When I am making a pot, I am always the most excited once I am able to work on the surface decoration. I am often referencing Victorian-era lamps or Gothic-style stained glass windows in my work. I enjoy how these works break up space by using repetition or by layering different elements to create beautifully ornate objects. My goal is to create pottery that emulates these traits. I love creating decorated functional objects that people can appreciate for both their appearance and function.
Altering the Form
My surface decoration process begins once the form is between leather-soft and leather-hard. I need the clay to be firm enough to hold its shape in my hand, but soft enough to still manipulate the surface. When the clay reaches this stage of dryness, I take a trimming spinner tool and place it on the underside of my form. Then, I lightly mark the bottom of the form with a needle tool to separate the surface into eight even sections (1). Once the guidelines are marked on the bottom of the piece, continue to carve those lines from the bottom to the top of the form (2). At this stage, I add an additional guideline that rounds out the top of each section.
Depending on the form I am creating, at this stage, I occasionally alter the lip of my piece. I use an X-Acto knife to cut into the rim in order to create a ruffle-like fabric effect. On other forms, I leave the rim smooth and uncarved. Once I have decided on and executed the appearance of the rim, I move on to my favorite part of the process, slip trailing.
Slip Trailing
I do a lot of slip trailing in my decoration process. To protect my hand and wrist, I use a handheld air-powered tool called an AirPen. The AirPen allows me to slip trail my pots without needing to squeeze a trailing bottle. The AirPen instead uses the pressure from my finger to control the air flow that moves the slip through the tip of the pen. I like to slip trail in a way that mimics beads on a string to reference different textile elements. I create this effect by slip trailing over the carved guidelines with repetitive dots or teardrops that connect and eventually form into lines that will separate sections of the pot’s surface (3).
Once you have completed all slip trailing and the slip has reached leather-hard, gently tap any areas of the slip that have a sharp point, as those areas will become dangerous post-firing. It is much easier to smooth these sections at this stage than to grind them down later. From here, wait for your piece to be nearly bone dry before moving forward.
Spraying the Lace
When the piece is almost bone dry, decide which sections you want to spray a lace pattern onto. Next, apply wax over all of the slip-trailed lines and any areas that will not have the lace effect. For this cup, I waxed the slip-trailed lines, the border between them, and the rim of the piece (4).
After the wax has dried, I use a mini air compressor to spray through lace fabric scraps onto the surface of my pots (5). I use a mixture of Mayco’s Jet Black underglaze with a small amount of water in my air compressor for spraying. Watering down the underglaze slightly allows the air compressor to spray the underglaze without clogging and also gives a softer appearance to the lace on the final fired result. Caution: Wear a respirator and work in a well-ventilated area when spraying wet material.
To get the best and most detailed result when spraying through lace, make sure the lace is pulled taut around the form before spraying. When I am spraying my pieces, they are still very fragile, as I do this at the bone-dry stage, so I have to be careful not to pull the fabric too tight and break off any of my trailing design. Once you have finished spraying the piece, take a damp sponge to wipe away any underglaze sitting on the surface of areas you have waxed, as you want to make sure the lace is only visible in certain areas of the pot (6). Then, allow the piece to fully dry before bisque firing to cone 04.
When your piece comes out of the bisque firing, wipe it down entirely with a damp sponge to remove any dust or debris. Then, brush over the entire outside of your piece with one thick coat of Mayco’s Black Engobe. Make sure the engobe is filling any recessed areas of the piece, as well as filling areas around all of the slip-trailed lines. Immediately after applying the coat of engobe, take a damp sponge and begin to wipe the piece gently from top to bottom with enough force to where the tips of any slip trailing are wiped clean and show through the engobe. I like to show some evidence of this process, so I leave streaks of engobe over the lace sections. Since the lace design has already been bisque fired onto the form, I do not have to worry about wiping away the design (7). Give the piece time to dry and if any areas had too much engobe washed away with the sponge, refill those areas (8). Finally, brush two thick coats of Mayco’s Black Matte stoneware glaze to line the interior and fire to cone 6 (9).
Sarah Mae Caudill is a ceramic artist in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2017. From 2023 to 2025, she apprenticed with studio potter Taylor Sijan. Sarah is now a design associate at Mayco Colors. She is focused on continued education and practice through experimentation. To follow along with Sarah’s latest projects follow her on Instagram @sarahmaeceramicsor check out her website www.sarahmaeceramics.com.
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When I am making a pot, I am always the most excited once I am able to work on the surface decoration. I am often referencing Victorian-era lamps or Gothic-style stained glass windows in my work. I enjoy how these works break up space by using repetition or by layering different elements to create beautifully ornate objects. My goal is to create pottery that emulates these traits. I love creating decorated functional objects that people can appreciate for both their appearance and function.
Altering the Form
My surface decoration process begins once the form is between leather-soft and leather-hard. I need the clay to be firm enough to hold its shape in my hand, but soft enough to still manipulate the surface. When the clay reaches this stage of dryness, I take a trimming spinner tool and place it on the underside of my form. Then, I lightly mark the bottom of the form with a needle tool to separate the surface into eight even sections (1). Once the guidelines are marked on the bottom of the piece, continue to carve those lines from the bottom to the top of the form (2). At this stage, I add an additional guideline that rounds out the top of each section.
Depending on the form I am creating, at this stage, I occasionally alter the lip of my piece. I use an X-Acto knife to cut into the rim in order to create a ruffle-like fabric effect. On other forms, I leave the rim smooth and uncarved. Once I have decided on and executed the appearance of the rim, I move on to my favorite part of the process, slip trailing.
Slip Trailing
I do a lot of slip trailing in my decoration process. To protect my hand and wrist, I use a handheld air-powered tool called an AirPen. The AirPen allows me to slip trail my pots without needing to squeeze a trailing bottle. The AirPen instead uses the pressure from my finger to control the air flow that moves the slip through the tip of the pen. I like to slip trail in a way that mimics beads on a string to reference different textile elements. I create this effect by slip trailing over the carved guidelines with repetitive dots or teardrops that connect and eventually form into lines that will separate sections of the pot’s surface (3).
Once you have completed all slip trailing and the slip has reached leather-hard, gently tap any areas of the slip that have a sharp point, as those areas will become dangerous post-firing. It is much easier to smooth these sections at this stage than to grind them down later. From here, wait for your piece to be nearly bone dry before moving forward.
Spraying the Lace
When the piece is almost bone dry, decide which sections you want to spray a lace pattern onto. Next, apply wax over all of the slip-trailed lines and any areas that will not have the lace effect. For this cup, I waxed the slip-trailed lines, the border between them, and the rim of the piece (4).
After the wax has dried, I use a mini air compressor to spray through lace fabric scraps onto the surface of my pots (5). I use a mixture of Mayco’s Jet Black underglaze with a small amount of water in my air compressor for spraying. Watering down the underglaze slightly allows the air compressor to spray the underglaze without clogging and also gives a softer appearance to the lace on the final fired result. Caution: Wear a respirator and work in a well-ventilated area when spraying wet material.
To get the best and most detailed result when spraying through lace, make sure the lace is pulled taut around the form before spraying. When I am spraying my pieces, they are still very fragile, as I do this at the bone-dry stage, so I have to be careful not to pull the fabric too tight and break off any of my trailing design. Once you have finished spraying the piece, take a damp sponge to wipe away any underglaze sitting on the surface of areas you have waxed, as you want to make sure the lace is only visible in certain areas of the pot (6). Then, allow the piece to fully dry before bisque firing to cone 04.
When your piece comes out of the bisque firing, wipe it down entirely with a damp sponge to remove any dust or debris. Then, brush over the entire outside of your piece with one thick coat of Mayco’s Black Engobe. Make sure the engobe is filling any recessed areas of the piece, as well as filling areas around all of the slip-trailed lines. Immediately after applying the coat of engobe, take a damp sponge and begin to wipe the piece gently from top to bottom with enough force to where the tips of any slip trailing are wiped clean and show through the engobe. I like to show some evidence of this process, so I leave streaks of engobe over the lace sections. Since the lace design has already been bisque fired onto the form, I do not have to worry about wiping away the design (7). Give the piece time to dry and if any areas had too much engobe washed away with the sponge, refill those areas (8). Finally, brush two thick coats of Mayco’s Black Matte stoneware glaze to line the interior and fire to cone 6 (9).
Sarah Mae Caudill is a ceramic artist in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2017. From 2023 to 2025, she apprenticed with studio potter Taylor Sijan. Sarah is now a design associate at Mayco Colors. She is focused on continued education and practice through experimentation. To follow along with Sarah’s latest projects follow her on Instagram @sarahmaeceramics or check out her website www.sarahmaeceramics.com.
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