I started the year with a to-do list. Ideas I've been hoarding, projects I've been waiting to start and quite a few did start that have then been neglected. Not every half baked idea or whim immortalised in charred lumps or grey slop of unknown content deserves to be wrestled into something complete - there are good reasons why most of these things never went anywhere. I do need to get into the habit, though, of getting things to the point of being 'done' so I can actually make them to sell. Before I get carried away with new ideas, many destined only to amount to nothing more than a shoe box full of test tiles, I need to wrap up some of the old ones.
The teacups I make (cousin of the discrete plate) have never had saucers and, as a result, they look a little lonely. My first task is to make moulds to cast said saucer. In the spirit of self improvement I'm making moulds by offsetting with slip, something I've never done before, using Sasha Wardell's indispensable book on slip casting.
First, I got to know the Whirler, which is a kind of horizontal lathe for plaster (potter's love giving things silly names). Plaster is poured onto the Whirler head (see) and the inside form of the plate is carved out while the head is turning, so it's perfectly symmetrical. The first time I did this I did not read the instructions properly and did it completely wrong, of course. Good practice though.
Once I'd made the inside form I poured another lump of plaster over it, so I had a negative of the shape. This is the first side of the mould - A slip casting mould is a negative of the object it makes, this means everything has to be reversed, which sometimes makes my head hurt. These are my positive and negative forms.
Then, and I haven't quite got the hang of this yet, I pour slip (liquid clay) over the first half of the form and allow it to form a layer to the thickness that you want the finished plate to be. This bit is messy.
I have managed to mess this bit up about four times so far, almost a record for me. Lots of slip on the floor (and on me), a few lumps and bubbles I tried to discreetly smooth out but ended up wonking up the whole thing. Fifth time lucky?
