Category Archives: Clay

Making Clay Birds colored with Terra Sigillata

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This is a step by step presentation on how to make stylized clay birds and the use of Terra Sigillata to color them. How to burnish them, and after a cone 019 bisque how to smoke them in a can. The bisque can go to cone 06 if the ware needs to be stronger.
The most important points when building a sculpture that you are going to burnish are: 1. score the clay very well, 2. make sure there are not many nooks and crannies, 3. make surface as smooth as possible
Terra Sigillata is a thin slip used to coat dry green ware to get a high satin gloss without a glaze, by using either a soft cloth to polish or a rock depending on the kind of sigillata you use.

This is a good project for everyone. I have taught this to grades K-8, and I have used this process in my own work.
If you do not want to smoke the pieces, you can: 1.leave them with the sigillata, 2. put them in a saw dust can fire, 3. oxidation pit fire, 4. reduction pit fire, or you can skip the whole terra sigillata part and just glaze them after a cone 04 bisque.
This is a picture of some of my Terra Sigllata Bowls.
These bowls were made with a very basic terra Sig of ball clay and talc, and lots of elbow grease with a polished rock. What I like about this finish is that the rock gives the clay a texture from the direction in which the rock is rubbed. Creating a pattern that can enhance the piece.
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Making a Ceramic Tiles Chair

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This is a step by step project on how to make a ceramic tiles chair. Beginning with the stucco armature, covering it with foam to allow for the 10% shrinkage of the clay, draping and sculpting the clay, cutting it into tiles, bisque and glaze firing the tiles and finally using thin set to attach them and grout to finish it up.

Bathroom Tiles

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I just made a bathroom floor, shower floor, trim for around the bathroom door, trim for the floor and a sink. the bathroom is not finished as in the faucets and toilet are not in, but the tiles and sink are in and it looks great. Here are some photos.

Clay Chair

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I posted the video on how to make clay bamboo. The new post will be on how to make a clay chair. Here it is with clay draped and sculpted over a stuccoed armature. Next, I will cut clay into tiles, bisque and glaze them, and then thin set the tiles back onto the stuccoed armature. As soon as I can have the video I will post it. It may take 3 weeks to complete.
Here is the image of the chair today after cutting the draped clay into tiles.
This is a picture of the stuccoed armature for the chair above

Tiles ready for glazing

tiles for outdoor chair ready for glazing

Glazing tiles, almost to the end. In about four days I’ll be able to put it all together.