week 21 - Experiments semi successful...

A few more test tiles came out of the kiln that combined the Mocha technique with coloured slip and bits of coloured clay that were pressed into the tiles. Some interesting effects, I am intrigued to see that the kind of oxide that I used in the mocha did not change colour in the firing. Some of them do (esp the cobalt blues).

This one is the most successful I think - the black swirl is actually shiny black glaze and the rest was gazed with clear. Overall I'm not too sure that the mocha works with the other elements. I think it is one of those techniques that needs to be used on its own or very sparingly.



The background of this is green slip - it often goes metallic like this, but I did not expect it to come out so splotchy. The braid is white slip that I rolled into the clay and it finished in clear glaze.



This tile has dark blue slip painted on it and then the white blob of slip on top. The cobalt in the blue slip reacted with some of the glazes, their should have been orange spots on this and now it looks like it has mold growing on it! The swirls are that shiny black glaze again and the rest is in transparent. Weird. Ceramics meet science experiment.



This tile has two colours of slip pressed into it: a braid of white and balls of green slip. On top I brushed some brown slip and squirted a few linear elements in brown. It is just glazed in clear. I like how they green balls sort of make fuzzy polka dots. I might have to do a bit more experimenting with that technique!!

Hmm I feel a new series coming on! I better get down to KS&W!