Paper Stencil Pattern

I thought while working like a mad lady in the studio I should take some images of my process. A few of you have been asking how I make my work. I took some images and have strung them together the best I could to present the step by step process. If you need more info just leave a question/comment.

After casting and cleaning up the edges of a dish I paint a layer of white slip. When that slip is just dry to the touch I wet a paper flower and after blotting it so it is not dripping wet i lay it in the dish. Gently pressing down with a damp sponge I make sure all sides of the stencil are flat on the surface of the dish. Then I cover the dish in another color of slip.

I repeat this process of layering slip over stencils several times. Always waiting until the previous layer of slip is not tacky and also that the dish is not too wet to take another layer. Very shallow dishes are prone to flopping if you do not time things well. In these three images you see first a green dish with paper stecils and a few patches of orange slip on top. these then get a stencil or two (orange stain is so expensive I rarely cover the whole dish, I sort of cheat and just do a patch or two). Then the dish gets a coat of black slip.

When I have between four and five layers I start to peel of the stencils. As the slip gets to leather hard you can start to see the paper stencils. Also as I overlap them when layering the often come of in big clumps together. I like cutting the paper flowers but I really love seeing the pattern reveal itself.


I just loaded the bisque kiln with tons of these stenciled dishes. I will post a little later on the glazing.