New Work
Spring Mugs – Underglaze Experiments
Spring Time Mugs
Some notes on recent line of colorful painted ware:
I’ve been working on painting wheel thrown mugs with underglaze. I want to keep the brushwork loose and incorporate several colors. One stroke of underglaze can be a totally different color than 2 or 3 layers of the same color so a broad range can be achieved with just a few colors, combining and layering.
It’s tricky to keep the underglaze from building up too much which leads to an orange peel surface or even blistering. Greens are most sensitive but also maroon.
The carving is done at the soft leather hard stage and creates another layer of color with a white line. I’ve also tried filling the outlines with glaze at the bisque fired stage and I like the graphic effect with a lighter colored background.
I’m working with botanicals now but thinking about geometric shapes to fill the surface.
Bottoms: I’ve tried underglazing the bottoms with a solid layer, only painting a small detail, and also glazing the bottom.
Glaze background vs underglaze background: I’ve had good results with using a glaze for the background color over the waxed underglaze design. The surface of the underglaze, which is only on the botanical elements stays a little rough and matte, making an interesting contrast.
