Woah! Tell Me about the Magic...
Each Bowl or Plate or Vase or whatever, starts from humble Clay. Side note #1. It seems Pottery IS the new Rock and Roll, so there’s a huge resurgence these last few years, with people getting creative with crafts and steering away from Shop-bought-shenanigans that have little soul and hardly any lasting function. I digress...
Okay, so the Bowls are Wheel-thrown, left to dry a little bit, trimmed, coated with liquid clay, or a special coating and then left to dry a little bit more. After a while, I can have a crack at the lettering, this is called (by the Pro’s) ‘Sgraffito’. Understandably, ZERO mistakes can be made and my FULL ATTENTION is given, with no distractions or lengthy rest-breaks. Side note #2: I can listen to only Instrumental Music during this process, if you are Violinist, or a Cellist and would like to just hang out with me while I work, I’d like that. (..I feel that Trumpeteers would just be too damn loud.) You must however, keep your gob firmly shut while I’m working.
A Cheese Sandwich will be provided.
The Bowls are then left to dry out fully. No moisture means they have a better chance of not exploding in the Kiln. It takes a couple of days and like all good things, just can’t be rushed.
Firing time. The Cream Gloss Bowls are fired twice, the initial ‘bisc’ firing goes up a 1000C then slowly cools, the item is then dipped in handmixed glaze and re-fired to 1115C