This technique is painted with a Sumi Brush, the same brush used in Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. Working on white porcelain clay, just after the piece has been created, while the clay is still wet, an engobe is applied in a series of flowing strokes.

Engobe

A liquid solution of colored clay slip.

Glaze Firing

The second firing, where bisqued and glazed pieces are fired to 2400° F. This is when the pieces get their color and durability.

Glaze Painting

A number of different glazes are applied utilizing several techniques including ladling, dipping, and spraying. Often these pieces end up being the most surprising pieces in a firing; the variables of glaze choice, application technique, glaze thickness, the shape of the form, and the firing, in all of their possible permutations make this decorating technique endlessly surprising.

Jomon

A type of decorating technique where rope is rolled over a piece while the clay is still soft, leaving the patterned impression of the rope’s braid. Named after the Jomon period in Japanese ceramics, where this rope technique was often used.

Nauset Beach Black Sand

A kind of garnet sand found at local beaches that is high in iron. We add this sand into our clay and in the glaze firing the iron fluxes out and gives the piece a speckled effect. Bisque firing- The first firing, where the pieces are fired to approximately 1900° F, making them insoluble in water and strong enough to be glazed.

Sgraffito

A thin layer of engobe is brushed over white porcelain or an earth toned stoneware piece. Once the slip has dried to a leather hard consistency, we draw on the piece, carving down through the slip and revealing the original clay color beneath.

Wax Resist

Once a piece has been through a bisque firing, we paint on a design using liquid wax. Next we dip the piece in a glaze and the wax resists the water based glaze. When the piece is fired in the glaze firing, the wax burns away and leaves the bare clay, revealing the pattern.