Alex Wilson on fri 3 sep 99
Well Greg, as luck would have it, here I am in Nevada just a stones' throw
from you in Ames, and making slipware - dipping, trailing, marbling.
I'd be happy to visit you, or better; give a demo at the college.
Give me a call - 382 6685, or e-mail.
Alex, The Scottish Potter
Gregory D Lamont on fri 3 sep 99
Hi Clayarters,
I want to try some marbleing with colored slips on a white slip background
and am seeking answers to some basic questions. Are there any books that
anyone can recommend that covers marbleing with slips--and other slipware
techniques--in detail?:
When mixing the slip, is there a visual way to tell when the slip is the
correct consistency for application to leatherhard surfaces? How does one
marble the outside of a bowl form after doing the inside without marring
the inside (or is it the other way around?)?
Are there any other application hints--especially for steeper sided bowls,
etc. that any one can impart to me?
Thanks! Greg
Greg Lamont
gdlamont@iastate.edu
http://www.ourwebpage.net/greglamont/
3011 Northwood Drive
Ames, IA 50010-4750
(515) 233-3442
John Rodgers on fri 3 sep 99
Greg, in my shop in Alaska we did a lot of this kind of work. Before I start
explaining this let me say that the right kind of pouring container for the
slip is very important. We learned through the college of hard knocks that for
our purposes, the best container was a Tupperware pouring pitcher with the
very pointed spout. This gives you fine control over the pour. Unfortunately,
I beleive Tupperware discontinued this spout style a while back in favor of a
rounded one........big mistake in my estimation.
That said, here was how we did it. And this is the old fashined way, when some
of the new stuff is not available. You can do this with any two or more clays
of different color. With the casting slip in the pitcher, and the colored slip
ready in a separate container, the colored slip was ladled onto the surface of
the casting slip. DO NOT STIR after ladling.
Pick up the mold, and hold it in a way it can be rotated or have a helper do
it. Start rotating the mold, and begining at the top of the mold pour the slip
in a modest stream onto the surface of the mold as it is rotated. This will
cause the slip to run across the inside mold surface, but not splash. The
running of the slip will carry the two colors across the mold surface in a
marbled pattern. Keep rotating until the interior surface is coated. Stop,
pour out the excess, then immediately fill the mold up with a solid color slip
for the interior finish of the piece.
Complete the piece in the normal manner of working with slipcast molds. Time
it, pour off the excess, drain, and wait until it is sufficiently hard to open
the mold and remove.
The excess marbleing slip with the two colors will become mixed, and you will
have to develop a way to use it, rather that throwing it away.
When the piece is removed from the mold, the marbling may appear very light,
but will darken with firing, and particularly if glazed.
It will take some practice to get this process down, but it is worth it.
I couldn't even begin to guess how many thousands of pieces were sold from the
shop that were cast this way.
I hope this helps, and good luck
John Rodgers
In New Mexico
Gregory D Lamont wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi Clayarters,
>
> I want to try some marbleing with colored slips on a white slip background
> and am seeking answers to some basic questions. Are there any books that
> anyone can recommend that covers marbleing with slips--and other slipware
> techniques--in detail?:
>
> When mixing the slip, is there a visual way to tell when the slip is the
> correct consistency for application to leatherhard surfaces? How does one
> marble the outside of a bowl form after doing the inside without marring
> the inside (or is it the other way around?)?
> Are there any other application hints--especially for steeper sided bowls,
> etc. that any one can impart to me?
>
> Thanks! Greg
> Greg Lamont
> gdlamont@iastate.edu
> http://www.ourwebpage.net/greglamont/
>
> 3011 Northwood Drive
> Ames, IA 50010-4750
> (515) 233-3442
Vince Pitelka on tue 7 sep 99
>When mixing the slip, is there a visual way to tell when the slip is the
>correct consistency for application to leatherhard surfaces? How does one
>marble the outside of a bowl form after doing the inside without marring
>the inside (or is it the other way around?)?
>Are there any other application hints--especially for steeper sided bowls,
>etc. that any one can impart to me?
Greg -
I have done a lot of slip-trailing and feather-combing, but not a lot of
marbling. I have only succeeded in getting true marbled effects on a flat
surface where the slip may be pooled, as in the flat bottom of a plate or
bowl. In order to get true marbled effects, as in marbled papers used in
book-binding, it is necessary to retain fluidity while you mingle the
colors, and that is impossible on other than a level surface.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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