Trader Tom's Ceramic Projects

Well, I finally got around to playing in the mud again...

I stumbled across a great place for supplies in the general Portland area called Georgie's last weekend, which is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest supplier) of ceramics stuff up here. I wandered their shop for about an hour looking and asking questions before I finally walked away with a big slab of clay to work with.

Here's the fruits of my labors from this afternoon. Slab construction for most part. The first thing is a "Virgin Volcano Bowl".

I made the bowl using a metal mixing bowl as kind of a reverse slump mold. Then I textured the bowl with a woodgrain pattern roller. Then I used a funnel to make another piece, the inner volcano, which I attached with scoring and slip. Textured the volcano with a pumice stone.

Then I used an old Holland pin-up mold from the 1960s as a press mold to make some virgin wahines for two sides, also attached with scoring and slip. Originally I'd intended to use the mold as a slipcast mold as originally intended, but was advised by the helpful folks at Georgie's that the slip would shrink at a different rate then the rest of the project and was likely to crack off. So, I took their advice and used just half of the mold as a press mold using the same clay as the rest of the vessel.

I pushed in the still flexible sides of the bowl to make a squared-off shape just to be different. The original Vicious Virgin bowls had a triangular shape done the same way.

As an afterthought, I put a few holes in the volcano to let air/gas escape during firing.

I still had slabs of clay out on the table, so I made a matching mug for the bowl.

I'm going to cart these over to Georgie's to fire later.

I think I'm going to do a mahogany ceramic stain wipe on them to make the wood grain pattern really stand out.

Anyway, hope you enjoy looking. Love to hear suggestions or comments!

Nice design Tom, good to get your fingers back in the mud!

Cool bowl. I was thinking those were supposed to be waves (she seems like she's swimming) so I'd say blue would be cool.

Why did you punch holes in the volcano? Is it one solid chunk or is it hollow?

Thanks, guys!

I agree, especially on the mug I was thinking the wood pattern looked like waves and blue would look cool. However, I really wanted to work with stain since I haven't before. I'm not sure if Georgie's stocks a blue stain, but I will look for it.

The volcano is hollow. I didn't put up a pic of the bottom, but it is basically a smooth circle with my name and date scratched on it. I didn't want to poke holes in the base, although many ceramic pieces do that to let air/gas release during firing. So, after taking these shots I took a toothpick and poked 4 holes evenly around the middle of the volcano to let gas/air out. I can always plug them again, I figured, with slip or glaze.

I figure I'll take these over to get fired next Thursday. If I have time tonight or tomorrow I might try hand building an actual Tiki mug to go with these other pieces that are getting fired.

Tom a good thing for plugging those vent holes (and for repairing cracks) is a mixture of glaze and calcined clay. It's a bit of a pain in the butt to make the calcined clay but you make a small batch and you're set for years. Flatten balls of clay into flat patties and let them dry completely. Crush them fine with a rolling pin and sieve finely. Place the clay powder in an UNGLAZED bowl and fire it. Place your calcined clay in a container and mark it.

When ready to use, mix a little calcined clay with the glaze color you are using to make a paste/putty. Fill in your hole and fire. Since the clay dust is already fired, it won't shrink anymore.

PS did you see the Pele/Volcano Swap Thread? You have a volcano themed piece and are welcome to join if you can finish by 8/8. PM me if you have any questions

Mike

That's cool Tom, I love the Pele pin-up goddess girl you included on the side..:wink:
Probably a good idea putting the holes if you suspected you may have some air bubbles too..
Going to be cool all glazed up!!

Gosh today is such a great day to look at art. All you men just rock the house. These are two wonderful creations. Wendy

Well done Grasshopper.

Well done Grasshopper.

Well done Grasshopper.

Well done Grasshopper

:D

Ah Grasshoppa, well done.

MadDogMike, thanks for the info for plugging the holes. I will definitely do that.

I am also interested in the Pele/Volcano Trade-off but I'm pessimistic about getting done in time or things surviving the kiln. However, I am definitely IN if something survives the process! I just made a couple more pieces today as well, so hopefully that improves my odds. I will post on the trade thread next.

Everybody else, BIG THANKS! It's inspiring to look at all your threads and see what you've done.

I would have posted earlier on these next batch of pics, but Joseph (4 & 1/2) was "helping" me. I had to answer a lot of questions about these pieces, particularly about why the hula girls were in their birthday suits...

...and then my wife wanted to know why there was slip all over the dining room. But I did finish and clean up everything. So all is well.

Anyway, here's a more traditional three-cornered virgin volcano bowl:

And here's another mug using a second Holland mold with leg extended.

Your bowls and mug are coming along great. I for one hope you will be able to join the swap.

Question grasshopper are you going to carve out the clay in the girls elbow areas on the mug version? Wendy

"...and then my wife wanted to know why there was slip all over the dining room"

Been there, done that :lol:

On 2012-07-20 07:09, danlovestikis wrote:
Your bowls and mug are coming along great. I for one hope you will be able to join the swap.

Question grasshopper are you going to carve out the clay in the girls elbow areas on the mug version? Wendy

Thanks, Wendy! I do too. I'm eager to take them in next Thursday or so to get fired. I might get these pieces done by the end of the month with a little luck.

I had to trim quite a bit around each Hula Girl and I was tempted to try trimming the inner elbow area at the same time but the clay was too wet/plastic and I was worried about destroying the arms. I may let it dry a bit more and then give it a shot. But, yes, I think it would look better with that area carved out.

When I made the Missionary's Downfall bowls I had 50% of the girls break when I sanded them. Dry clay is super brittle.

After losing those I let the slip sit longer in the mold to make the cast thicker thinking that they would survive sanding better. Well that made some hidden air pockets. The casts that sanded well blew up in the kiln.

I'm wishing you lots of luck. I think your two pieces look terrific. Wendy

Wow! Nice work, Tom.

I sure hope things don't blow up on me in the kiln, Wendy. Those are SCARY pics!

However, I'm trying to let things dry slowly before I do a first firing.

Thanks, Big Kahuna!

In the meantime, I did a father/son project today.

I made a slab cylinder and then Joseph told me what he wanted and helped me make the features.

He plans on giving it to a friend of his if it makes it through the firing process.

Here's one of the bowls all glazed but waiting to be glaze fired. It should turn out a dry rust brown with some color variance on exterior, eggshell white girls, gloss black volcano with satin red lava spilling over and collecting in bowl. We'll see how it turns out...

Looks great Tom, those ivory gals should really stand out against the brown bowl.

This is going to be a beautiful bowl, Wendy

Nice work Tom. I'm glad you found a way to keep on doing your ceramics.

Here's pics of the first bowl and two mugs back from their glaze firing. I'm pretty happy with them. I will have to do more soon!

Great results Tom. The black lava texture turned out cool and I really love that yellow/brown exterior glaze!

Those came out Great Tom! The bowl with the lava flowing really came out great. I wanna try making a volcano bowl someday as well, I wish I had a bigger kiln at times..
How did your Son's Tiki come out btw??
Aloha

On 2012-07-20 00:51, Trader Tom wrote:
...but Joseph (4 & 1/2) was "helping" me. I had to answer a lot of questions about these pieces, particularly about why the hula girls were in their birthday suits...

What did you answer? I'm interested too!

Good job. I like your glazes, they make your mugs and bowls look vintage. Wendy

Thanks, everyone!

Joseph's Tiki mug is at the kiln for glaze firing and should be ready in a few days. I haven't finished the square bowl but need to do that next.

I told Joseph that the hula girls' clothes burned off because they got a little too close to the volcano. :wink:

I think I will do some more matching mugs so I have a set. That, and make a hand-built Tiki mug of my own.

My folks are visiting from Illinois, so I'll probably get my hands back in the mud next week when I have time.

I told Joseph that the hula girls' clothes burned off because they got a little too close to the volcano. :wink:

"But... But... But... Daddy, why didn't they go away from volcano when they felt too hot???" :smiley with two big puppy eyes:
Ok, I'll help you out... Cause hula girls like it hot!

Here's the father/son project...

Mission accomplished!

Here's the square bowl I made a while back, all glazed up:

I have another hand-built wahine mug waiting for bisque fire right now, but in the mean time I've moved on to slip-casting.

I have a 1970's handled skull mug mold that I just started experimenting with. If I can get it in gear, maybe I'll do a run of them and try to sell them for Halloween...

There's a learning curve, though. My first one out of the mold looked good and was the right thickness but was missing half of the handle. I used some trimmings to re-sculpt the handle, then discovered the bottom was too wet and when I picked it up, the bottom fell out like a cup of Jello pudding. ):

I'll let the mold dry out for a day or two, then try it again. I'm using a stoneware slip that is really thick. I may try thinning it out a little bit and then take extra care to try and direct slip into the handle. And...let it sit longer before popping it out.

More updates soon.

On 2012-08-28 21:19, Trader Tom wrote:

Here's the father/son portrait

Tom, how awesome that you are teaching you son how to sling mud! Look at the pride on his face! Any excuse to hang out with your kids is a good one. I can't wait until my grandsons (now age 2 1/2 years & 3 months) are ready

The bowl turned out great. I love that blue/green glaze on the outside and the lava texture is cool too. I looked for a skull mold and couldn't find one. So I tried building one last night, we'll see how that worked out.

Tom! Looking better all the time! I miss you, I'll call this week :)

Thanks!

So I thinned down my slip and it seemed to do the trick. I just popped out my first skull mug.

Can't wait to start glazing these. I think I'm going to go with a rust brown exterior, white interior, and do lots of different colors for the teeth, nose, and eye sockets (orange, red, green, etc...).

That's a very nice mold. Good job. I've not done a skull. Yours is just in time for Halloween. Wendy

That's a very nice mold. Good job. I've not done a skull. Yours is just in time for Halloween. Wendy

So I have the first couple of these glazed, but not glaze fired yet. I'll probably drop them off at the kiln this weekend.

The one on the left is a crackle brown with white teeth and sockets. The right one is a rust brown with orange teeth and sockets.

I'm stamping them and numbering them on the bottom. Hope to do about 50 or so.

I should be able to hit the mark because I did some digging and came up with a second identical skull mug mold!

Just in time for Halloween.

I'll start putting them in marketplace after I get the first couple done, assuming they turn out okay.

They look good Tom, that crackle glaze should look especially cool. Are you using a high fire stoneware?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

Yes, I'm using high fire stoneware slip for these. Firing to cone 6.

Just started using the new mold. With two at a time I should have quite a few shortly...

Well, I got busy and haven't posted anything on my ceramics in a while, but I've kept at it.

I'm going to pick up the first couple of glaze-fired skull mugs from the kiln this weekend and will post pics of how they turned out when I get a chance. So far, I have a dozen made and will have a bunch available for sale shortly before Halloween.

I'm also playing with another vintage mold. Just pulled the first casting from it about an hour ago.

You may recognize it in lamp form. Go Tiki has used it before to make some really nice lamps.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=24254&forum=18&start=210&hilite=ken%20ocorr

The mold is a Ken Ocorr mold from the 1960's. Ocorr ran a mold-making facility in Long Beach, CA for many years. My guess is that he or someone else made this mold based off of an earlier design and then sold it to be used by home hobbyists.

This was the largest mold I've ever used and it went pretty smoothly except for when I was pouring slip back out of the mold. I thought I had it all but I didn't expect a delayed "ketchup bottle" effect and ended up with slip all over the kitchen floor. It mopped up easily enough, but next time I will use a bucket instead of trying to smoothly pour it all back into the narrow opening of the 2-gallon container I was using. Live and learn.

Anyway, more updates soon.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes a clay mess in the kitchen! :lol:

Rusty Skull with Orange Eyes

Crackle Brown Skull

Skull number three is glazed in Dark Antiqued Gold but it's waiting to get fired.

Nice skulls, Tom!

Lookin good

Thanks!

Great looking glazes Rom, I like #1

How did you guess my secret identity?

Behold! The space cyborg when not fashioning ceramic vessels!

Seriously, though, thanks! I have a bunch more cooking and look forward to seeing what the kiln has for me this weekend.