Tips for glaze painting butterflies again

Painting more monarch butterflies on a teapot and a vase...not with underglaze, not with paint, but with real glazes and a tiny-tip applicator of a glaze!

I had a friend watch me as I used the designer liner by Mayco.  (Here shown not being used to make a line, with the push pin in the metal tip).  One of the big things about using small applicators or containers, is that they dry out easily.  I store my little glaze bottles upside down, and I clean out the tips of the Designer Liners before starting application.  I tried taking them off and storing them with the little plastic caps that came with them, but prefer the pins in the tips.

 I showed how I squeeze as I slowly move the metal tip along at an angle, not directly square to the surface.  And every second or third pull (never push) I'd clean the clay off the tip on a damp sponge, then start the line again on a scrap of plastic lid.  That way the little bits of bisque clay that get in the nozzle don't clog it up and cause big blobs.  However, blobs do occur at the beginning of each line as I put the tip onto the clay.  I go back and smooth them into more or less even width with the tip of an exacto knife blade.

It really helps to have a very smooth surface, since even small throwing lines caused by my fingers or a rib tool can catch the little metal tip and make jagged lines...like the bottom line on the butterfly above.

But the really tough part of this procedure is painting each area of color with several coats of Stroke N Coat glazes by Mayco.

Fortunately the black lines in the area which will be painted orange will show through the glaze, so I don't have to avoid painting on top of them.  I'd surely stop painting these butterflies if that were the case.  I go over the finished butterflies with clear matt glaze, then a coat of liquid wax before dipping the whole pot into a vat of glaze.  Or if I'm brushing on the glaze, I can skip the wax part.

Here was a post several years ago about this procedure.

Yes, I'll show you the finished product tomorrow, when it's been fired.  And here is what it looks like while it's waiting to be fired.  The teapot will be yellow with celadon interior, and the vase is Floating Blue inside and out.

Today's quote:

The sense of feeling bored in life can be an indicator that we need to be proactive in creating change. Daily Om

 

Bugs and bowls that shout cheerfully, but quietly...

If you've been drinking the night before...

A friend ordered some bigger cereal bowls, and I've started making them for her.

Smaller ones on left, about 5 inch diameter, larger on right are about 6 inch diameter.  There are more still coming, and then I'm going to do something very different! Well, for me it is, anyway!


Today's quote:

Every farmer who plants a seed takes a risk. We work through faith that the good deeds we do are to put down roots. The roots are invisible, but they sustain plants that may not give fruit for awhile. How lovely is this planting the seeds of love.

OMID SAFI

Teapot

I made a couple of teapots, just for fun, using handles I had already, and putting some interesting designs on them.

Here's the one that was supposed to be purple mountains majesty.
Mmm, those don't look that purple, do they?

But I like that the blue is matched in the interior liner of the pot.

So it's one of those pots where I have to let go of my expectations.  Any other potter out there ever had that experience?

Today's quote:

Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.

Angeles Arrien

Monday with Mugs

There are four new mugs waiting for a glaze painting.  What shall I do this time?

The bees were inspired.
The bears were requested.

I've tried cats, and am too emotionally attached to give a good simple rendering...but maybe I could just do a line drawing of one sitting there...it's hard for me to do them, but seriously, as an artist, I know I really can.  Just need to put my mind to it.

Dogs? I admit I don't know how to draw dogs very well.

Flowers? I've done some geranium take-offs, and roses.  Mmm, even did a vase with a dahlia on it.
And it's not hard to do daisies or black eyed susans.  I have one mug that hasn't sold with periwinkles on it.  Wonder why.

So the mugs are sitting there like freshly stretched canvases, waiting for the potter to be inspired.

Thought for the day:

Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. Why? Because it is all we ever have.

Pema Chödrön