Handbuilt Candle Sconce Jamin Bultman and Rachel Bultman

Appears in the Jul/Aug 2023 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.

My wife, Rachel, has worked as the primary wheel-throwing potter of RBD Pottery since 2015 in what started as her side hustle but evolved into both our full-time jobs in 2018. My part in the business started with graphic design, photography, and as the glaze and kiln tech. As time went on and our business grew, my interest in building projects, particularly woodworking, led me into creating RBD Pottery’s handbuilt pieces. My approach to handbuilding is largely based around a woodworking background and I’ve added a few woodworking tools to my essential handbuilding toolkit (see sidebar). 

I decided to make a sconce with a curved back not only to make the design more dimensional, but also to keep the candle further away from the wall, insulating it from heat and making the piece safer to use. The candle tray is surrounded with a rim to add support to the sconce and keep a 3-inch candle in place. Picture-hanging wire is strung between fired clay tabs on the back of the sconce so it can hang on a nail or a screw. Finally, the candle sconce is decorated with my signature stoneware trail design, which combines lines and textures in an abstract topographic pattern, wrapping around the sconce like smoke in contrasting colors and finishes. The curved, faceted, glazed surface and inlaid gold luster lines reflect candlelight to many different angles. 

Create the Slump Mold 

You could use a pre-made wooden MDF slump mold or create a plaster mold for this piece, but I found making a quick wooden mold worked great with my skill set. Because the mold is against the back of the sconce it can be a little rough and imperfect. Start with a smooth piece of ¾-inch sanded plywood (I used birch plywood leftover from a cabinet project). Cut the rough shape of your piece to 12×4½ inches with a table saw or skill saw. Use a compass to draw a curve at the top of the piece (or run inside like me and grab a spare 4½-inch lid to trace the curve). Clamp the board down to a worktable and cut the curve out with a jigsaw or scroll saw (1). Keeping your board clamped to the table, rout around the entire piece using a 45° chamfer router bit set with the little guide wheel set as low as possible on the bottom edge of the board (2). Give your slump mold a quick sand with 120-grit sandpaper, slightly rounding out any sharp corners and edges where that might force cracks in your drying piece. Caution: Always wear safety glasses and ear protection when woodworking. 

Congratulations, you’re done woodworking, now onto handbuilding your sconce! 

Slump the Clay 

Grab a 4-pound lump of clay and roll it to ⅜ inches thick and about 20×8 inches in dimension. Place the mold on your slab and cut around it about inch from the mold’s edge (3). From the remnants, cut a 1×12-inch strip and a 3½-inch square for the candle tray (4). Tip: A woodworking speed square is indispensable when handbuilding and works great to quickly make a true square. Set your clay tray pieces to the side on a cement board worktable to dry a bit. 

Now, set your slump mold on a bat and carefully center the wet slab on the slump mold. While holding on to your bat drop the mold a few times on the table until the clay slumps nicely against the mold. Cut around the slump mold where you see the clay leave the mold and flatten against the bat (5). 

Add a Candle Tray 

Move back to your tray pieces, which should now be dry enough to hold shape but bend without cracking. Grab another spare circular lid, this time 3½-inches, and cut the curve for the outside edge of your candle tray (6). Place a scrap piece of clay under the tray so you can center it in the middle of the tray rim when you’re attaching it. Dry fit the rim around the tray and cut the ends at an angle to meet against the sconce face (7). Score, moisten, and attach the rim to the tray. Remove the supporting clay scrap. Use your speed square to mark a straight line on the sconce face about 3 inches from the bottom (8), score above the line and face of the tray, then moisten and attach the pieces. Fill in and smooth the seams with thin clay coils (9), and clean up the sconce with a damp sponge and a soft rubber rib (10). Use the speed square to check that tray is perpendicular to the sconce face (11). 

Cut a small scrap of clay for hanging tabs, then place the sconce (while it is still set on the wooden slump mold) and the clay scrap under plastic to slowly dry for about a day or until the pieces are almost leather hard. 

Add a Hanging Mechanism 

Remove the sconce from the slump mold once it is dry enough to hold without losing its shape, turn it over, and rest it on the edge of a worktable with the tray hanging over. Cut two wedges from the reserved clay scrap and attach them to either side on the inside of the sconce, about 2 inches from the top. Punch a 3/16-inch hole in both wedges to attach a hanging wire after the piece is fired (12). Cover the piece, now off the wooden slump mold, and dry it slowly to avoid warping. 

Add Surface Design 

Once the sconce is leather hard, I can carve designs into it (13). I use a U Tip Carver (Diamond Core P2 or Crown Point CP3) and a Kemper Pro PTM30 to carve my signature trail design (14). Growing up, I was particularly drawn to topographic maps. They got as close to putting you in the hills and trails as they could. This design attempts to capture and express the feeling of wandering a trail by earth and water with different textures on either side. I usually allow myself to wander across the piece while being aware of how it will work as a whole and with the places I want to end up glazed. In this case, I wanted the tray to be glazed for easy candle wax clean up. I carve fairly deep into the piece but no deeper than ¼  inch. If I slip while carving or just don’t like how the carving flows across the piece, I’ll try to readjust the shape of the design.

Dry, Wax, Luster, and Fire 

Once the carving is complete, cover the piece with plastic again and continue to dry it slowly until it is bone dry, rotating and turning on its side when it is strong enough to dry back equally. If the piece does curve in while drying you can sand it flat (be sure to use a respirator mask with particulate filters installed), then bisque fire it. 

After the piece is bisque fired, wax the portions you’d like to remain unglazed (15). Dip the sconce in glaze (16). I use a thick (1.6 specific-gravity) glossy white glaze. Wipe any pooling glaze from the waxed areas with a sponge. Glaze fire the piece—I fire to cone 5. 

Use a brush to apply Mayco’s Premium Gold Luster (17). I like the Simply Simmons Script 1 brush because it holds a nice amount of luster and moves smoothly on the glazed pottery. Caution: Always use a proper respirator mask with organic vapor cartridges installed when applying luster to your work. Luster fire to cone 019. 

Finish the Hanging Mechanism 

After the candle sconce is fired and cooled, thread and tie a vinyl-coated photo-hanging wire through the holes in the wedge tabs on the back of the sconce for hanging on the wall (18). Be sure to properly mount a screw or nail to a stud in the wall to secure the sconce. Even though we’ve made this piece as safe as possible, never leave candles unattended! 

Rachel and Jamin Bultman make pottery full time at their business, RBD Pottery, focusing on botanical- and outdoor-themed pieces. They create tactile and useful items that can be used on a daily basis. Each piece is made with the hope that it brings a little light and joy to someone else’s life. You can see more at rbdpottery.com or on Instagram @rbdpottery.