Post #759998 by danlovestikis on Tue, Mar 1, 2016 8:58 PM

TikiAno you could drop Tiki Bob on the floor and that smile would still be there. I hope I have a smile when he comes out of the kiln.

lunavideogames you take him out be sure to take photos to share here.

hang10tiki I've had so many glaze problems with the Hot Tub Hula Girls that I will kiss Bob if this turns out.

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Wish List #6 The mosaic experiment with the Retro Siren sign.

My first mistake was not scrapping out the glaze in each groove before firing. The glaze removed depth from some of the grooves.

First a used earthquake putty to plug the holes.

The I spread grout around the plaque. I think doing a wet method would have been better. Oh well.

I pat it down and wiped it off the raised areas.

I used a spray bottle to saturate the grout.

While it was wet I rubbed it around.

I let it dry overnight.

The next day I wiped off the tiles with a wet cloth.

I found a few areas that I'd missed so I mixed up some wet grout and

pressed it into place.

The bottom of the sign has a separation crack where blocks of clay were joined. When fired the glaze pulled away from the crack.

There are paint products for ceramics. I used this one

to cover the skip. The photo just shows the first layer.

I found the white grout was so bright that you couldn't see the mermaid. So I took this paint

and added water and then

I started to paint all the grout.

I covered the surface and let it sit for an hour.

Next I gently wiped it off but some of the grout wiped out too. The grooves were not deep enough to prevent this from happening.

It's a mess.

This time instead of making more grout I mixed paint and started painting the shallow areas.

I blended the areas well enough so I moved on to

finishing the hair.

The plaque is done. I sprayed it with a fix and hopefully this will keep it from falling apart.

How much am I charging for this plaque? Hint I told her before I started that since it would be a learning experience for me that I wouldn't charge more than $100.

The closest guess wins a small seahorse (that I made) necklace. It hangs upside down.

Good luck, Wendy

PS want to work ceramics???