the ceramic sculptures to crack. I found it really difficult not to have a sneaky peak… The pomegranates are between 20-30 cm tall.

I’m learning how to translate images from my journeys more directly into my clay. It worries me because I want to get it right – but in many ways I’m only doing what everyone else is doing for where else does inspiration come from, if not from the Spirits?

I’m sitting in my garden under a huge full moon listening to Tawny owls. They are so loud and there are so many of them and I wonder what they are up to.
The night is warm despite it being late autumn, and I’m drinking a glass of wine. I’m thinking about Marija Gimbutas books on archeomythology and how she found that owls were already during paleolithic times considered to be symbols of death and regeneration. The Great Goddess would often be depicted as an owl or a vulture. I’m thinking that someone living 30.000 years ago would  have been sitting in the warm autumn night just like me;  looking up at the moon, sipping wine, listening to the Owls and feeling slightly spooked.

The picture shows a gang of Little Owls made of clay and just about to go into the kiln. I don’t think they are spooky but they certainly have an attitude. I am not sure how to glaze them yet, but I think they will be smoke fired just like my Fat Birds.