IT'S ALL ABOUT DESIGN

MISHIMA & SGRAFITTO SLAB BOWLS/PLATES

CERAMICS II

clay, oxides, porcelain slip & transparent glazes

Mishima & Sgrafitto are Japanese inlay and overlay techniques

 that are executed while the clay is still plastic.

First we used a wood frame mold to drape their slabs over.

Then they were each given porcelain slip

 and told to use oxides to mix into it to create liquid colored clay

(the consistency is like a thin milk shake)

In this first piece by senior Klyne Madayag,

she used cobalt carbonate as her colorant,

and did the Mishima inlay around her rim,

and the Sgrafitto overlay inside the left plate.

When the colored slip had become leatherhard she was able to cave out her diagonal design lines.

To do the Mishima technique

 you first stamp designs into the clay then immediately fill those with the colored slip.

After they are leatherhard you scrap away excess clay to revel the design.

It's so much fun!

Below we see the backside of her plate.

The kids were required to put feet on as well.

Then after bisque firing one of our transparent glazes was applied to show off all the designs.

Senior Eryn Burnett created this next beauty.

Again we see the Mishima around the rim and the Sgrafitto in the center.

My guess is that Eryn mixed up Chrome with Cobalt oxide to get this pale blue/green color.

I really like how her spiral leads to a flower.

She used a thin pointy tool for the spiral

and a bigger carving tool for the circle and diagonals.

And notice between her feet below how a bit of the colored porcelain was applied?

And I also see a tiny bit on her feet as well,

also look like tire tracks.

Next we have seniors Celeste Zambrano and Sandhya Raghvan

I wish there wasn't that glare on the pieces so you could see their center designs better.

Both rims are lovely,

and I believe that both gals used Chrome oxide to color their porcelain with.

The sweet backsides.