Tattooed Mice

Don't worry - no animals were harmed in the writing of this post!

You may remember a few months ago Caroline wrote a post about china painting as a way of decorating glazed ceramic. I knew I wanted to give this a go and went straight on line and bought a selection of paints which come in these adorable tiny jars...they've been sitting in a cupboard ever since!

Well yesterday I finally got around to using them. I'd made some little mouse charms and unusually for me glazed them in pastel shades which I felt needed jazzing up a bit. They have little tails on one side but I thought maybe a little tattoo on the other cheek might look cute.

Rather stupidly I forgot to take a photo of me working with the paints but you can find more about the process on Caroline's post. Basically you mix the finely powdered paint with a medium - either a commercial one or an improvised one as I did - I used 7UP. Then it's 'simply' a case of painting on your chosen design. Actually I found it anything but simple - I'm not good at small detail and it's very difficult to hold onto and paint on a tiny object with curved surfaces even with the simplistic designs I was trying to achieve. Needless to say there was frequent dropping, cleaning and starting again.

But I persevered and eventually ended up with all my meeces sporting a little heart or flower tattoos and ready for firing...

Compared to glaze firing this is a pretty quick process whereby you fire the kiln straight up to 700ºc and then let it cool straight back down. This is how they finished up.

I'm not entirely happy with them as I think they're a bit untidy. What I should have done is practice on an old plate or tile first to get a feel for the paints but when did I ever do anything that sensible? I'm sure I'll improve with practice though - even if I do have to decorate all my table china to do it!

Lesley
The Gossiping goddess

China Painting

I have recently been exploring the world of china painting. I was first introduced by a friend, Jill Egan, who creates the most incredible designs on porcelain. I’d always thought it was an old fashioned technique, used for painting flowers on plates, but if you take a look at Jill’s work you will see it can be used to create contemporary designs and beautiful scenes.

Boxing Hares

Zentangle Pendant

I’m always looking for new techniques and ways to add another dimension to my work, and china painting hits the spot. It’s a huge subject, which I have only dipped a toe in to, but in a nutshell, china paint powder is ground and mixed into paint with a mixing medium 

The paint is then used to colour your fired and glazed work. 

Blank glazed cabochon

After painting

The piece is fired again to fuse the paint with the glaze and make it permanent and waterproof.

I’m not a very skilled painter, but I really enjoy painting simple designs on my beads. Usually, designs are painted in layers with a firing between each one, but I’m far too impatient for that, and I like the rough finish of the single layer of paint… I call it rustic!

Just a single colour can really make your designs pop!

While glaze painting is unpredictable, with china paints, the colour doesn't bleed, so you get a good idea of how your work is going to look before you fire it to make it permanent. You can use tools to wipe any paint away that gets where it shouldn't before you fire, and you can paint detailed lines and know that they are going to stay put.

The colours do change slightly once they’re fired and become a bit deeper and more glossy, so I’ve created a palette of all my colours from a cheap white plate.

It’s a fun technique to try out and can open up a whole world of design possibilities, but as with all ceramics related techniques, observe the proper health and safety rules. The powder is very fine and should not be inhaled or ingested, and your kiln should be properly vented while firing.

If you’d like to learn more about the tools and equipment needed for having a go, Jill has a blog with loads of helpful information. Here’s one of my favourite posts on how she does pen work to create her beautiful zentangle designs.

http://kilnfiredart.wordpress.com/teaching-pages/overglaze-painting-tutorials/penwork-on-ceramics-the-basics/

And here’s a little more inspiration to finish off…

Jo Lucksted Ceramics

Madrab

Bluemarblebeads

A Touch Of Glass

Marsha Hedrick

Thanks for reading!

Caroline

http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk