Patterns are a permanent fixture in my life, and I work to capture them using my tools to keep them in a tangible way. I first encountered the Cathedral Window quilt pattern in grade school. I’m attracted to the way it can easily wrap any form, as I continue to explore continuous patterns in my work. Using dynamic patterns highlights the surfaces of my pots and creates a varied tactile experience through use.
My creative process begins with my tools. I make many of the tools I use myself, so I can be in control of the details.
Tools
Stamps: I design stamps in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as vector files and laser cut them out of different materials. I have used both wood and acrylic. I prefer the way wood works against the clay, but acrylic can display finer details. Each stamp has several different sizes, ranging from 2 inches (5 cm) to 1 inch (3 cm) to account for changes in the volume of the pot.
I have two approaches to creating the decorative dots on the surface of my pots:
Sprig molds: You can create a sprig mold by sculpting the positive for the sprig and pouring plaster over it. Once dry, you can press mold multiple positives to create a bigger set of identical sprig molds. You can also use premade silicone sprig molds and dust them with cornstarch for an easy release.
Fondant punches: I use premade fondant punches, which are cookie cutters with a plunger and push plate attached, so the material being cut can be pushed out of the cookie cutter by depressing the plunger. They can be purchased from baking supply stores or online, but I’ve also made some myself with aluminum flashing and solder.
Throwing
Start with a 2-pound (32 oz) ball of clay; I throw with cone-6 Standard 365 Grolleg Porcelain. Throw a tall, straight-sided bowl (1) while leaving a thick pad of clay at the bottom (2). Note: The bottom will become your knob, so leave enough material to trim the knob. Alternatively, a knob could be handbuilt and attached or thrown on later, after the stamping.
Measure the opening of the bowl with calipers (3) and throw a butter plate to match. The rim around the floor platform will hold the lid and food in place. I throw plates on a Hydro-Bat, made from strong, plaster-like Hydro-Stone, for ease of even drying.
For the plate, start with a 1½-pound (24-oz) ball, centering it lower and wider, and pull the pad of clay out until it is wider than the dome’s diameter. Use a rib to flatten and compress the platform where the butter will sit (4), and pull up a short wall surrounding the food platform, angling it toward the center (5). Check the lid measurement with the calipers to ensure the lid will fit over this wall (6), and then pull up an outer lip (7). Finish by chamoising all the edges and cutting a deep undercut at the base of the plate. Set aside to firm up.
Stamping
While the pots are still fairly soft, but firm enough that you are no longer leaving fingerprints, use a single stamp to stamp all the way around the form (8, 9). A trick I use to adjust my spacing is to notice when the stamp is exactly halfway around, or facing directly across from the first stamp, at which point I can look ahead to see how much space I have left. You can cheat a little closer or farther, since you will cover the overlap with a sprig.
Trimming
As soon as the lid can sit on its rim, flip it over. Lightly drape the walls, leaving the top exposed to dry, and prepare to trim the knob. To check if the pot is ready for trimming, squeeze the base, and if it is stiff and unmoving, it’s ready to be trimmed. Trim the knob by first removing material until the knob is the correct diameter (10), and then refining the details (11). My favorite tools are SPD Tungsten Carbide Trimmer tools from South Korea.
Sprigging
I prepare stained porcelain by weighing out 100 grams of dry powdered clay into five to six small containers, and mixing colors by weight with Mason stains. I add water and mix these stained porcelains to cream-to-yogurt consistency, allow them to hydrate for 24 hours, and turn them out to dry on plaster until they are clay consistency. Roll the porcelain into a thin layer and punch out the desired shapes, or press it into a sprig mold.
Once all sprigs are prepared, score and apply magic water to the attachment points between the stamps and press on your sprigs. I pick up the sprigs with a small Xiem Stylus tool to keep from deforming the petals with my fingers. I placed a small yellow porcelain center on the aster flowers using the Sculpey Etch and Pearl tools (12).
Tip: Make your own magic water by combining a pint of water with a pinch of soda ash and a drop of sodium silicate.
Damp Box Drying
Once the sprigs have been applied, allow the moisture in the lid to equalize in a damp box for 24–48 hours, then you can take the plate and the lid out to start the drying process. Tip: I don’t dry them stacked together because that can cause the plate to dry unevenly and crack.
Firing and Sanding
I slowly bisque my pots to cone 05. After the bisque, I apply alumina wax to the bottoms of my pieces to prevent plucking, which occurs when vitreous clay becomes bonded with the kiln shelf and small fragments of the foot are pulled away. Alumina wax is a water-soluble wax mixed with alumina hydrate. I dip glaze, fill in the bubbles with a bulb applicator, and fire again to a hot cone 6.
I sand the bottoms of the plates thoroughly with Diamond Core sanding pads from 60–7000 grit. I sand by clamping the plate base into a Giffin Grip, setting up a water drip using an aquarium pump in a bucket of water, and attaching a mist coolant lubrication spray system to my drip pan to keep the sanding pads wet and cool. I sand the gallery and rim by flipping the plate right side up in the Giffin Grip and use a valve-grinding compound in the gallery.
Charlotte Grenier is a utilitarian potter in Southeast Michigan. She holds a BA in ceramics from Michigan State University and teaches in the greater Ann Arbor area. Charlotte also enjoys the technical aspects of baking, metalsmithing, and doting on her studio cats. She is the designer of The Potter’s Planner, a workbook for studio potters.
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Patterns are a permanent fixture in my life, and I work to capture them using my tools to keep them in a tangible way. I first encountered the Cathedral Window quilt pattern in grade school. I’m attracted to the way it can easily wrap any form, as I continue to explore continuous patterns in my work. Using dynamic patterns highlights the surfaces of my pots and creates a varied tactile experience through use.
My creative process begins with my tools. I make many of the tools I use myself, so I can be in control of the details.
Tools
Stamps: I design stamps in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as vector files and laser cut them out of different materials. I have used both wood and acrylic. I prefer the way wood works against the clay, but acrylic can display finer details. Each stamp has several different sizes, ranging from 2 inches (5 cm) to 1 inch (3 cm) to account for changes in the volume of the pot.
I have two approaches to creating the decorative dots on the surface of my pots:
Sprig molds: You can create a sprig mold by sculpting the positive for the sprig and pouring plaster over it. Once dry, you can press mold multiple positives to create a bigger set of identical sprig molds. You can also use premade silicone sprig molds and dust them with cornstarch for an easy release.
Fondant punches: I use premade fondant punches, which are cookie cutters with a plunger and push plate attached, so the material being cut can be pushed out of the cookie cutter by depressing the plunger. They can be purchased from baking supply stores or online, but I’ve also made some myself with aluminum flashing and solder.
Throwing
Start with a 2-pound (32 oz) ball of clay; I throw with cone-6 Standard 365 Grolleg Porcelain. Throw a tall, straight-sided bowl (1) while leaving a thick pad of clay at the bottom (2). Note: The bottom will become your knob, so leave enough material to trim the knob. Alternatively, a knob could be handbuilt and attached or thrown on later, after the stamping.
Measure the opening of the bowl with calipers (3) and throw a butter plate to match. The rim around the floor platform will hold the lid and food in place. I throw plates on a Hydro-Bat, made from strong, plaster-like Hydro-Stone, for ease of even drying.
For the plate, start with a 1½-pound (24-oz) ball, centering it lower and wider, and pull the pad of clay out until it is wider than the dome’s diameter. Use a rib to flatten and compress the platform where the butter will sit (4), and pull up a short wall surrounding the food platform, angling it toward the center (5). Check the lid measurement with the calipers to ensure the lid will fit over this wall (6), and then pull up an outer lip (7). Finish by chamoising all the edges and cutting a deep undercut at the base of the plate. Set aside to firm up.
Stamping
While the pots are still fairly soft, but firm enough that you are no longer leaving fingerprints, use a single stamp to stamp all the way around the form (8, 9). A trick I use to adjust my spacing is to notice when the stamp is exactly halfway around, or facing directly across from the first stamp, at which point I can look ahead to see how much space I have left. You can cheat a little closer or farther, since you will cover the overlap with a sprig.
Trimming
As soon as the lid can sit on its rim, flip it over. Lightly drape the walls, leaving the top exposed to dry, and prepare to trim the knob. To check if the pot is ready for trimming, squeeze the base, and if it is stiff and unmoving, it’s ready to be trimmed. Trim the knob by first removing material until the knob is the correct diameter (10), and then refining the details (11). My favorite tools are SPD Tungsten Carbide Trimmer tools from South Korea.
Sprigging
I prepare stained porcelain by weighing out 100 grams of dry powdered clay into five to six small containers, and mixing colors by weight with Mason stains. I add water and mix these stained porcelains to cream-to-yogurt consistency, allow them to hydrate for 24 hours, and turn them out to dry on plaster until they are clay consistency. Roll the porcelain into a thin layer and punch out the desired shapes, or press it into a sprig mold.
Once all sprigs are prepared, score and apply magic water to the attachment points between the stamps and press on your sprigs. I pick up the sprigs with a small Xiem Stylus tool to keep from deforming the petals with my fingers. I placed a small yellow porcelain center on the aster flowers using the Sculpey Etch and Pearl tools (12).
Tip: Make your own magic water by combining a pint of water with a pinch of soda ash and a drop of sodium silicate.
Damp Box Drying
Once the sprigs have been applied, allow the moisture in the lid to equalize in a damp box for 24–48 hours, then you can take the plate and the lid out to start the drying process. Tip: I don’t dry them stacked together because that can cause the plate to dry unevenly and crack.
Firing and Sanding
I slowly bisque my pots to cone 05. After the bisque, I apply alumina wax to the bottoms of my pieces to prevent plucking, which occurs when vitreous clay becomes bonded with the kiln shelf and small fragments of the foot are pulled away. Alumina wax is a water-soluble wax mixed with alumina hydrate. I dip glaze, fill in the bubbles with a bulb applicator, and fire again to a hot cone 6.
I sand the bottoms of the plates thoroughly with Diamond Core sanding pads from 60–7000 grit. I sand by clamping the plate base into a Giffin Grip, setting up a water drip using an aquarium pump in a bucket of water, and attaching a mist coolant lubrication spray system to my drip pan to keep the sanding pads wet and cool. I sand the gallery and rim by flipping the plate right side up in the Giffin Grip and use a valve-grinding compound in the gallery.
Charlotte Grenier is a utilitarian potter in Southeast Michigan. She holds a BA in ceramics from Michigan State University and teaches in the greater Ann Arbor area. Charlotte also enjoys the technical aspects of baking, metalsmithing, and doting on her studio cats. She is the designer of The Potter’s Planner, a workbook for studio potters.
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