My university ceramics professor had a theory that there are two types of clay formers: bowl people and cylinder people. She went on to explain that this referred to the general shape of the object one felt most naturally drawn to and what came more easily to form from clay. I have long identified as a cylinder person, and as a result, bowl shapes take a different kind of consideration and focus, but I find it to be an enjoyable challenge. Bowls are such a shareable piece of functional ceramic ware. Having folks over for a meal? The table is often full of bowls. Taking a treat into work? A bowl makes for easy transport of a shareable snack. In the mood for a snack while watching TV? Grab a bowl.
I approach bowls as pieces meant to be shared and enjoyed. I decorate the outside walls so that they are engaging to look at, and also to touch. Part of that shareable quality extends to my decorating choices as a way for me to share some of the things I love: color, texture, plants, and birds. I find a lot of my decorating inspiration comes from watching the little moments in the world around me, like wildflowers slowly starting to bloom, or birds sitting on wires.
Prepare Your Canvas
Begin by forming a bowl (thrown or handbuilt). Because I use newsprint, Tyvek stencils, and transfers throughout my decorating process, I find that straight-walled vessels are easier to work with. I also like my bowl form to mimic my cylinder form with a raised, unglazed base/foot, so as to show off the richness of the red clay body and provide stark, visual contrast to the heavy decoration and bright colors that will cover the rest of the outside walls. I find working with firm, leather-hard (not quite hard-leather-hard) clay to be ideal for getting stencils and slip to adhere well. If a piece is too dry, then the reintroduction of water can cause cracking and flaking. Too wet, and the walls will become soft and hard to handle without misshaping.
Select the stencils you want to use for a piece ahead of time and lay them out so that they are easy to access and don’t tangle. I cut stencils from images drawn on Tyvek and newsprint using a Cricut or laser cutter. I try to keep an even mix of skinny and wide stencils, and I also like to use a variety of flowers. Most of the time, I’m not curating a particular narrative. Occasionally, I will be purposeful about my bird and flower choices if I want to focus on a season—making spring pots or summer cups, for example. I like to use between 6–10 flower stencils and 2 doilies (with the doilies, I always pick one large and one small).
Using black underglaze (thin enough that it pours, but thick enough that it doesn’t dribble) in a bulb trailer with a needle nib, draw out an image to be used for the transfer in the final step (1). This allows plenty of time for the underglaze to dry before you add slip later, but not so much time that it won’t release easily.
Gather the colors of slip (I typically use three) that you will use along with the brushes you will need. I use Sara Ballek’s Poor Man’s Porcelain Slip recipe: 25% EPK kaolin, 25% G-200 feldspar, 25% OM 4 ball clay, 25% silica. This slip can be applied in various consistencies to both low- and high-fire clay bodies. Apply two coats for an opaque background. This slip fits any clay body.
First Decoration Layer
Start each piece by selecting the Tyvek stencils that will cover the bare clay. Tyvek paper/material is water resistant and won’t break down, especially when water etching. Using a mister bottle and a soft silicone rib, mist the clay surface and place the stencils where you want them on the piece. Use the soft rib to squeegee the stencils down so they won’t move (2). With a small synthetic sponge, gently and slowly wipe away thin layers of clay around one of the stencils to etch the surface and provide textural depth (3). Once etched to your preference, place a piece of newsprint that works with your design over the stencil to preserve the texture and resist the upcoming layers of slip (4).
With the Tyvek stencils placed over the bare clay, it’s time to add the first color of slip. Loosely brush on a coat of slip in the shape of another Tyvek stencil (so that there is less to wipe away once the stencil is placed). Allow the slip to dry until it can be touched without leaving fingerprints, then place the stencil on top of the slip, squeegee it down with the silicone rib (5), and wipe away the excess slip with a sponge (6).
Second and Third Decoration Layers
Begin by placing negative-space newsprint stencils where the white edges will be. Then, carefully apply two layers of white slip to the majority of the piece (7). Once the white slip has dried enough that it can be touched without leaving fingerprints, add positive-space newsprint stencils to the entire piece (8). Tip: I find placing dry stencils on the pot, giving them a quick spritz, and pressing them down with a damp sponge sticks the newsprint well without disturbing the slip surface.
The third layer is the most color-dense layer. Begin this layer the same as the second, by placing negative-space edge stencils, and then carefully apply two coats of colored slip (9), being mindful not to disturb the newsprint stencils. Once the color layer has dried enough not to leave fingerprints, carefully peel away all but the etched stencil (10). To add texture to the etched area, use something like a straw brush to rough up the surface (11) before peeling the last stencil off (12).
Final Decoration Layer
The fourth and final layer will use negative-space stencils, and finally, the underglaze-drawn transfer. Like the layer before, place the stencils, spritz them with water, and then press them down with a soft sponge (13). Apply two coats of the third color of slip to the negative space (14), and peel the stencils off when the slip has dried enough not to leave fingerprints.
The last step is to add the underglaze transfer, which should be dry and ready for slip. Using the same white slip from layer two, apply a thick coat to the underglaze side of the transfer (15). Tip: I like to do this on a piece of cement board because it soaks up a lot of the excess moisture from the slip and keeps the newsprint from getting too saturated. Let the slip dry until the sheen is gone, and then place the transfer on the pot, pressing it down first with fingers and then running over it a couple of times with the soft silicone rib (16). Spritz the transfer to saturate the newsprint (this makes peeling the transfer much easier), and then carefully peel back the newsprint to reveal the image (17).
Let fully decorated pieces sit in a damp box overnight to let everything even out, and then air-dry on a shelf. Once dry, I bisque fire the pieces to cone 08.
Glazing, Firing, and Finishing Touches
Glaze the interior of each piece first with a liner glaze, and use a bulb trailer with a needle nib to carefully apply clear glaze to all of the slip-covered outer surfaces (18). Leave the bare clay on the outer walls free of glaze.
I fire my work to cone 6 in an electric kiln. Once everything is fired, I sand each piece with 800- to 1500-grit sandpaper to knock down any rough spots of texture on the slip-decorated surfaces and to smooth the bare clay base, making it smooth and pleasant to handle.
Becky Meneely is a studio potter based in the rural Midwest. She finds endless inspiration from the nature that surrounds her, often showing itself in the quiet moments. When not in her studio making pots or at her day job, she can usually be found walking gravel roads with her dogs, collecting rocks, and looking at birds.
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My university ceramics professor had a theory that there are two types of clay formers: bowl people and cylinder people. She went on to explain that this referred to the general shape of the object one felt most naturally drawn to and what came more easily to form from clay. I have long identified as a cylinder person, and as a result, bowl shapes take a different kind of consideration and focus, but I find it to be an enjoyable challenge. Bowls are such a shareable piece of functional ceramic ware. Having folks over for a meal? The table is often full of bowls. Taking a treat into work? A bowl makes for easy transport of a shareable snack. In the mood for a snack while watching TV? Grab a bowl.
I approach bowls as pieces meant to be shared and enjoyed. I decorate the outside walls so that they are engaging to look at, and also to touch. Part of that shareable quality extends to my decorating choices as a way for me to share some of the things I love: color, texture, plants, and birds. I find a lot of my decorating inspiration comes from watching the little moments in the world around me, like wildflowers slowly starting to bloom, or birds sitting on wires.
Prepare Your Canvas
Begin by forming a bowl (thrown or handbuilt). Because I use newsprint, Tyvek stencils, and transfers throughout my decorating process, I find that straight-walled vessels are easier to work with. I also like my bowl form to mimic my cylinder form with a raised, unglazed base/foot, so as to show off the richness of the red clay body and provide stark, visual contrast to the heavy decoration and bright colors that will cover the rest of the outside walls. I find working with firm, leather-hard (not quite hard-leather-hard) clay to be ideal for getting stencils and slip to adhere well. If a piece is too dry, then the reintroduction of water can cause cracking and flaking. Too wet, and the walls will become soft and hard to handle without misshaping.
Select the stencils you want to use for a piece ahead of time and lay them out so that they are easy to access and don’t tangle. I cut stencils from images drawn on Tyvek and newsprint using a Cricut or laser cutter. I try to keep an even mix of skinny and wide stencils, and I also like to use a variety of flowers. Most of the time, I’m not curating a particular narrative. Occasionally, I will be purposeful about my bird and flower choices if I want to focus on a season—making spring pots or summer cups, for example. I like to use between 6–10 flower stencils and 2 doilies (with the doilies, I always pick one large and one small).
Using black underglaze (thin enough that it pours, but thick enough that it doesn’t dribble) in a bulb trailer with a needle nib, draw out an image to be used for the transfer in the final step (1). This allows plenty of time for the underglaze to dry before you add slip later, but not so much time that it won’t release easily.
Gather the colors of slip (I typically use three) that you will use along with the brushes you will need. I use Sara Ballek’s Poor Man’s Porcelain Slip recipe: 25% EPK kaolin, 25% G-200 feldspar, 25% OM 4 ball clay, 25% silica. This slip can be applied in various consistencies to both low- and high-fire clay bodies. Apply two coats for an opaque background. This slip fits any clay body.
First Decoration Layer
Start each piece by selecting the Tyvek stencils that will cover the bare clay. Tyvek paper/material is water resistant and won’t break down, especially when water etching. Using a mister bottle and a soft silicone rib, mist the clay surface and place the stencils where you want them on the piece. Use the soft rib to squeegee the stencils down so they won’t move (2). With a small synthetic sponge, gently and slowly wipe away thin layers of clay around one of the stencils to etch the surface and provide textural depth (3). Once etched to your preference, place a piece of newsprint that works with your design over the stencil to preserve the texture and resist the upcoming layers of slip (4).
With the Tyvek stencils placed over the bare clay, it’s time to add the first color of slip. Loosely brush on a coat of slip in the shape of another Tyvek stencil (so that there is less to wipe away once the stencil is placed). Allow the slip to dry until it can be touched without leaving fingerprints, then place the stencil on top of the slip, squeegee it down with the silicone rib (5), and wipe away the excess slip with a sponge (6).
Second and Third Decoration Layers
Begin by placing negative-space newsprint stencils where the white edges will be. Then, carefully apply two layers of white slip to the majority of the piece (7). Once the white slip has dried enough that it can be touched without leaving fingerprints, add positive-space newsprint stencils to the entire piece (8). Tip: I find placing dry stencils on the pot, giving them a quick spritz, and pressing them down with a damp sponge sticks the newsprint well without disturbing the slip surface.
The third layer is the most color-dense layer. Begin this layer the same as the second, by placing negative-space edge stencils, and then carefully apply two coats of colored slip (9), being mindful not to disturb the newsprint stencils. Once the color layer has dried enough not to leave fingerprints, carefully peel away all but the etched stencil (10). To add texture to the etched area, use something like a straw brush to rough up the surface (11) before peeling the last stencil off (12).
Final Decoration Layer
The fourth and final layer will use negative-space stencils, and finally, the underglaze-drawn transfer. Like the layer before, place the stencils, spritz them with water, and then press them down with a soft sponge (13). Apply two coats of the third color of slip to the negative space (14), and peel the stencils off when the slip has dried enough not to leave fingerprints.
The last step is to add the underglaze transfer, which should be dry and ready for slip. Using the same white slip from layer two, apply a thick coat to the underglaze side of the transfer (15). Tip: I like to do this on a piece of cement board because it soaks up a lot of the excess moisture from the slip and keeps the newsprint from getting too saturated. Let the slip dry until the sheen is gone, and then place the transfer on the pot, pressing it down first with fingers and then running over it a couple of times with the soft silicone rib (16). Spritz the transfer to saturate the newsprint (this makes peeling the transfer much easier), and then carefully peel back the newsprint to reveal the image (17).
Let fully decorated pieces sit in a damp box overnight to let everything even out, and then air-dry on a shelf. Once dry, I bisque fire the pieces to cone 08.
Glazing, Firing, and Finishing Touches
Glaze the interior of each piece first with a liner glaze, and use a bulb trailer with a needle nib to carefully apply clear glaze to all of the slip-covered outer surfaces (18). Leave the bare clay on the outer walls free of glaze.
I fire my work to cone 6 in an electric kiln. Once everything is fired, I sand each piece with 800- to 1500-grit sandpaper to knock down any rough spots of texture on the slip-decorated surfaces and to smooth the bare clay base, making it smooth and pleasant to handle.
Becky Meneely is a studio potter based in the rural Midwest. She finds endless inspiration from the nature that surrounds her, often showing itself in the quiet moments. When not in her studio making pots or at her day job, she can usually be found walking gravel roads with her dogs, collecting rocks, and looking at birds.
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