Steve Horn Workshop

When my husband had to go to Pasadena on a business trip, I decided to tag along. While he's been working, I have been attending this workshop offered at the Xiem Clay Center. This is a workshop for those who want to learn printmaking onto clay. It is a very simple process, but the hard part is having the right equipment.

For example, you have to have a photocopier which will allow you to hit the off button mid-print, then the top has to be lifted out and the paper removed from the belly of the copier. This is so that the iron oxide ink does not become set into the paper. You want it to be messy, to rub off easily, because when you put that paper face down onto the clay, you want it to come off.

Do you remember those ink tattoos that come out of gumball machines? As a kid, I remember wetting down the back of my hand and putting one on, rubbing it, lifting it off and having a cartoon character becoming a part of me for the next 12 or so hours. That's what this process is like. EXCEPT this ink won't wear off anytime soon because it is iron oxide from the laser photocopier and can be fired up to cone 10.

The above photo is a simple slab which has been lightly coated with colored slip and then 'tattooed' with a photocopy I made of a pattern I found in a book. Most workshop participants,however, brought photographs, photocopied those and used those with stunning results! The possibilities are endless. I can't wait to get home and experiment -- except I don't have a laser photocopier. HOWEVER ... the second process we learned was how to print onto a type of paper named Pronto-Plate (here's a link to learn more about that: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/staff/okinczyc/pdf/prnto_ht.pdf ) ... I do have a laser printer and I can do that process. And for those who do not have laser printers, you can also use simple Sharpie markers on the proto-plate with excellent results.

I am excited about printing onto clay and can't wait to get home and experiment more with this particular process. We also all learned how to make our own ceramic ink.

Bisque-fired Toot Whistles

I started working on these about 2 weeks ago. I was thinking about heavily textured bodies which could show up a glaze well and contrast it to the smooth (perhaps shiny) mouthpiece.

These are simply tooting whistles, no holes ... just fun to hold and make noise with. I'll be working on glazing and firing these this week.

I'm Back

I've had the store shut down for a few weeks. At first I shut it down because of the Swine Flu scare. Nobody knew at first how severe it would be and I figured with all the cases showing up in Texas that it might be good to help limit exposure. Of course now we know the virus was mild in the USA and all that good stuff, but then we didn't know.

About the same time my husband was called out of town on business to sunny CA and I jumped at the chance to accompany him and explore the Pasadena area for a few weeks. Now I'm back but only for a few days because he has to leave again. I enjoyed exploring the area and of course the beaches are such a treat. I am looking forward to accompany him again.

I'll try to post a bit while I'm gone.

Temporarily Closed both Etsy Stores

I decided to close both of my Etsy stores until June. I figure that's how long it's going to take until the Swine Flu dies out.

I live in Texas, a place where the Fort Worth School Independent School District shut down entirely until at least May 8th and Mayfest was canceled.

I thought, "Even if it turns out to be a mild virus (and we don't know how it is going to develop or change with time), would I want to take the risk of having one of my customer's get sick because someone between here or there sneezed on their package?" The answer was no. So until I open again, I'll just spend my extra time in the studio. This is a mug I made last night and this morning.

New Projects

My professor told me I should think about forms the way I do the forms of beads and I thought that was a terrific idea. With that thought in mind I sat down and threw some mugs last night, thinking about beads and forms, kinda abstractly but not ... I don't know how to describe it actually.

I picked out the roundest today and decided to put on a lid, legs, and a handle (of course) and implement some ideas I have had in the back of my head for a while. What cinched it about the lid was I saw a casserole dish demoed on a ceramics arts daily video (sorry I can't provide the link) and my professor was demonstrating to the ceramic 1 students on making a proper flange for a lid and this is something I've had trouble with .... so even though I am a ceramics 2 student, I walked over and listened again because I obviously missed something the last time.


These series of photos are me doing a proper lid. PAY ATTENTION THERE WILL BE A QUIZ AT THE END!


First step ... lid. I liked the video because the lady demo-ing put a piece of plastic between the lid and the dish, then she smoothed the inside and made a dome. The next thing I did was take a needle tool and mark the underside to cut this to the right size (and I smoothed the edges of course).


The flange has always been the most difficult part for me. I never make them large enough to make an ounce worth of difference. But the professor said to make a coil and then roll it out for the depth. Then, on the INSIDE of the dish, take the measurement, score and slip the coil together. There. The flange is the right diameter and wide enough to make a difference.

Trying to think of the mug as a bead, I used a technique that I often use when sprigging forms onto beads to work the flange into place. It worked! Yay!


Legs are beads simply incorporated onto the bottom.


And here they are finished.



And last of all a handle. This process, being that it is the first time and I was being very ultra careful, took an hour and a half. Think about that next time when drinking a cup of coffee.


And in that same vein, here is your quiz!

Quiz: What brand of coffee do I drink based on these photos.

Glaze Chemicals

One of the reasons I decided to go back to college to ceramics class was to learn how to mix and formulate glazes. Last semester I mixed some for the first time and I have to say, it's pretty easy to do.

But I am a procrastinator at times so it has taken from then until now to order some very basic glaze chemicals. I want to make a stable cone 6 clear gloss that I can add colorants to in varying amounts to get some interesting colors. And what I can do with each clay body I use is make a glaze specifically formulated for that clay body.

Tomorrow I will pick up those chemicals from Texas Pottery and then the experiments will begin.

By the way, if you live in the Fort Worth area, Alan is the owner and he produces some fantastic stoneware clay bodies! Ironstone and Taos Red are my favorites.

Letter Press Dingbats

I love texture and stamps so it was inevitable that I would eventually stumble upon letterpress. These are so much fun to use in designs! A lady in ceramic's class was kind enough to loan me her set of alphabet letterpress and she ended up giving me an almost complete set (minus the letter 'q'). I'll be giving her some extras from this set.

These are a small 12 pt font so I'll also be to easily use these also on beads and pendants to create some geometric designs.