Ceramic
How to Make a Nightingale Cup
by Delia Robinson This is essentially an open vessel water whistle. It holds pride of place among all unusual cups for its charming voice. 1. Make Make a mug or cup. Keep the walls a little thick. Before it is leather hard attach the handle. The top of the handle should be even with the... Read More
June 12, 2019
In Their Cups – The Story of the English Puzzle Mug
Delia Robinson tells the story of the English Puzzle Jug In the simple days of old, drinkers carousing in taverns might have enjoyed their brew from pottery mugs especially designed for boisterous amusement. A ceramic frog peering from the bottom of the cup, or a chirping whistle mug, such were the creations of long-gone potters... Read More
June 12, 2019
An Investigation into the Properties of Porcelain Paperclay
by Gaye Stevens Originally published in Ceramics Technical. Reprinted by permission. In July, 2000, I began a research project with the assistance of a Faculty Research Grant from The College of Fine Arts,University of New South Wales to investigate the properties and potential of porcelain paperclay. My studio work is concerned with the vulnerability of being... Read More
June 12, 2019
Plaster Isn’t So Hard to Use
by Brian Crocker Quite some time ago a Potter Friend and I had a brief discussion, at our Studio Potter’s Club, about using Pottery Plaster, he was setting up to make a clay slops drying container and knowing that I had been a tutor in the Ceramic Design Dept., at the then S.A.C.A.E. Underdale South... Read More
June 12, 2019
Top Collection of American Ceramics Makes New York City Debut at The Ubs Painewebber Art Gallery
A number of ceramists at work during the past two decades have explored painterly and sculptural concerns not always associated with the clay medium. Mary Frank’s sculptural work Horse and Rider (1982) features starkly expressive yet fragmented skeletal figures. Works like Sergei Isupov’s Rustle (1999) and Marc Leuthold’s Diptych (1998) extend traditional boundaries, indicating the... Read More
June 12, 2019
Mocha Diffusion
Mocha Diffusion is a technique that originated in England in the 18th century and was popular in the 19th C. It consists of dribbling an acidic solution with coloring oxides onto a wet slip of a contrasting color. The solution spreads in the slip with a tree fern-like pattern. Legend has it that in a... Read More
June 12, 2019
Mocha Diffusions
by Robin Hopper ocha Diffusions is a little known technique of surface decoration developed and used in the Southwest of England, and subsequently copied in parts of North America, particularly Canada. It was only done on wares of a simple functional nature, and on forms that were simple in shape, such as mugs, bowl, jugs,... Read More
June 12, 2019
Inorganic Lead
by Edouard Bastarache Sources : The inorganic compounds which are of concern in ceramics are : -basic lead carbonate 2PbCO3.Pb(OH)2, -lead frits, including lead-boro silicate. -lead oxides : -red (minium) Pb3O4 , -yellow (litharge) PbO. Stability : I-Lead Carbonate : This product is unstable under the following conditions : when heated it decomposes at 400... Read More
June 12, 2019
Bernard Leach (1897-1979)
British Potter Bernard Leach is regarded as one of the great British potters of the 20th century. He spent eleven years in Japan, from 1909 to 1920, after which he returned to England to set up the St. Ives pottery and to spread the message of ceramics, the Oriental way. His influence through his writings and as mentor... Read More
June 12, 2019
Early Japanese Pottery
Of all the kinds of artifacts which may be found at archaeological sites, ceramics are surely one of the most important. Ceramic artifacts are extremely durable, and may last tens of thousands of years virtually unchanged from the date of manufacture. And ceramic artifacts, unlike stone tools, are completely person-made, shaped of clay and... Read More
June 12, 2019