Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we did a bit of “sanggam” on these tiles to demonstrate the Korean decorative technique. I had prepped the tiles with stamps & slip ahead of time. And then my students “shaved” away the extra slip to reveal the pattern of now “slip-filled” stamps. It was a lot of fun as the images revealed themselves with continued scraping.

Scrape more Taylor…

EVEN MORE TAYLOR!!!

That’s so much better Taylor!!!

In preparation for last night’s class demo with my SURFACE DECORATION class, I made a bunch of stoneware tiles with stamped impressions. I then filled the stamps & slathered on some thick white slip ahead of time to get it all to stiffen up to leatherhard. The plan is to discus “sanggam” as a technique where they will “shave off” the top layer of slip to reveal the stamped pattern… leaving it filled with slip & flush to the top of the tile! More to come…

So last week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we focused on Mishima. Basically coating the pot with wax, and then carving through with sharp tools… like our favorite DiamondCore Tools! Then you fill the carvings with some underglazes… inlaying the carved patterns. The wax allows you to wipe away the “background” area more cleanly & easily. Then during bisque, the wax disappears & then it’s ready for glazing!!!

Just stamping another large dinner plate… all with one handmade clay stamp!

Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, I challenged my students to several fun glazing tasks. No one “really” likes glazing… so my goal was to make it more fun by trying new things on cylinders that I made ahead of time for them! So they wouldn’t be “sacrificing “ their own pieces… giving them no emotional attachment to the piece… allowing them to have some fun while glazing! Can’t wait to see their results!!!! More to come …

While I was out roadtrippin’ in Minnesota… I left my SURFACE DECORATION class in very capable hands. My friend Catherine Tweedie subbed for me with her “ever-popular” water etching demo. Before leaving town, I provided her with enough bone dry bowls for her demo & for everyone to practice on. From the photos & texts I received… her demo was very well-received. Always my favorite sub teacher… I knew she would knock it out of the park!!! Thanks again Catherine!!!

Last week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled carving & sgraffito. The colored slip on my platter was just a little too wet to sgraffito carve the full demo. So I brought it back to my studio… and continued later when the slip had stiffened up more. A fun carving session… especially with a great sgraffito tool from DiamondCore Tools.

Here’s my latest batch of hybrid mugs… with groovy cool patterns & textures made with some of my newest MKM Pottery Tools handrollers. Now they just need some flashing slip while they’re still leatherhard. Then it’s off to drying, bisque firing, glazing, wadding & soda-firing. Still a long ways to go before these are ready to go!!! Lots of steps… not just in the making, but also in the finishing.

This week in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled underglaze transfers. I’m not a huge fan of the pre-made & purchased versions… so we “doodled” & made our own! Black underglaze outlines on paper… then filled in with colorful underglazes. Once they dried, we applied them to our leatherhard pieces just like a temporary tattoo! Wet with a sponge & press gently with a soft rib. Peel way the paper gently & the image had transferred to our pots. We had a lot of fun… and saw that there’s a bit of a learning-curve here. Kudos to those potters on Instagram that do this technique so flawlessly… we all have new-found respect!!!

Swirls of ombre’ blended slip…
and then some geometric sgraffito carvings.over the top.
A quick textured rim & a layer of clear glaze… voila’!!!