Clay Art Dinnerware You Can Make

Making clay art dinnerware to your own design and taste is both easy and fun! You will need a clay body, glaze, and ceramic paint of your choice; textured slab mold and drape mold of the shape and size you desire; a plastic knife, needle tool, wire clay cutter, pony roller, trimming tool, slab roller or rolling pin, newspaper, pencil, scissors, sponge, and chamois. First make a newspaper pattern slightly smaller than the size of the drape mold. Roll out a slab of clay from 3/8" to 1/2" thickness larger than the plate size. Using the newspaper pattern as a guide, cut out the plate shape from the clay slab. Leftover clay can be used for making feet or a coil foot. Place the clay plate onto the textured slab mold and press down from the center to the edges with a small sand bag, and finish smoothing and pressing down with a pony roller. Using the curved roller on the pony roller, bevel the edges of the plate. If desired, you can impress texture tools, even found objects such as leaves onto the back of the plate.

The clay art plates are then lifted from the textured slab mold and lain over the drape mold and gently pressed into it, to acquire shape. At this time ball feet or a coil foot can be added to the bottom. The feet or coil foot, as well as the points on the bottom where the feet will be placed, are scored and then joined firmly together with slip. After placement, check for levelness with a wooden bat and level, giving the bat a few sharp thwacks to even the feet up and level them. If a coil foot is used, a potter's wheel is needed. The coil can be hand-rolled 1/2" thick or extruded using a 1/2" die and cut to length. Place the drape mold with the plate centered into Griffin grip on the potter's wheel. Score the coil and plate and glue the coil and plate together with slip. With the wheel turning, press the coil gently to the plate to firm it and shape it. With the wheel turning press each edge of the coil with a modeling tool to make a good seal then trim the coil with a trimming tool to make a level foot. Be sure that the foot is tall enough so that when the plate is right-side-up it will rest entirely on the foot not the base of the plate. You can check this with a pencil.

When the plate is dried enough to handle, curve and smooth the edges with a sponge and then a damp chamois. When the plate is completely dry, bisque fire it to the correct temperature for the clay body you used. It can then be decorated with ceramic paint and clear-glazed with non-toxic glaze certified safe for dinnerware. Then fire it to the correct temperature for that glaze.

Source : Ezinearticles