Ceramic delelopment of image

Finished shallow bowl

As a development of my lino print of the twin ladies design I made two ceramic pieces by pressing the lino into the clay. The clay was prepared in the roller press so it was nice and even and dried slightly with a hair dryer as it helps to take the image better if its not too wet. The lino was also dusted with a special talc to prevent it from sticking.

I made a flat plate and a curved bowl. The flat plate cracked in the initial firing ( apparently this is common with flat, large pieces - lesson learned) the bowl came out in one piece.

The flat plate was a simple press , however with the bowl I carved away the excess within the design to create more of a relief.

Im please with how the detail came out as it was very subtle line.

I was able to enhance the design through the glazing process. I think the design took on a old, Greek feel due to the medium of the clay so I wanted to enhance this also and go for a natural glaze to give an effect of this being a old object or artifact. This worked especially well with the broken plate adding a story/ fantasy element to the piece.

I painted on a mix of red iron iron oxide with water to pull out the detail and then dipped the peices in an earthenware honey glaze.

The result is a beautiful rich ,high shine finish. I think it does look like an ancient object. Its not perfect in form and I would certainly like to develop my ceramic skills further but in terms of the clay taking the design, this came out really clear.