Stamped Clay Owl

• Print
• Email

Details

Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 May 2017 15:00

Designer: Nathan Klein

 

Instructions

Construction:

1. Roll a ¼" thick slab of clay with a Rolling pin or slab roller between ¼" slats.
2. Roll MMT-005 Retro Squares Mat onto the slab by laying the mat texture side down on the clay and rolling a rolling pin over the mat.
3. Pull the mat up and trace the owl template.
4. Cut around the traced owl with a needle tool or fettling knife.
5. Cut the 4 circles out of the left over slab. These will be the eyes of the owl. Position the large circles on the owl and trace around the circles. Score the clay inside the traced line and the back of the circles. Add some slip to the scored areas and press the scored areas together.
6. Take the two smaller circles and slip and score them onto the larger circles.
7. To make the beak, use CD-778 Flowers and Leaves Press Mold. This owl’s beak is made out of the smaller skinny leaf on the mold. To get the best results out the press molds, take a ball of clay and press it into the leaf with your fingers. Once the clay pressed into the mold, take a XSCR4 Xiem Silicone Orange Rib and run it from the center of the leaf out to the sides. Slowly taking excess clay off the mold and leaving only the clay that is pressed in the mold. Do this in sections because it can pull up the clay or distort the leaf if it is done all at once. When the excess is off, take another ball of clay and dab it on the surface of the leaf. The leaf should come out onto the ball of clay. Slip and score the leaf onto the owl.
8. To make the back pocket of the owl, slump a ¼ inch slab into CD-776 Circle Slump and Hump mold. To do this, take the slab and lay it over the slump part of the mold. Take a sand bag and tap the clay into the mold. It may require lifting the corners of the slab and tapping at the same time to get the slab to go into the mold fully. Cut the excess slab off the top of the mold. Let it set up for 10-15 minutes.
9. Once the circle is set up in the mold, then take it out of the mold and squeeze the circle until it fits on the back of the owl.
10. With a needle tool, cut a flat bottom on the circle. Slip and score the circle to the back of the owl with the flat part at the bottom of the owl. With some extra slab cut enough clay to cover the flat bottom of the circle. Slip and score it on.
11. Let the clay dry to bone dry and fire the clay to cone 04.

Glazing:

1. Take a damp sponge and wipe away any dust or extra clay that may have settled while being fired.
2. Using CB-604 #4 Soft Fan, apply 1 coat of SC-12 Moody Blue to the body of the owl. Run a damp sponge over the surface of the owl, picking up the Moody Blue that is on the surface and leaving the glaze in the textured part of the owl.
3. Water down SC-77 Glo-Worm and SC-73 Candy Apply Red to an "ink consistency". Using CB-604 #4 Soft Fan, apply one coat of the watered down color to the body of the owl. Apply areas of Candy Apply Red and areas of Glo-Worm. Blend them where they meet. Don’t brush back and forth too much because you will start reworking the Moody Blue and the Candy Apply Red and Glo-Worm will get muddy.
4. Using CB-604 #4 Soft Fan, apply 3 coats of SC-12 Moody Blue to the back and edges of the owl.
5. Using CB-106 #6 Script Liner, apply 3 coats of SC-16 Cotton Tail to the large circles and 2 coats of SC-15 Tuxedo to the smaller circles. When the Black is dry, dip the back of your paint brush into SC-16 Cotton Tail and dot the glaze into the black part of the eye to make the small dot. Do that twice to get a bright white on the dot.
6. Using CB-106 #6 Script Liner, apply 1 coat of SC-73 Candy Apply Red to the beak. Take a damp sponge and wipe the glaze off the surface, leaving the red in the texture of the leaf.
7. Using CB-604 #4 Soft Fan, apply 2 coats of SC-15 Tuxedo to the back pocket. Make sure to apply SC-15 Tuxedo on the inside of the pocket as well.
8. Let dry and fire to Cone 06.