The Soul Catchers, 11½ in. (29 cm) in length, carved vessel with hand-painted underglazes and clear glaze. I admit it. I completely lack the patience (and, if I am being honest here, skill!) to do detailed drawn decoration on my pots, so I am really awed when I see other potters pulling off intricate imagery. Such was the case when I first saw Terri Kern’s work. Terri painstakingly creates her beautiful surfaces by building up layers and layers of underglaze colors, skillfully blending colors to add shading and detail. A self-proclaimed workaholic, Kern says she tries to put one thousand bru ..read more

Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong era because I just love old things: antiques, weathered old buildings, vintage clothing. If you can relate, then you’ll love today’s feature because we’re going to show you how to create a crackled, craggy texture on your pottery using a sodium silicate pottery technique. The late Canadian potter, Robin Hopper, explains how some heating, some stretching and a little sodium silicate on pottery can transform a freshly thrown pot into what looks like a weathered antique. –Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor. PS: For more information on creating cr ..read more

Terra sigillata is an ultrarefined clay slip that can give a soft sheen when applied to bone-dry wares and, if polished or burnished while still damp, may give a high gloss. The ancient Greeks and Romans used this technique in lieu of glaze. I love the buttery surfaces that can be created with terra sigillata and I have been meaning to try it for a long time. If you’ve been intrigued by terra sig, today’s post is for you. Sumi von Dassow gives the low-down on terra sigillata, from mixing, to applying, to burnishing, and, of course, troubleshooting. She also shares a number of terra sig recipe ..read more

A water-abraded surface of calligraphic lines decorates the surface of Jim Gottuso’s clean-lined forms. Not long into his ceramics career, Jim Gottuso discovered shellac resist is a great alternative to wax resist for creating decoration with depth on ceramic work. Gottuso was enamored with the idea of using wax resist for surface decoration. The only problem was the wax resist didn’t do well with delicate decoration or thin brushwork. On both greenware and bisqueware, the wax just became a goopy mess. So Jim experimented and explored, all the while building his own aesthetic, and disco ..read more

Jeremy Randall uses texture and asymmetry to reference the aging industrial structures and ephemera he remembers from his childhood. He also introduces non-clay materials like nichrome wire and steel tacks to further the aesthetic. He finishes the pieces with colorful terra sigillatas and black copper wash to enhance the aged appearance. In today’s post, an excerpt from the Ceramics Monthly archive, he walks us through that process. –Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor.   In life and in the studio, I am drawn to the patina of use and the implications of function. I can trace these interest ..read more

After many years of just throwing, I have been doing more and more handbuilding. Part of the reason for this is that we made a video with Liz Zlot Summerfield. Not only is it fun to watch the facile way Liz manipulates clay, but her explanations of her processes are excellent. Not to mention the work itself! In this clip, an excerpt from her video Handbuilt Forms with Soft Slabs, Liz shows how to handbuild a simple darted cup with a foot out of soft clay slabs that I absolutely love (and which I jokingly refer to as “the foot that changed my life.”). – Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor. Fr ..read more

Historically, burnishing clay was a method used by early potters to make their pottery more watertight and sanitary. Nowadays, most potters turn to glaze for that purpose. But many choose to finish their work by burnishing because of the subtle, earthy beauty a burnished clay surface possesses. A burnished pot also has a soft, tactile quality all its own. It is hard to resist picking up and handling a piece of burnished pottery. In this post, an excerpt from the book Low Firing and Burnishing, Sumi Von Dassow explains the basics of burnishing clay, from the tools to use, to a couple of b ..read more

Ceramic sculptor Arthur Gonzalez was trained as a photorealist painter, but grew to dislike the control and predictability of that genre. So it is no surprise that when he discovered ceramics (not exactly known for its predictability!) he became hooked. He explains, “I can instantly materialize a thought and then destroy it if it does not deliver what I need.” This immediacy satisfies a love of exploration in expressive ceramic sculpture. In today’s post, an excerpt from Ceramics and the Human Figure, Edith Garcia explains how Arthur approaches his coil-built figurative clay sculpture. – Jenn ..read more

As Sumi von Dassow explains in this post, you can get great pit firing effects on pots using a good ol’ charcoal grill. And, with so many people switching to gas grills these days, you could probably find a cheap charcoal grill at a garage sale, or you might even have one in the back of your own garage! So if you’re looking for a fun activity to try out in your studio, read the article and start experimenting with this backyard pit firing technique. – Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor. If you don’t have a kiln but still want to fire some pots—or you have an electric kiln but you’d like to do s ..read more

The Ceramics Monthly October 2021 issue is here! It can be found on our website and should arrive in homes shortly. This is the Gallery Guide issue. Get a behind-the-scenes perspective on galleries and learn how artists promote and sell their work. If you are not currently a subscriber, click here. View the issue! The post Take a Sneak Peek at the October 2021 issue of Ceramics Monthly! appeared first on Ceramic Arts Network ..read more