Monday, June 22, 2009

Fern Platter


Fern Platter by Linda Starr

A few weeks ago I was catching up on my blog reading and I was struck by the way Michael Mahan had used slip on several vases from his last firing. The vases I am referring to are the three on the left in the fourth photo down on the link to his post above. The vases are so beautiful with the way he applied the slip. To me the slip looks like those cirrus clouds often seen high in the sky and the wind has thinned them out almost to nothing. The wispy look of the slip on the clay really appealed to me and I thought I would try the technique the next time I made something. Where does your inspiration come from?


Today I mixed blue and green slip together and thinned it down more than I usually do. Then I picked a couple of fern fronds from my garden and laid them on a freshly rolled piece of clay. When this particular fern frond first opens, it is a bronze color and later turns green. Then I rolled the frond into the clay being careful not to stretch the clay but pressing so the frond would lie flat. Then I took my freshly mixed slip and brushed the slip over the fronds rather thickly. Next I brushed the slip on a diagonal much thinner on the rest of the slab. Then I slowly peeled up the fern fronds. You can read more about how I've used ferns as a resist on my post fossil ferns. Next I laid the fern slab on a platter slump mold. Have you ever used a slump mold? Did you make your own or use something ready made?


For the sake of economy I try to use up every last bit of clay I have. So I also made pendants with the cut off portions from the platter. For the pendants, I added some dabs of different colors of slip, or texture, or cutouts, whatever I could think of at the time. Pendants are really fun to make and they fit nicely in the small spaces in the kiln. What do you make to use up scrap bits of clay?

My cone 10 clay is slowly dwindling away. Today I used up the only large soft bit of black mountain clay I had in the bag. Now all I have left are scraps of black mountain and B-mix and they'll have to be wedged real well to make them usable. Hey, maybe I can wedge them together. Oh no, not another idea! Up next, I'll probably be using up some scrap clay. Don't forget to leave comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you.

12 comments:

  1. Linda- i thought of you yesterday as I was sitting at the water's edge with Mark having lunch. I was watching the wind blow the ferns at the edge of the water and thought Linda would use those in her work- then look at what your post is today- ESP?

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  2. that fern platter is very nice indeed!

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  3. hi linda... beautiful fern platter, i deferred to your horticultural knowledge on the blog today.

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  4. Hi Meredith, I was thinking of you too when I looked at the photos on your blog, wishing I was at that pond of yours and then I saw it was another place with water you were visiting for father's day.

    Hi Patricia, thanks I hope the colors of the slip doesn't disappear after firing.

    Hi Jim, thanks, I will be right over.

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  5. Hi Gary, I bet you have lots of ferns near your house withe the river and all being there.

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  6. I like the look of that platter. Very nice wispy looking slip if that makes sense.

    Thanks for the mention in the blog. The third vase from the left was done by brushing the slip on and then taking a thin metal rib and smoothing it down.

    Michael

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  7. Hi Michael, thanks, of course my rendition is nothing like yours, but the application of the thin slip was what I was after and what I thought was so serene. I remember your saying about the running the rib across the slip after applying it. Amazingly enough all these techniques stay in the far recesses of my brain and come to fruition in another place and life of clay, sometimes many months or years later. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  8. Love it cool techinque. I never really use slips much, mostly to GLUE pieces together. If you ever post about the process of slips and colored slips, clue me in!

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  9. Hi Mary, thanks. In my previous posts I showed how I just mix the same clay type slip and add the mason stain to it, stir then brush on the colored slip onto the piece when it is green, fire then use a transparent glaze, then fire again. It is really pretty simple.

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  10. Hi Chili, thanks so much, nice to see you here, hope you are doing fine, I'll stop on over for a visit.

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I love suggestions, questions, critiques, thanks for your comment