Applied Decoration

We just got back from a short vacation to the desert. What a wonderful place to go in the Spring. The flowers were blooming, the days were warm, the nights were cool, the air was clear, and the skies beautiful. You can read more about my trip at Springville Lavender Gardens blog.


Lately I have been experimenting with applied decoration. Several months ago I made a large vase with large thick hollyhock leaves which I applied to the surface of the vase. All of the leaves popped off during the bisque firing. I was so disappointed. I have come up with a new technique, whereby I am applying thinner pieces of clay as decoration to see how they make it through the bisque firing.


Here are two of my latest group of pieces with applied decoration in their leatherhard state. This first is a fairy plate. The second is a large hollyhock platter. I can't wait to see how these and my other prototypes do in this firing. I will be able to check on them on Monday at the college. I can hardly wait to see if they turned out. I also have four vases and another plate with applied decoration in this bisque firing. It's kind of hard to see the applied decoration without looking closely since the clay is all one color at this stage and doesn't have much contrast. I will work on taking better photos of the greenware pieces.

In a Clay Times article this month Victoria Coulter reported on a hands-on workshop given by Ian Gregory, Sculpture and Paperclay. In the article there was a recipe for Ian Gregory's Paperclay Super Glue. I am going to try using this paperclay superglue on a two pieces, each have a small part that has broken loose. I repaired both pieces with clay slip, but the broke again as I was loaded them in the kiln for a bisque firing. One of my casseroles was found mysteriously broken in the classroom when no one was there? Anyway, one of my classmates fixed my casserole dish with his own version of paperclay slip. I told him if he fixed it he could have the casserole dish. This is another piece in this bisque firing to be opened on Monday.

I have high hopes in this firing - so hopefully luck is with me this time.

La Candelaria Mountain Potters of Baja Sur

One of the highlights of my trip to Baja last year was a visit with potters in La Candelaria, a mountain village east of Todos Sandos. My husband was pursuaded to take the trip since 4 wheeling "might have been" necessary to climb rough roads and streams to reach the remote locations in the tropical dry forests of the Sierra de la Laguna, with peaks ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 feet.

Doña Romona is the artist for the "Our Lady of Guadalupe" ceramic statue shown. According to history, the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego on a hill northwest of Mexico City in 1531. Before Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary he heard music and smelled flowers. History and legend account for much of the imagery used to depict "Our Lady of Guadalupe" statues and paintings in Mexico to this day.

Doña Romona is pictured packing the statue of "Our Lady of Guadalupe" I purchased from her. The statue made it over 1000 miles on our road trip home. Thank you, Doña Romona, for your wonderful hospitality, beautiful pottery, and for packing "Our Lady of Guadalupe" so she made it safely to my home.

Doña Romona described to me how she digs native clay and pit fires her pottery in a brick pit kiln she and her husband have constructed near their home. Doña Romona said she learned pottery from her mother and grandmother and showed me the wooden tools she uses - the same tools her ancestors used to make pottery.

Writing about my trip to Baja has me wishing I was there now, visiting with the friendly people, sipping a cerveza, and walking along a deserted beach - ahhh.