Clay surfaces are like blank sheets of paper, eager for and receptive to so many decorative possibilities. As an artist, I’ve always loved clay but I’m also interested in printmaking. My interest in relief prints prompted me to explore black-and-white sgraffito on porcelain, wheel-thrown pottery in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Besides printmaking, I was also interested in collage making, writing letters, and journaling. Around 2003, a friend encouraged me to explore screen printing on my pots, as that might complement my carving. When I screen printed my handwriting on the clay, the line quality of the letters took on a new life in my imagination. The clay became a sheet of paper, reminding me of all the wallpaper, stationery, sketchbook pages, and papers that have cluttered my life, filled with my memories and stories.
When I was a college student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, my ceramics professor introduced me to Oribe ware. These fabulously decorative vessels were made in 18th-century Japan. The surfaces of these animated pots are adorned with brushwork, and then a rich green glaze is poured or strategically dipped here and there on the pot. The patterns and marks on the clay were taken from kimono patterns of the time. As a clay newbie, I fell in love with these pots, especially the boldly painted patterns contrasted by thick areas of stark glaze. I filed these pots away in my brain for about fourteen years until, as a graduate student at the University of Florida, I revisited them and decided to take direct inspiration from their forms, especially the small dishes and basket forms.
Printing Floofs and Backgrounds
Before I even touch the clay, I print my “floofs,” or small screen-printed decorative elements. These motifs are inspired by all the kinds of abstract shapes that I see everywhere in wallpaper, clothing, rugs, jewelry, wrapping paper, shadows on a wall, or just about anything. I am attracted to blocky, thick graphic lines and shapes.
I also print sheets of repetitive patterns and handwriting as “backgrounds” for the floofs. Some of the images on these screens are taken from actual letters from my family, including letters that my father wrote to me when I was in college. I have a couple of screens that I made from my own handwriting, meant to symbolize my return letters.
I gather a small collection of graphics and then burn them onto a silkscreen using an ultraviolet light exposure unit available at my school. I then print a small library of floofs and backgrounds in an afternoon (1), cut them out, and store them flat in Ziploc bags placed away from the sun.
I print using underglazes that I slightly dehydrate ahead of time. I pour a pint of underglaze onto a glass surface, allow the puddle to dry out for a couple of days, and when the edges of the puddle look dry, I mix in a teaspoon of Speedball Transparent Base. The transparent base helps the underglaze adhere to the newsprint, preventing it from flaking off. Tip: You can buy underglazes already prepared for screen printing and thus save yourself this step.
Decorating a Slab
Roll out a large-ish stoneware slab, compress it with a rib, and brush a layer of thick colored slip onto a clean-ish sheet of newsprint (2). Flip the newsprint over, wet-slip side down, touching the surface of the clay slab, and roll the back of the newsprint with a pony roller to transfer the slip to the clay surface, leaving some lovely brushed lines (3). Continue transferring down a few more layers of colored slip to help break up the large surface area of the slab into less-intimidating workable areas (4).
Now you are ready to begin a floof collage. Instead of trying to create a specific image, I try to create an overall pattern on the slab. I select a few floofs (5) and brush a layer of colored slip over each one (6). I arrange the floofs across the surface of the clay, wet-slip side down on the clay surface. After placing a few floofs, I go back over them with a damp sponge and burnish them down, transferring both the colored slip and the underglaze onto the clay surface (7). As I am rubbing the pieces of newsprint, the paper becomes almost transparent and I can see the underglaze transferring to the clay. After arranging a first layer of floofs, I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the whole slab (8). I do this to make sure that the newsprint floofs are compressed tightly to the clay, which helps the transfer and allows me to continue to add more layers.
Next, I’m ready for the backgrounds. I select a variety of screen-printed patterns or handwriting (9). I apply a layer of colored slip over these and place them slip-side down directly on top of the first layer of floofs. I burnish these patterns and handwriting backgrounds down with the same damp sponge technique (10). After placing two to four backgrounds, I roll the slab with a clean sheet of newsprint.
Now, I’m ready to screen print another layer so that the pattern extends all the way to the edges of the slab. When I print directly onto the clay, the printed layer of underglaze is very thin. After firing, this layer of thin underglaze looks faint and ghostly compared to the crisp lines of the floofs. So, this layer is a way to add more interest to the surface and give the illusion of another background layer. It is an optional layer. I select a silkscreen and place it directly on the clay slab over all the pieces of newsprint. I place a bead of prepared underglaze across the top of the image on the screen.
With my squeegee, I draw the underglaze down the screen, applying gentle pressure to force the underglaze through the screen and onto the clay (11). Then, I lift the screen, move the screen over a few inches, and print again. I cover the entire slab with handwriting or pattern. After printing, I roll over the whole slab with a clean sheet of newsprint. This will blot off the underglaze, much like blotting ink, so that I will be able to handle the slab later without smearing the many layers of underglaze. Then, I print another layer, repeating the process with a different color of underglaze (12). I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the entire slab again to blot off the underglaze and to ensure that my floofs have enough contact with the clay surface to fully transfer. The finished, decorated slab will show the screen-printed handwriting on top with vague outlines of upside-down newsprint below (13).
When all that is done, carefully pull up each layer of newsprint using a sharp-tipped tool. As I peel each floof off, I can see how well the floof is transferring to the clay (14). If it didn’t transfer so well or if I think the colored slip didn’t pull away enough from the newsprint, I can lay the newsprint back down and burnish the back of the floof with a small wooden modeling tool to apply concentrated pressure to that one spot. Or, I can choose not to do that and leave it as is, the result, a torn and distressed surface that, to me, evokes faded or torn paper. When I’ve pulled off all the newsprint floofs, I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the whole slab (15).
Oribe-Inspired Basket
One can build with the decorated slab however one typically builds pots. I usually let the slabs rest overnight, but it is possible to use the slabs soon after printing. For this method of building with soft slabs, I use drape molds to start the bottom portion of the vessel, then continue building on it.
I cut out a round section of the slab that looks interesting (16), place it face down on a drape mold, and compress it to the mold with a soft rib. I then add a foot made from a coil of clay pressed into a section of corner molding (17). Allow the clay to stiffen slightly on the mold before removing it.
Meanwhile, I fashion additional parts for the basket. I roll and pull the basket handle by hand. Then, I bend the coil into a simple handle shape and let it stiffen slightly. Next, I fashion strips of cutouts from the decorated slab to make the sides of the basket. I cut a decorative scalloped edge on one side (18). I imagine the scalloped edges as cuts made by pinking shears, referencing collage and cutting paper. I clean the edges of the scallops with a small stiff brush.
When it’s ready, I attach the handle to the basket’s interior (19). I push the handle down onto the base as much as I can and reinforce the attachment with more clay (20). Then, I attach the cut strips to the sides of the basket bottom (21). I clean the edges with a small stiff paintbrush and a small wooden modeling tool.
I let the basket dry to a soft leather-hard state. At this point, carved details can be added to the handle (22). The carved bits will hold the glaze in an interesting way and add more pattern and life to this little vessel. I let the basket dry a little more to a stiff leather-hard state, but not bone dry. I apply a layer of black underglaze to the bottom of the vessel and use a Kemper sgraffito tool to carve a simple floof design on the bottom and some texture onto the sides of the vessel (23). These carved elements suggest scraps from relief prints (24).
Drying, Glazing, and Firing
I dry the vessels to bone dry on a drying rack. Before going into the kiln, I smooth out any rough edges with a green scrubbie. I bisque fire to cone 04 and glaze fire to cone 6 or 7. My glazes are mostly base glazes to which I add percentages of Mason stains. Glazing these vessels is a paint-by-numbers game in which I brush the glaze onto each unprinted part of the vessel, with no two colors next to each other. I soda fire my work at school a couple of times a year, as it can take that long to fill the kiln. I prefer a very light soda surface, only spraying in a couple of pounds of soda, and I try to keep the atmosphere as neutral as I can. I feel the soda surface adds yet another layer of “printing” that can obscure or mottle patterns in mysterious ways. Also, the sgraffito surfaces look great when kissed by the soda. After unloading, the final step is to sand the bottoms of the vessels with fine wet/dry sandpaper.
Susan Feagin earned a BFA in ceramics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1992. She started taking clay classes at the Penland School of Craft in 1994 and was a Core Fellow there from 1998–2000. In 2007, Susan completed an MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. She has been the clay studio coordinator at Penland School since 2007 and maintains a small home clay studio in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
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Clay surfaces are like blank sheets of paper, eager for and receptive to so many decorative possibilities. As an artist, I’ve always loved clay but I’m also interested in printmaking. My interest in relief prints prompted me to explore black-and-white sgraffito on porcelain, wheel-thrown pottery in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Besides printmaking, I was also interested in collage making, writing letters, and journaling. Around 2003, a friend encouraged me to explore screen printing on my pots, as that might complement my carving. When I screen printed my handwriting on the clay, the line quality of the letters took on a new life in my imagination. The clay became a sheet of paper, reminding me of all the wallpaper, stationery, sketchbook pages, and papers that have cluttered my life, filled with my memories and stories.
When I was a college student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, my ceramics professor introduced me to Oribe ware. These fabulously decorative vessels were made in 18th-century Japan. The surfaces of these animated pots are adorned with brushwork, and then a rich green glaze is poured or strategically dipped here and there on the pot. The patterns and marks on the clay were taken from kimono patterns of the time. As a clay newbie, I fell in love with these pots, especially the boldly painted patterns contrasted by thick areas of stark glaze. I filed these pots away in my brain for about fourteen years until, as a graduate student at the University of Florida, I revisited them and decided to take direct inspiration from their forms, especially the small dishes and basket forms.
Printing Floofs and Backgrounds
Before I even touch the clay, I print my “floofs,” or small screen-printed decorative elements. These motifs are inspired by all the kinds of abstract shapes that I see everywhere in wallpaper, clothing, rugs, jewelry, wrapping paper, shadows on a wall, or just about anything. I am attracted to blocky, thick graphic lines and shapes.
I also print sheets of repetitive patterns and handwriting as “backgrounds” for the floofs. Some of the images on these screens are taken from actual letters from my family, including letters that my father wrote to me when I was in college. I have a couple of screens that I made from my own handwriting, meant to symbolize my return letters.
I gather a small collection of graphics and then burn them onto a silkscreen using an ultraviolet light exposure unit available at my school. I then print a small library of floofs and backgrounds in an afternoon (1), cut them out, and store them flat in Ziploc bags placed away from the sun.
I print using underglazes that I slightly dehydrate ahead of time. I pour a pint of underglaze onto a glass surface, allow the puddle to dry out for a couple of days, and when the edges of the puddle look dry, I mix in a teaspoon of Speedball Transparent Base. The transparent base helps the underglaze adhere to the newsprint, preventing it from flaking off. Tip: You can buy underglazes already prepared for screen printing and thus save yourself this step.
Decorating a Slab
Roll out a large-ish stoneware slab, compress it with a rib, and brush a layer of thick colored slip onto a clean-ish sheet of newsprint (2). Flip the newsprint over, wet-slip side down, touching the surface of the clay slab, and roll the back of the newsprint with a pony roller to transfer the slip to the clay surface, leaving some lovely brushed lines (3). Continue transferring down a few more layers of colored slip to help break up the large surface area of the slab into less-intimidating workable areas (4).
Now you are ready to begin a floof collage. Instead of trying to create a specific image, I try to create an overall pattern on the slab. I select a few floofs (5) and brush a layer of colored slip over each one (6). I arrange the floofs across the surface of the clay, wet-slip side down on the clay surface. After placing a few floofs, I go back over them with a damp sponge and burnish them down, transferring both the colored slip and the underglaze onto the clay surface (7). As I am rubbing the pieces of newsprint, the paper becomes almost transparent and I can see the underglaze transferring to the clay. After arranging a first layer of floofs, I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the whole slab (8). I do this to make sure that the newsprint floofs are compressed tightly to the clay, which helps the transfer and allows me to continue to add more layers.
Next, I’m ready for the backgrounds. I select a variety of screen-printed patterns or handwriting (9). I apply a layer of colored slip over these and place them slip-side down directly on top of the first layer of floofs. I burnish these patterns and handwriting backgrounds down with the same damp sponge technique (10). After placing two to four backgrounds, I roll the slab with a clean sheet of newsprint.
Now, I’m ready to screen print another layer so that the pattern extends all the way to the edges of the slab. When I print directly onto the clay, the printed layer of underglaze is very thin. After firing, this layer of thin underglaze looks faint and ghostly compared to the crisp lines of the floofs. So, this layer is a way to add more interest to the surface and give the illusion of another background layer. It is an optional layer. I select a silkscreen and place it directly on the clay slab over all the pieces of newsprint. I place a bead of prepared underglaze across the top of the image on the screen.
With my squeegee, I draw the underglaze down the screen, applying gentle pressure to force the underglaze through the screen and onto the clay (11). Then, I lift the screen, move the screen over a few inches, and print again. I cover the entire slab with handwriting or pattern. After printing, I roll over the whole slab with a clean sheet of newsprint. This will blot off the underglaze, much like blotting ink, so that I will be able to handle the slab later without smearing the many layers of underglaze. Then, I print another layer, repeating the process with a different color of underglaze (12). I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the entire slab again to blot off the underglaze and to ensure that my floofs have enough contact with the clay surface to fully transfer. The finished, decorated slab will show the screen-printed handwriting on top with vague outlines of upside-down newsprint below (13).
When all that is done, carefully pull up each layer of newsprint using a sharp-tipped tool. As I peel each floof off, I can see how well the floof is transferring to the clay (14). If it didn’t transfer so well or if I think the colored slip didn’t pull away enough from the newsprint, I can lay the newsprint back down and burnish the back of the floof with a small wooden modeling tool to apply concentrated pressure to that one spot. Or, I can choose not to do that and leave it as is, the result, a torn and distressed surface that, to me, evokes faded or torn paper. When I’ve pulled off all the newsprint floofs, I roll a clean sheet of newsprint over the whole slab (15).
Oribe-Inspired Basket
One can build with the decorated slab however one typically builds pots. I usually let the slabs rest overnight, but it is possible to use the slabs soon after printing. For this method of building with soft slabs, I use drape molds to start the bottom portion of the vessel, then continue building on it.
I cut out a round section of the slab that looks interesting (16), place it face down on a drape mold, and compress it to the mold with a soft rib. I then add a foot made from a coil of clay pressed into a section of corner molding (17). Allow the clay to stiffen slightly on the mold before removing it.
Meanwhile, I fashion additional parts for the basket. I roll and pull the basket handle by hand. Then, I bend the coil into a simple handle shape and let it stiffen slightly. Next, I fashion strips of cutouts from the decorated slab to make the sides of the basket. I cut a decorative scalloped edge on one side (18). I imagine the scalloped edges as cuts made by pinking shears, referencing collage and cutting paper. I clean the edges of the scallops with a small stiff brush.
When it’s ready, I attach the handle to the basket’s interior (19). I push the handle down onto the base as much as I can and reinforce the attachment with more clay (20). Then, I attach the cut strips to the sides of the basket bottom (21). I clean the edges with a small stiff paintbrush and a small wooden modeling tool.
I let the basket dry to a soft leather-hard state. At this point, carved details can be added to the handle (22). The carved bits will hold the glaze in an interesting way and add more pattern and life to this little vessel. I let the basket dry a little more to a stiff leather-hard state, but not bone dry. I apply a layer of black underglaze to the bottom of the vessel and use a Kemper sgraffito tool to carve a simple floof design on the bottom and some texture onto the sides of the vessel (23). These carved elements suggest scraps from relief prints (24).
Drying, Glazing, and Firing
I dry the vessels to bone dry on a drying rack. Before going into the kiln, I smooth out any rough edges with a green scrubbie. I bisque fire to cone 04 and glaze fire to cone 6 or 7. My glazes are mostly base glazes to which I add percentages of Mason stains. Glazing these vessels is a paint-by-numbers game in which I brush the glaze onto each unprinted part of the vessel, with no two colors next to each other. I soda fire my work at school a couple of times a year, as it can take that long to fill the kiln. I prefer a very light soda surface, only spraying in a couple of pounds of soda, and I try to keep the atmosphere as neutral as I can. I feel the soda surface adds yet another layer of “printing” that can obscure or mottle patterns in mysterious ways. Also, the sgraffito surfaces look great when kissed by the soda. After unloading, the final step is to sand the bottoms of the vessels with fine wet/dry sandpaper.
Susan Feagin earned a BFA in ceramics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1992. She started taking clay classes at the Penland School of Craft in 1994 and was a Core Fellow there from 1998–2000. In 2007, Susan completed an MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. She has been the clay studio coordinator at Penland School since 2007 and maintains a small home clay studio in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
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