Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: artists, classes, clay, creativity, pottery

Awhile back, I did a blog post about one of my students who was interested in adding some text to her pottery. She started using pasta letters… simply squishing them into the moist clay before bisque firing. Click here to revisit the original post on “Tracey’s Letters.

Well, a lot of people have been asking for a follow-up… and here are some of Tracey’s glazed pots with “pasta-text” on them. After bisque firing, Tracey fills in the letters with glaze and then wipes the top surface away… leaving the glaze only in the letter indentations. This letter technique has been working well for her, especially with the dark “Stoneware With Ochre” clay body that fires up to a dark, yummy chocolate brown.

7 Comments

Rita Bagley

August 9th, 2013

I just returned from the store…looking for some alphabet pasta to use with my projects…inspired by this article you shared. Wasn’t able to find any. But will keep looking. The larger letters ..were they also made with pasta or by what means? thanks for your time.

Nancy

March 26th, 2014

I also can’t find the noodles. Help!

March 27th, 2014

NANCY – I found mine at my local “Jewel” grocery store. In the pasta section. I’ve heard you can sometimes find them at the Dollar Store as well. But they are small. Maybe they look larger in the photos? They are pretty darn small.

Loralee

November 1st, 2014

This is a great idea! I’m wondering how you glazed the pieces so they letters didn’t fill up with the glaze…

November 1st, 2014

LORALEE – These pots are by one of my students. She filled the stamps in with a bit of glaze and then wiped off the top surface. Tracey then waxed the entire “band” that hosts the lettering before dipping into the glaze bucket. The letters are all on “unglazed” clay areas. But the little bit of glaze inside each letter really makes them pop!

maz

January 5th, 2016

try ebay for alphabet pasta

December 14th, 2016

I had to order the pasta from Amazon! 🙂 thanks for sharing this great idea! 😊

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