The long-awaited (NOT!) Mishima post

Mishima is a surface decorating technique for ceramics - kind of a reverse sgrafitto. You can see my post on sgrafitto here. For this technique, the design is incised (scratched) first, while the clay is leather-hard and before a thin underglaze is applied. The underglaze runs into the carved designs. After a little drying, you scrape off the excess clay using a metal rib or a razor blade. 

Darted vase at the leather-hard stage

I incised this one with a freehand version of Helen Williams' tangle, "Curly Bracket Feather." The stepout can be found here. Tangling on a curved object is a whole lot tougher than on a tile or in a journal, let me tell you!

Same vase, incised and painted with three coats of black underglaze

Closeup of the incised and painted design

After the underglaze has dried, the a metal rib is used to scrape away the excess. The underglaze that flowed into the design remains.

Partially scraped vase, with metal rib. Vase is stuffed with plastic so the inside doesn't dry faster than the outside.

Closeup

Here's the vase after scraping and firing (bisqueing) the first time.

Carved vase after bisqueing

I then painted the vase all over with thin coats of blue and yellow underglaze, and bisqued a second time. Then several coats of clear glaze was applied, and the vase put through the final firing.

The finished vase

Here are some more finished Mishima Tiles.

 

This last example is a Mishima tray (the distortion is from the photographic angle). The pattern was carved freehand, and is a variation of "Tumbleweed" by Helen Williams.

Tumbleweed Tray:  Little Loafers clay, black underglaze and clear glaze

I thought the Mishima technique  would be good for fine-lined Zentangle Art. I may end up doing that, or maybe if my sgrafitto technique improves, I will stick with that.

Aren't you glad you waited?

The Marriage of Clay and Zentangle™

I don't understand how people who make art can find the time to blog about it!

I think I mentioned at some point that I’ve been taking a pottery class at our local Art Center.  I started the first time about three years ago. After a year and a half, I could make a pretty damn good tile, but still hadn’t conquered the coffee mug. I found it very frustrating; I was used to having total control of my process when I was making Art and Hawaiian quilts.. So I dropped pottery for reasons I won’t go into here. But I did enjoy it while it lasted and missed having that creative outlet.

Then I started Zentangle™, and it didn’t take long to realize that there was a possibility of marrying my Zentangle skills (?) with my pottery skills (?). I returned to the Art Center, drawn back by a workshop in sgraffito and mishima.

I'll start with sgraffito....

Sgraffito is a clay decorating technique where layers of underglaze paint or  colored slip are applied to raw clay.

Raw clay tiles after rolling and cutting to size (4")

Raw clay tiles after painting with colored underglaze

After a little drying, designs are scratched through the paint to reveal the clay beneath. The designs are unplanned, in the true Zentangle tradition, and done freehand on the clay. 

Sgraffito tools. Old dentists tools also work well!

Depending on your design, you will end up with a white design on a black background, or a black design on a white back ground.

Finished tiles with Tangles Fracas, Opus, and Tipple. Black underglaze on white Little Loafers clay.

I have to remember that until the tiles are fired the first time, they are incredibly fragile!

Medium blue underglaze on white Little Loafers clay, unfired

"Mooka" mandala. Black underglaze, white Little Loafers clay, after final clear glazing and firing.

Finished tile. Tangles are Aquafleur and Hollibaugh with Black Pearls.

"Leaves"  Unfired tile - black underglaze on Red Stone clay. Tangles are Flux, Aware, Crescent Moon, Fescue, Ahh, and  Bales.

Finished tile. Black underglaze on Little Loafers white clay. Tangles: Verdigogh, Mak-rah-me, Bunzo, and  Curv-ING.

Sgraffito/Zentangle on clay has proved to be incredibly challenging. The clay and underglaze have to be at exactly the right stage of dryness. Too dry, and they tend to chip when you carve; too wet, and carving results in "goobers," or small scraps of clay that are difficult to remove and also can result in chipping. I don't know yet whether I can do anything but the most gross of tangles on the clay. 

Another option for producing the fine lines of Zentangle is just the reverse of sgraffito, aka mishima. I'll talk about that in my next post.