Nerikomi or Inlay Clay & Cobalt Deco

We had a whirlwind storm pass through with winds and lots of rain. We seemed to have fared ok through that. I was left with just a little of the dark brown clay and decided to try nerikomi or inlay clay. I used some dark clay in a white clay tile. I put some creases over the top hoping it will give a rustic look when it's finished firing. Look back here to see some plates I made back in 2009. I forgot all about these till now. There is something so serene with just two different color clays contrasting one another.

After looking at this snowflake with cobalt deco I had an inspiration. I planned to make trays and cups to match with cobalt decoration. There is something magical about applying a small wash of cobalt and then seeing the blue appear after firing. It doesn't take much because cobalt is such a strong colorant.

I made a tray but when I made the cup it got much taller than I planned. I'll have to make another but I'm excited to see how this will turn out. Working with clay in a studio is like working in a science lab; there's lots of experimenting and trial and error. It's so much fun to see how my experiments turn out. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have found clay.

Here's the basket I first tried the cobalt wash on. See what I mean about how strong a colorant cobalt is. Ha. A woman bought this vase to take back to her mother in England this summer.

If I get up early enough I can see the sunrise coming up over the hills. My photos are never as brilliant as the sky actually is in person. I have a window of opportunity for firing for the next week so I guess I'll bit the bullet and get to those large pots. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.