Handbuilt tableware set, ps - part 4 of 3...

This is the last of the four large terracotta plates for the tableware set, it didn't make it into the previous glaze firing. One thing I realised when the others came out was that I had to apply a clear glaze on the lines between colours. The raw terracotta lines looked great but would not be useful if I was going to use the plates for dinnerware, which I am! So with the already fired plates, I just had to apply some clear glaze and re-fire. With this plate I could apply the clear glaze before going into the kiln, thereby doing the glazing in one step (as it should be).

Handbuiilt tableware set, part 3 of 3

I was delighted when the first five plates came out of the glaze fire.  

The colours of the glazes were as I had hoped and planned. The lighting with my husband's camera is very true (he is the workshop facilitator and always takes pictures of each kiln shelf as he unloads a firing).

Though there is a yellow tinge to pictures taken with my camera phone, the closeups show the linework

and glaze textures on the plates.

These closeups also show the individual designs of each plate and the different lighting

makes it apparent that there is also a texture on the plates, from the initial rolling of the terracotta.

The clay was rolled out between two cotton cloths with a herringbone pattern, and though this is subtle, it is quite lovely.

Handbuilt tableware set, Part 2 of 3

So far I have three large plates and two small ones. It will be a service for four when I am finished. The fourth large plate is already made and glazepainted, but there was no room for it in the kiln.

Once I had decided that it was the terracotta over the low-fire white, I began my tulip drawings. As I have previously mentioned, yellow tulips are my favourite flower and I have oodles of sketches, so it was a simple matter of looking at my sketches and enlarging them (by eye) on the plates. I used a regular pencil knowing that the lines would burn off in the kiln. I started with the main yellow glaze.

I also used a second, deeper yellow in some areas and some purple and green for the stamens. I glaze-painted with the intention that the glazes would not touch, leaving terracotta lines between areas of colour.

The leaves and the stems shared a speckly-green glaze, and then I added a layer of a lighter green over the stems, which would be apparent after the plates were fired.

There is a lovely speckle turquoise glaze that I used as a background.

Here it is apparent how much space the plates take up in the kiln.

Handbuilt tableware set, Part 1 of 3

Early in the new year I had the idea that I wanted to create a set of dishes in the ceramics workshop that I attend every Thursday afternoon at Signal Arts Centre, here in Bray. I planned to make these dishes with handbbuilding techniques rather than on the wheel and my plan was to paint them with tulip designs. Yellow tulips are probably my favourite flower and I have loads of sketches of them.

First off, I had to find two large plates with slight curves, but not too many folds, as formers. I hadn't firmly decided on terracotta clay for the set, but I used terracotta to start with.

For smaller plates I used the plastic lids from pudding bowls as formers because they had a gentle curve over which I could drape a slab. NB cling film must be placed between any former that isn't plaster in order that clay won't stick to it. I decided that the small plates would have feet, and this picture shows the necessary scoring where the feet will be placed.

Instead of one solid foot, I decided to make a design with two arcs for the feet. This picture shows the scoring of the foot (it is on a cloth) before placing, after applying the slip bond, onto the corresponding scoring on the plate.

Here are the two small plates with their feet attached and my initials and date within the circumferences of the feet.

I had also made some small low-fired white plates without feet, as I hadn't made a final decision on whether or not I would make a set in white clay or terracotta. Here are several plates after the bisque firing. At this point I knew for sure that my set of dishes would be made from terracotta and not white. The small white plates will be for a different purpose

ceramic plates

Recently I was reading a coffee-table book on Charleston, home of Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, and (at various times) others from the Bloomsbury Group. The book was written by Quentin Bell (Vanessa's son) and Virginia Nicholson. As well giving me yet another peek at life to satisfy my continued curiosity about the group, I was also interested in seeing, within the rooms of the house, pieces of hand-painted pottery on tables, mantles, bookshelves, etc. Quentin Bell was the potter, but often his mother and Duncan Grant would paint the bisque ware before Quentin himself got to it (or he would leave some pots out for them). I liked seeing the pottery as I hadn't quite decided how I was going to glaze the slab plates I have made this year. This platter of mermaids is one of Quentin Bell's pieces.

Over the past dozen or so years, my annual visit to Antibes has also brought me in close contact with the ceramics of Picasso, which I also find inspiring. The Picasso Museum at the Chateau Grimaldi in Antibes has a large selection of his paintings on plates.

I thought some plates made from a low fire white clay would provide a perfect ground for painting.

Since circular slabs were simply draped over pudding bowl lids, I was able to make feet for the plates while the clay was still in its very damp phase.

I decided there was something about terracotta that I really liked and decided on using it for a set of plates. For larger plates I placed the slabs within the curve of a plate as former (cling wrapped first of course!). This meant that I would not be putting feet on the large plates, as the plates needed to dry in their former before I could remove them.

I made some smaller plates in terracotta too. As with the white ones the circular slabs are draped over pudding bowl lids. In this photo I have decided the size and location of the feet and scored accordingly.

This is a foot, made in two pieces, scored and ready to be placed, with plenty of slip, on one of the plates.

Here are the two small terracotta plates with feet attached, signed and ready to dry before bisquing.