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painting stains

updated thu 31 jul 97

 

Sylvia See on mon 14 jul 97

Carol:
Maria painted on the pieces that were bisqued. I don't know about the
other potters for sure, probably bisqued to cone 010, but mine were bisqued
to cone 04 as they were highfire stoneware, smooth finish, and she liked
working on a smooth surface similar to porcelain or as smooth as possible.
She painted by mixing the stains on a white dinner plate. she would put a
small amount of stain on the plate and then dip a clean brush into water
and mix on the plate. She mixes colors together on the plate for new colors
just as you would watercolors. It was really neat to watch her do shading
as she would paint on a color, then dip her brush water, wipe it on her
pants, and remove some of the color and blend. She painted the table full
of pieces you saw on my site, in one afternoon. Obviously, years of
experience, but she painted flowers in seconds and they were wonderful. She
painted scenes the same. The work that took more time was the very fine
detailed work around the outside of pieces, one plate in particular, but
still very fast at that.
Because the pieces were all functional, I put a fairly good coat of glaze
and they are glossy. However, I have airbrushed mason stains with water
alone on bisque and then using the same glaze, just sprayed a very light
coat, just enough to set the colors and they turned out beautiful. Sold
them all in two days. They were sprayed on Raku clay and then fired in
electric kiln, and folks around here really liked them. Not really a matt
finish, but not gloss either, and the gloss seems to bring out the best
color. I find the matt glazes have a different effect on the color.
Experiment, and you'll find that different clays, bring different results
as well.
I am about to try spraying on greenware, Raku clay, but really haven't
tried it yet so will hold back on results until I try it.
Sylvia See Claresholm, Alberta sylviac@telusplanet.net
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9867/sylvia.html
Yahhhhhh!!!! Kelly Southerland banged out of the #4 barrel to win the
Chuckwagon Races at Calgary tonight!!!!!!!! What a race!!!!