These are fun, and were quite an experiment. The thrown tumbler is speckled brownstone, with the shape altered to a triangular rim.
I then added sprigged forms that I'd made from my own molds...using the brownstone for the slip.
In case you didn't see the mugs
(Carved animals on Mugs) , I carved each animal for them, then glazed them with various colors. I've decided against that step already.
And then I made a mold on each animal...usually at the bisque stage. Ask me how if you haven't ever done this.
For the tumblers the animals are then pressed into my own bisqued molds, and are just thin slabs which attach pretty easily. I did worry about air bubbles under them, and poked their eyes through to help with that.
They all made it through the bisque firing, so I dipped everyone in a mild celedon glaze combination that we've been using in the BMCA studio. Mild means it has some HR satin glaze mixed in with the celedon, because we've had celedon pin holes wherever it felt like it. There actually is one or two on these tumblers, but not too many.
The hint of green around the animal sprigs isn't all that great, but it's fun to have a P-5 (porcelain that matures at cone 5) that sticks on the brownstone. I did wipe the celedon off the animals a bit, to give them a more white body. They stayed shiney though.
I thought of Wedgewood and those wonderful sprigged white flowers on the powder blue forms while I tried this. Of course local potters have been doing sprig work, and even painting with fine white clay slips on darker bodies for many years.
The reason everything gets posted on my blog? It's a great archive of photos. I've lost many photos on flash drives and computer hard drives that crash...but can actually find them on my old emails and blogs. Hope that continues!
