Slipped Rim

This project spun out of this winter’s bowl marathon for the Tidewater Gallery’s annual soup feed. I throw about 7 batches total, 10 to 17 bowls at a time and break these down into smaller separate groups for handling the surface decoration. This is how I generally prefer to create my work. I enjoy working in series of 5 -15 pieces at a time, this lets me explore any new idea or technique a little before drawing any initial conclusions and making any changes in my approach.
This started with a big 3 gallon bucket of white slip I made using the trimmings from my standard white clay body. The trimmings were added to the water and allowed to soak overnight. After a night of soaking I mixed it up with my trusty paint mixer on a drill and added a tablespoon of deflocculate (sodium silicate) and more water until the slip reached the consistency of a thick heavy cream. The sodium silicate lets the clay platelets to slide over each other easier so I don’t have to add so much water to the mix to get the slip to the consistency I want.
Next, I had an idea of what I wanted to try… might work, might not. Going to find out though. So I made some thumbnail sketches to keep me pointed in a direction. I’ll usually have 2 or 3 experiments going on at any one time and I have a tendency to become easily distracted. I’ve learned it’s a good idea to leave a trail of bread crumbs leading back to the project at hand.

With this idea, I’m using a contrasting red

stoneware clay for the body and I’ve applied a simple paper stenciled sponged cobalt slip design around the lower half of the belly.
After the stenciled design has dried sufficiently to gently handle, I invert the bowl and pour the slip over the upper half.

I really like the effect and I’m excited about trying a dynamic gaze combination I’ve been thinking about…

stay tuned...

Click below to view the process.