I started work on a couple new larger vases early last month. The vase I write about in this post is the one on the right in the next photo.
Here are both vases with a coating of black slip. In ceramics lingo, slip is a liquid mixture or slurry of clay suspended in water. It typically varies in thickness, depending on how one wants to use the slip. The viscosity can range from a thin paint to a thick pudding. Depending on what colorants are used, slip can be white, black, or just about any color. The slip I used on these pieces was a fairly thick consistency, and looks brown in color, but actually fires to black. I often think I’d like to lick the paintbrush when I paint this slip on because it looks just like chocolate pudding;)
When the slip-coated vase was leather hard, meaning not completely dried out but not fresh and soft, I carved a concentric line design through the layer of slip. The lighter colored lines where I carved through the slip is the raw clay.
This is after bisque firing. The clay turns a peachy color and the black slip still looks brown. Next it gets dunked in glaze, then fired one more time.
And here’s the finished piece. I dipped this vase in a glaze that turns the black slip into a beautiful blue color, and coats the raw clay (the lines on this pot) with a translucent white color. She’s a beauty!
This vase will be available for sale this Friday night, May 4, from 5-9pm at Madison’s biannual Gallery Night. I’ll be selling some of my ceramics that night at Midwest Clay Project, 2040 Winnebago Street. If it doesn’t sell there, you can find it at my home during the Marquette-Atwood Art Walk this coming Sunday, May 6, from 11am-5pm, at 2802 Center Avenue. I’ll have ALL my ceramics for sale during the Art Walk! And if this vase is still available after that, I’ll put it up on my Etsy site.
Rachel Imsland, Artist 