Dynamic Plates Dehmie Dehmlow

Appears in the March/April 2025 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.

I love texture. As I have continued to make pots over the last 15 years, I have gradually added more and more texture to the surfaces and construction of my pieces. One source for this love of texture comes from photographing old and decaying architecture in neighborhoods I have lived in. I am captured by the way paint on old houses and sheds age and weather, they just become richer and richer in texture. 

A sense of play prioritizing color is also at the core of my work. I create joyful, dynamic compositions through layering texture on my forms, and achieve tension and balance using matte to glossy surfaces. I think of my pots and their compositions as telling a story. I enjoy slab building because it opens my practice up to endless nuances. I am able to emphasize my love for construction and process and thoroughly articulate specific forms. 

Creating the Plate Floor 

I build my plates upside down using hump/slump bisque molds. I have a range of sizes that I made by laying slabs over a bisque-fired clay or plaster prototype (1). To make a textured slab plate, start by rolling out two slabs and using a rubber rib to compress and smooth the slab. I use a large rolling pin and two slats to roll out even slabs by hand. For small to dinner plate sizes, I use ¼-inch-thick (6.4-mm) slabs, and for large plates or platters, I use ⅜-inch-thick (9.5-mm) slabs. Save one slab for later. 

Next, situate your bisque mold on a banding wheel or place a wareboard underneath the bisque mold. Place your slab onto the bisque mold (hump side up) and compress and smooth the slab to conform to the curve of the mold. Using a cutting knife (I use a Dolan knife), cut the slab into the desired shape of your plate (2). Using the heel of your hand and a rubber rib, taper the edge of the slab down into the mold so that it comes to a point about ⅛ inch (3.2 mm) thick (3). 

Add a Textured Slab Foot 

Building my plates upside down and with slabs allows me to jump straight into exploring shape and texture without having to spend a ton of time getting a base or form started. This gives me so much more freedom to play and create a lot of different shaped plates. I enjoy treating the back or bottom of the plate as a whole other surface for composition and texture. I like to make the feet echo the shape of the plate. Depending on the texture, weight, and technique used to create the base and rim of the plate, I will use coils, slab strips, or rolled coil strips to create the feet. 

Begin by rolling out coils and flatten them into strips using the heel of your hand (4). Stretch out each coil strip by rolling a textured rolling pin or roulette over the coils at an angle (5). These thin textured strips should end up pretty thin, about 1/8– 3/16 inch (3.2–4.8 mm) thick. Next, roll up each textured side of the strip onto the non-textured side inside the roll (6). Slip and score along the side where you can see the roll. This side will attach to the plate. 

Now, go back to your slab on the hump mold, slip and score foot where the strips will attach. Keep in mind that you will be adding a rim to the plate (if you want), so be careful not to add your foot too close to the middle of the slab. In other words, your plate will get wider with the added rim, so place the foot accordingly. Trim each strip at a 45° angle where it will meet up with the next strip (7). Slip and score the corner joints where the sections meet, then gently press each rolled strip into your slab, using your fingers to reshape and puff up the roll where needed. Press and roll/rock a wooden rib along the middle of each strip, adding definition to the foot and pressing it down into the slab gently (8). Clean up the score marks using a rib with a flat side (9) and compress any gaps you see in the corners of the foot using a wooden dowel tool or a needle tool. Reinforce any low or thin spots on your foot using a small slug of clay. Slip, score, and then compress on the patch of clay using one of your textured rolling tools (10, 11). 

Adding a Slab Rim 

Using the second slab you rolled out and a ruler or slat, cut enough strips of slab for your rim (12). Using the heel of your hand, taper one edge of each slab strip so the overlap is not bulky where the rim strips attach to the plate floor. Using your finger with a little bit of water, smooth and gently compress just the corners of the other edge of each slab strip. This will end up being the outer edge of the plate. 

Once your plate with the added foot is firm enough to remove from the hump mold without it bending (stiff leather hard), carefully flip it over. Once you have the plate on a flat surface, press down gently and evenly around the middle of the base/floor where the foot attaches underneath to level the foot. Be sure to support the outer edge of the base/floor while you do this. 

Slip and score the tapered edge of each slab strip and the edge of your plate about ¾ inch (2 cm) in from the rim. Place your slab strips along the edge of your plate. Cut each strip at a 45° angle where your corners meet. Make sure you cut them with enough clay to overlap each strip so you can attach them together along the corner seams. Using your thumb and fingers, compress and smooth the slab strips into the base, pinching or applying pressure from the bottom up and from the top down. When using your finger or a rib to smooth the top edge where the strips attach, avoid going over the seam as you want it to remain visible (13). When overlapping the strips at the corners, taper the 45° edge so that the overlap does not end up too bulky. Slip, score where the slabs overlap, attach, then pinch and compress each corner where they overlap to ensure a good attachment (14). Using your fingers underneath on the bottom side of where the plate and rim meet, press up and smooth the plate into the rim from the underside. Once your plate and the attachments have stiffened up, go in and compress (or fill if needed) any gaps you see on the top or underside of the rim/ plate and foot attachments, but be sure to keep the seams visible and organic looking (15). You can use a rounded paddle or wooden rib to paddle or pat the rim down along where it is attached to even it out. 

At this stage, you want to shape and bend the rim to your liking and once it has stiffened a bit, you can finish perfecting the curve. You can also add texture from roulettes and pieces of cut, shaped, and textured slabs to areas of the rim. Be playful and experimental. Cover and let the piece dry slowly until bone dry. 

Glazing and Firing 

I use cone-6 red clay with glazes and colored terra sigillatas as the main two layers for my surfaces. Many of the glazes I use are commercial glazes from Amaco, Mayco, and other brands. 

Using a Kemper WS Wire Stylus Tool, I sgraffito pockets of text through the layer of terra sigillata after it dries to the touch. The terra sigillatas are applied at the bone-dry stage. 

After bisque firing, I use a red iron oxide wash and a borax wash to add a patina to my pieces. These washes help enhance all of the texture added and refined in the greenware stage. I then add dots of Mayco Stroke & Coat glazes to create glossy pops of color. All of these materials give me a wide range of color and matte-to-glossy textures. I fire my work to cone 5–6 in an electric kiln. 

Dehmie Dehmlow taught ceramics and sculpture for six years. She earned a BA in ceramics and pre-medical sciences from Colorado State University. She was a ceramics intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado before being selected as the 2019 Salad Days Artist in Residence at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine. Dehmlow then completed a post-baccalaureate program at Louisiana State University, and received her MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2022. She then completed a residency at Pratt Munson in Utica, New York, before beginning a one-year residency at the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas. She currently lives in Lawrence, where she works as a caregiver for adults with disabilities and maintains a practice in ceramics and mixed media. To see more, visit www.dehmie.art or on Instagram at @dehmdehm.