08.06.2013
Last week, I did a demo for my class on how to make plates & platters. I’ve kept the demo pieces well-wrapped, and occasionally sprayed, to keep them wet enough to stamp. Well, tonight I finally got around to stamping them.
Plate… freshly thrown… and plain!
A little stamping around the perimeter… and the stamp that did it all.
Once stamped, I did a little decorative fluting along the edge.
Platter… freshly thrown… and also plain!
Stamped around the perimeter… and the stamp that did the impressions!
Once it was all stamped, I did a little fluting around the edges for a slight ruffled effect.
So now they’re back under the plastic to dry a bit more to leather-hard for trimming.
Gary, These are beautiful.
three questions:
1. Do you brace your plates with a form while stamping them to add support and
2. What surface do you trim on to keep from damaging your stamped work after its leather hard
3. Where can I buy some of your pieces?
you do beautiful work! i wish i could be your apprentice.
GINA – Thanks for the comments.
And here are three answers to your three questions…
1. Kinda… I press the stamp into another finger on the other side of the plate to keep it from squishing or altering the shape of the plate. So no, there is no actual “form” of any kind used to brace the plate – just my fingers.
2. I wait until they’re fairly dry leather-hard and then just flip them over onto another plastic bat for trimming. Most of the stamped detail work in “below” the top of the rim that the plate now rests on. If the platter is larger than my plastic bat, I do have a large wooden bat with a layer of foam on top.
3. I typically sell my work around the Chicagoland area. I love doing art fairs where I actually get to meet my custoemrs, but so far have not ventured out much beyond the Chicago suburbs. I am considering expanding my “selling exposure” with some Facebook “sales” in the Fall… and quite possibly starting up my Etsy site early in the New Year.
BARBARA – careful what you wish for…
Your work is like meditation. I wish you lived here next door to me and I could just admire your work all days of my life. Oh yes, I can cook for you delicious food too.
Gary, Do you sell your stamps…I hope so..i love your pottery, but I live in South Carolina. Will you make us a detailed instructions on “how to Make Stamps”….Thanks Gary…Great Work