Bringing the Green Man to Life

Some months ago I made this wall tile of a sleeping green man and ever since then it has sitting in my studio waiting to be glazed and brought to life. I have to admit that it's probably taken so long because I've done very little work on this scale and was a little nervous about being able to translate the picture in my head into reality. A special chemistry occurs when you glaze fire a piece of ceramic and it doesn't always produce the result you were expecting. With beads this is not really a problem but with a piece such as this that took so long to create it can make or break the finished piece. But there comes a time when you just have to take a deep breath and dive in and I'm sharing that process with you today.

This tile will be be wall mounted so the back won't be seen but since it was a little bit messy for my liking I used a green underglaze to tidy it up a bit. Underglaze doesn't melt in the way glaze does so I would still be able to prop it on its back to fire it.

In my minds eye I saw my green man as having a foliage of a mottled green with some leaves picked out in a darker green for contrast. I also wanted to pick out the veining and try to give some depth to his features, maybe giving the impression of bark around the eyebrows. To achieve this I settled on using two oxide washes and two glazes.

Oxide washes create a staining effect which can either be used alone or layered with glazes to alter the effect of the glaze. To begin with I used a Rutile wash (which creates an ochre finish) to pick out some of the veining on some of the leaves. Once the wash was dry I wiped it back form the surface areas leaving it just in the recessed veins.

Then I went for an Iron oxide (which gives a dark brown finish) on the remaining leaves and around the facial features and again wiped it back form the surface. I actually like the finish this wash gave at this stage so I'm thinking I might make another of these and just use washes on it - a bit like a sepia version.

Next comes the glaze proper. The majority of glazes in their wet form bare very little resemblance to their finished colours with many of them being a shade of red which is why you need to have a clear idea in your head of what you want to achieve. It certainly won't look that way during the process of glazing but that's what makes it so exciting when you open the kiln to see the transformation.

I used a crushed crystal glaze appropriately called 'speckled forest' for the central area. This type of glaze contains crystals which melt and flow during firing to produce lovely colour and pattern effects. If you look closely you can see these crystals in the uneven texture of this glaze.

The perimeter leaves I glazed with a smooth dark green glaze - again appropriately called 'Forest pine'. I also used this glaze to pick out and enhance the eyebrows.

So, once he had been left to dry fully it was time to (hopefully) make the magic happen and put him in the kiln. I only takes about three hours to fire this type of clay but I have a very heavily insulated kiln which takes an awfully long time to cool down so it was a bit of a nail biting wait until it was cool enough to take a peek. When I did my first reaction was phew - he's still in one piece and my second reaction was he has a spot right on the end of his nose!

But once he was was out of the kiln and cooled down fully (glaze colours can continue to change as the glaze cools fully) I decided I was pretty happy with the result. The spot on his nose is one of the crystals and doesn't impact the finished look - trees after all are not blemish free. I love the speckled effect and the contrast of the glazes and I got the bark effect I was looking for around the eyebrows.

All in all, a pretty successful project which I plan to revisit in the future...green is after all my favourite colour!

The Three Muses - a glaze journey...

This is my newest tile design and it tells quite a tale. Pour yourself a cup and I'll tell you... 

And so it begins. 

Here is my new Three Muses tile - the original sketch and the first copy pressed from my mold. It was a long time getting to this state... designing, sculpting, casting in plaster, curing. I was thrilled to have it in my hands. Definitely my most complex tile to date - especially since I do not often do (human) figures. 

I have Lesley and Caroline to thank for the inspiration. In a truly "Scenius" way, a conversation we three had started all this. We were discussing felting, and wool, and curly locks, and gabbing a bit as you do. Someone, Lesley I think, names the thread Three Wise Women. A little cheeky, and a little accurate as we were each other's go-to for feedback and advice. 

I swear this image popped into my head fully formed. 

Please note: thumb for scale! All you are about to see takes place in a tile maybe 6 x 7". 

And then it went further. Three wise women. Three Graces of Classical myth, three Muses. Suddenly Burne-Jones and Rossetti and the Pre-Raphealite painters were there too clamoring for attention. Long Waterhouse style dresses to hide the body (not cheating; just simplifying) and evoke an era of art history? Done. Lets go all the way and inscribe the tile with the motto associated with the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood! ( In for a penny... ) The motto is "Ars Longa, Vita brevis" which translates to "Art is long, life is short". 

Animal familiars? Three witches? My 2 dogs naturally and Lesley's cat Cleo. A hare for Caroline? Sure! The two of them had recently met up for a hare themed exhibit in the UK and I was desperately jealous. You KNOW how I feel about hares. Oh and should I mention that the hairstyles are loosely inspired by we three? I know - it seems over the top. But it felt right to me. They DO need hairstyles, after all. 

So I recently glazed the first two of these tiles. Why only 2? Well... They are very complex. I wanted to share the process here in a photo essay of sorts. This IS how I glaze all of my ceramic tiles - this one is just many more small parts.. 

1. Stain the entire tile with black (or dark) underglaze. Looks a wreck until you sponge it back. I like the added depth it gives the relief and it prevents any glaring white areas if a spot is accidentally left unglazed. 

Trust is needed here. 

2. Glaze the background ares. I like to work "back to front". This is either underglaze or glaze depending on my planned treatment of the frame. Three coats in and around. 

I think they look good already! SO excited. 

3. Three coats of peachy underglaze on faces and hands. 

Dark dark blue used to stain crevices on this version. 

4. Base color of hair - 3 coats. Sometimes 2 if my underglazes are thick. 

Even working 2 at once there are many variations. Truly one of a kind results. 

5. Accents in hair. Highlights and low lights. 

Aiming for auburn in the middle. We shall see. 

6. First dress: green glaze - 3 coats. 

7. Secong dress - dark blue glaze - 3 coats. 

8. Third dress - turquoise glaze - 3 coats. I selected this analogous palette for the first tile because I knew these glazes and colors worked together, chemically and visually. 

They look so "bleh" at this stage. These are glazes I have used and trusted for 20 years though!

9. Paint the hare and cat in underglazes, with details. ( Sorry Cleo - your marking will have to wait.)

Feeling a little disappointed with detail in these two animals. Then I remind myself they are like the size of a quarter! 

10. Paint the dogs in underglazes. Include shadowing and highlights. Yes, they look like my dogs. What else did you expect? 

OK that was fun! 

Doggy details. Oscar in black and white. Zoey in fawn and brown. 

11. Glaze the background - 3 coats! And edges of tile. In this case I used a transparent grey; since the center area had an underglaze color on it the tile will read ad having a 2 toned background. ( Different tile as can see. I did say I did 2 at a time) AND glaze the center figures sash! 

Yes - different dogs. Simplifying a little and mirroring the cat and rabbit's colors. 

12. Very carefully paint 3 coats of clear glaze to all areas that are underglaze only. This will seal them, give them a gloss finish matching the other glazes and make them durable. 

This is tedious and my least favorite part. 

13. Fire the tile in the kiln. These are low-fired glazes and fire to ^04 at app. 1850 degrees F. 

Ta-Da! And yes - this one already sold. My husband told a return customer this story and it was a done deal! 

I couldn't be happier! I wish I could accurately tell you how LONG it took to do the 2 tiles pictured here in this photo essay. I will keep track next time. I like this palette - I think a tile this "busy" needs harmonious colors to read well without dramatic contrast - so it doesn't compete with itself. I do look forward to trying other palettes on the next few.

Thanks for staying until the end... I am proud of and deeply invested in my work, the details, the layers of meaning that may never be evident to the casual viewer. This new design means quite a bit to me and I am happy to share the backstory with you!

Glaze Day With A Natural

In my last blog post I wrote about creating stoneware pendants with my sister in law.  I shared the process for forming the pendants and today I'll be sharing her glaze process and the outcome.

 Ceramic work involves 2 (or more) kiln firings.  The first firing is called the bisque fire. Bisque refers to ware which has been fired once and has no chemically bonded water left in the clay. Bisque is a true ceramic material, although the clay body has not yet reached maturity.  It still has a bit of porosity left, which is needed to help bond the glaze to the ceramic ware.  The picture above shows the bisqueware which my sister-in-law, Heike, made.
We were working under a bit of a time pressure. We had to get the bisqueware glazed, dried, fired and cooled all in one evening and the next day, because my sister and brother-in-law were flying home to Germany the next morning. After dinner that evening, I covered the dining room table with a big sheet of plastic that had once covered a large item that we had ordered.  I decided that Mayco Stroke & Coat would be an easy glaze to begin with.  The picture below shows my Stroke & Coat glazes lined up on the plastic covered table.

Heike got right to work.  She was a natural and needed no guidance with regard to ideas for glazing.

 (By the way, the necklace she is wearing is one that I had made her several years ago.)

 I took the picture below when she was part way through her glazing.  Glazed stoneware has a kind of chalky look to it before it is fired, as you can see here.

When Heike was done painting on her glazes, we placed the bisqueware on an old cookie sheet, to bring it out to the garage, where my kiln resides.

The next morning we arranged the bisqueware in the kiln. The pieces that are lying on the bottom shelf are unglazed on the back. The glazed parts cannot touch anything else or the pieces will fuse together in the heat of the kiln. The five items on the rod were mine and had glaze on all sides.  The rod keeps them from touching anything else.

Its always hard to wait until the kiln is finished firing and starts to cool down.  Heike could hardly wait to see how her pendants had turned out.  When the kiln had finally cooled to about 300F, we cracked open the top, just bit, to speed the cooling a bit.  Heike peeked in, as excited as a little kid at Christmas!

 After what seemed like forever, the stoneware was finally cool enough to handle. Unfortunately this next picture is out of focus, but I've included it anyway, because you can still see the look of pure delight on Heike's face as she unloads her creations!

 Heike placed her pendants on the old cookie sheet and brought them into the house to show her husband the results.

And here's how it all turned out!

 Heike plans to mount some textiles behind the 3 pendants shown below.

 Heike has reason to be proud, these turned out nicely for a first time experience.  I feel especially inspired by her ombre colored designs and want to give that a go in my own work.  I hope to be able to share where this has led me when I post here again in two weeks.

Linda Landig  
Linda Landig Jewelry

Glazing in a Winter Wonderland

This was (and mostly still is) the winter wonderland (::gags::) outside my home over the weekend.  Frankly,  I'm over winter and will welcome spring with all her pollen-induced sneezing, coughing and nose-blowing with open arms (and tissue boxes).  Anyway, since it's clear that I continue to get stuck in my home and away from my studio I took Jenny's advice and brought my glaze and bisque home.  I don't really have a choice though because Berks Bead Bazaar is almost here!

So here is the little set-up I've been working off of in my dining room. I created a disposable tray from foil and then lined it with paper towels so I can switch them off every time I change colors or it just gets too messy.

Things are moving slowly mostly because I hurt from shoveling and because I chose to use multiple glazes on a lot of my new pieces.  I'm also spending a lot of time wiping off the glaze with a wet sponge so that some of the porcelain shows through.  I love the look of this but it certainly takes plenty of extra time.

Then there is the stoneware that I like to stain.  I dab the stain on and then remove it with a wet sponge.  This is also tedious but worth the end result.

Here's how some of the stained pieces look before they get fired in the kiln.  The faces won't get any glaze while some of the steampunk-inspired pieces will get a crackle glaze applied to them.

I currently have almost 3 trays filled with finished work or work still in progress waiting for more glaze applications.  There is also another tray with bisque in it that I haven't gotten to yet.  Since there is MORE snow in the forecast (::sobs::) it appears I"ll be able to finish most of this from home.

If you don't hear from me soon, it's because I'm buried under a million feet of snow.

Happy shoveling...errrrr beading!

Diana P.
Suburban Girl Studio LLC