This year has been a look into using ceramic slips for decoration. What i have found is that slip decorating is very user friendly and offers a range of surprising results. I started using just porcelain slip but ended up making a slip of each clay i used. I had no problem matching slip to a body at low fire ranges but did see that if i put a porcelain slip decoration on a stoneware body at temps. from 1220c and upwards, then i did get a slight shrinkage of the porcelain over the stoneware body. I did mix in a small amount of sodium silicate when making up my slips, this i think made them stick better to the surfaces i applied them to. A few of the techniques that stood out for me was, in laying slip into a stamped slab, heat dry a bit and then stretch to distort the pattern. This could be used as is or rolled flat again for a level slab. The next method that i enjoyed was to add slip to a thick walled cylinder on the wheel head, heat dry a bit and then open up from the inside only, using your finger in a sort of hook shape also pulling upwards as well as outwards. This was done with colored slips, mixing colors and adding things to the slip like Rutile, Copper Carbonate and burn out materials ext. One of the most valuable things i found was the adding of a few drops of saturated solution of Magnesium Sulphate to gell the slips up if they are too fluid to work with. All in all once the color pigments have been bought then a very cheap method of decoration. Oh yes i also learnt that less color looks a lot better than too much, so in the case of color in slips, less is more.!
Stoneware cone 6 pot with slip sprigs , electric fire.
Ceramic bottle, slab built with inlayed slip slabs.
Red clay and white glaze with ceramic ink on water slide paper decoration. Just black pigments with a small amount of glass agent.
Bottom half formed on the wheel and the slab added. Slab was decorated with porcelain slips. Pit fire with sulphates.
Slab built with porcelain slip decorated slabs. Pit fire.
Ceramic box that was slab built with slip decorated slabs. Slabs decorated before building.
Close up of Slips sprigs after bisc.
Stone ware slab that was slump molded and then decorated with stone ware slip sprigs.
Stone ware paper clay pot formed in a mold with stoneware slip decoration.
Porcelain slip sprigs added to the outside of a stoneware body.
Porcelain slips added to the outside of a shape before opening on the wheel head.
Slab built with cracked clay that was inlayed with a slip.
Black clay bowl with slip sprigs.
Black clay bowl with slip sprigs.
Black clay bowl with ceramic slip sprigs.
Black clay pot with ceramic slip sprigs.
Black clay pot with ceramic slip sprigs.
Large bowl shape made in a mold decorated with porcelain slips.
Pair of ceramic boxes. black clay and porcelain slip.
Black clay that was opened up by cracking and then porcelain slip added.
Porcelain slip on top of a black clay.
Terra sigillata, naked raku fire.
Stoneware clay with two colour pigments mixed in.
Stoneware clay with shino glaze and carbon trap. Wood fire 1230c.
Shino glaze wood fire.
Black clay ( Sio2 , 1200c ) Wood fire 1220c. Shino glazes.
Black clay ( Sio2 , 1200c ) Wood fire 1220c. Shino glazes.
Black clay ( Sio2 , 1200c ) Wood fire 1220c. Shino glazes.
Stoneware clay with two different pigments mixed in. Shino glaze, wood fire 1230c.
Stoneware clay with two different pigments mixed in. Shino glaze, wood fire 1230c.
Slip inlay, shino glaze with a lot of carbon trap from wood fire 1230c
stoneware clay, Shino glaze with carbon trap.
Stoneware clay with two different pigments mixed in. Shino glaze, wood fire 1230c.
Stoneware clay with two different pigments mixed in. Shino glaze, wood fire 1230c.
Stoneware clay with two different pigments mixed in. Shino glaze, wood fire 1230c.
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Wood fire 1230c
Porcelain slips on black clay, wood fire 1230c
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Porcelain slip on a porcelain stoneware mix clay. Electric fire 1220c.
Terra sigillata and pigments. Slab built. 40 cm height.
Terra Sigillata and glaze.
Terra Sigillata . Slab built.
Stone ware and colour pigments. Wood fire.
Stone ware and colour pigments. Wood fire.
Stone ware and colour pigments. Wood fire.
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6 Stain in clay
Porcelain slips on stoneware, woodfire cone 6
