IT'S ALL ABOUT SURFACE DESIGN

MISHIMA & SGRAFFITO VASES

CERAMICS II

porcelain clay, oxides, glaze

In my clay classes I continually stress Surface Design.

Anyone can make a pot,

but it's what you do with the form and the surface design that sets it apart.

When I was in college, 

I really enjoyed learning these two very lovely Japanese techniques,

Mishima  (inlay) & Sgraffito (overlay).

Granted,

 it's time consuming and takes impeccable craftsmanship & patience,

but the results are so worth it.   

I felt this first one was quite remarkable in both form & surface design.

And sadly I can't remember who made it.

Once again the kids just came to the rescue!

Thanks Julia & Chloe.

This brilliant work belongs to junior Julia Ruiz.

On the first side above

 she put a lot of Cobalt Oxide into her slip mixture, 

that she used for her over & underlay work,

 resulting in a very dark blue.

On the back side below

 she added a bit of Red Iron Oxide to grey up that Cobalt mixture. 

Exquisite piece!

By the way,

the kids were required to only make two sides vase forms with asymmetrical sides.

Ok,

my guesses for these next 3 are from right to left

junior Chloe Chang, seniors Sarah Oh, & Ylia Madayag.

And I have absolutely no clue on this one,

but it was my favorite because the design turned out so wonderfully Non-Objective.

So I'm really taking a shot in the dark and guessing Sarah Oh again.

Each student was required to make two.

I appreciated that these kids were able to pull off this very difficult assignment.

Bravo young ones.

And please comment or email me the right names.

It's All About Surface Design - Student Work

MISHIMA & SGRAFFITO MOLDED SLAB BOWLS/PLATES

CERAMICS II

For my intermediate clay kids , I try to expand their surface design choices so that I bring in the more complex Mishima and Sgraffito techniques.  Already covered in Ceramics I were inlay, applied, pierced, carved, incised, and stamping.  All the techniques are done while the clay is either plastic or leatherhard.  Of course after bisque firing they can glaze and stain as well.  and after sawdust firing there is always the metallic rubbing choice.  So by now there is no excuse for a boring pot! 

What I really like that senior James Cho did with his plate was to trim the rim into an interesting geometric shape, then to mimic it with his sgraffito lines.

Senior Aditi Ramesh has a more organic edge with wonderful linear designs to delight our eyes.

Even though the bottom of senior Shamara Mustafa's bowl broke off (yes sometimes bad things happen with clay) she still has a marvelous night time cityscape inlayed into her clay.  And Aditi has given us a striking design thru contrast in her extra credit floral piece above. 

Senior Carol Oh has really knocked herself out with this amazing design above.  First of all a bowl within a bowl, very clever!  But for me it's all about her Mishima inlay that really pulls me in, and those ruffled edges.  

Love it!

But I've got to say that this little tiny bowl by senior Tahnee Thantrong has my heart.  So delicate and lovely with the scalloped edges and abstract human resting on the ledge, and then the beautiful finish of er choice of glaze.  

Wow!!!

Elegant Vase Forms - Student Work

MISHIMA & SGRAFFITO VASES

CERAMICS II

I introduced my Intermediate clay students  to two Japanese surface design techniques; Mishima, an inlay technique done with pigmented clay, and Sgraffito, an overlay technique with pigmented clay that you scratch your design thru.  Both are done with all porcelain clay and oxide pigments.  This assignment was also about slab building with only two sides for a more elegant look.  Asymmetry was also stressed. 

Above is the work of  seniors Shamara Mustafa and Tahnee Thantrong, and below we have seniors Aditi Ramesh and James Cho.

  

Beautiful work all of you!

Mishima/Sgraffito Molded Bowls - Student Work

Oh senior Eddie Ponce, look how many pix I took of your piece, two, only took one of Stella's  :).  And whose am I featuring first??   YOURS!!!   LOL

As a ceramics teacher it's all about surface design.  Your clay piece is simply your canvas.  So in first year clay the kids learn at least 10 different ways to bring texture, pattern and bas relief to their plastic and leatherhard  clay surfaces.  Then when we move into 2nd year clay we do even more to explore the endless possibilities   One of my favorites to do and teach is mishima and sgraffito.  One is an inlay technique, the other a coat and scrap thru effect.  In both I have the kids mix up colored clay slip to use for both processes.  I also have them working with porcelain clay so it really shows these methods off.

Senior Eddie Ponce started off by laying his rolled out slab over top a wood frame mold, then pressing gently thru the center to create the concave area (perfect size for a soap dish).  Notice that he tore his edges, did some stamping, then thru the center is his sgraffito work and the mishima is inlayed around his rim.  I'm sure you noticed the crack in the piece, it happened during the bisque firing, but Eddie liked it, how it's running thru the word love.  Below is the backside of his bowl with his applied foot.  Very clean, cool piece Eddie.

This next one is senior Stella Park's.  She switched her techniques around and has her inlay in the center text area and her scrapped away lines on her rim.  I love Stella's sensitive interpretation of the assignment and the content as well.  I also encourage the students to alter their rim edges for more interest.  

Last is senior Rita Labib, whose piece broke as it was drying in the greenware stage.  She was ready to throw it away but I told her to try to reconfigure it and reattach it in some clever way.  The result, a highly unique piece, with some beautiful glazing going on.  You can see Rita's inlayed mishima along her rims, but I believe her choice of glazes covered up her sgraffito thru her center areas.  Oh well.  :)

If you are like me and love adding to your art book collection, there are lots of great ceramic surface design books on the market.  Barnes and Noble stock many good ones as does Aardvark Clay and Supplies in Santa Ana, Ca.  Have fun exploring the possibilities!    

More From Ceramics II

Recently I had the kids do a unit on clay inlay called Mishima, and another surface design unit on Sgraffito.    A couple weeks ago I posted their gorgeous Mishima vase forms for you to see. Well I also had them handbuild some molded bowl forms that they were required to do a bit of both techniques in.  So here are a few of the finished pieces.

Here we have senior Alyssa Olea with her beautiful flowered bowl/plate.  She has done the Mishima technique in the center area, and on the petals a bit of sgraffito.  She used cobalt carbonate oxide to color her clay with and a transparent glaze over top.  Look at the sensitivity of her inlay below.  

Next we have senior Tiffany Liu with her adorable "late as usual" inlay" and sgraffito for the clock hands.

And lastly we have senior Hanna Woo with her cute little face bowls.  This was a lot of work you guys.  You all did a great job!  Way to hang in there.

More Student Ceramics

These lovely vases were done by my 2nd year Ceramics group.  Their assignment was to make a 2 sided, very thin slab vase form that was asymmetrical.

Senior Alyssa Olea above and senior Tiffany Liu below

While the pieces were still plastic (wet) they were instructed in the art of Mishima, an oxide tinted porcelain is inlayed into the clay body.  Then when the clay becomes leather-hard (semi-moist) a flexible metal rib is used to scrap off the outer layer of colored porcelain to reveal the design below.  After bisque firing, we used transparent glaze over top.  These are very delicate, small pieces, non larger then 4-5" tall, and 3" wide.

Above we have senior David Hyun.

And these are the two views of senior Melissa Garcia's lovely piece.  

I apologize for the dates showing in the shots, I just had to get a new camera, the old one died over Xmas break, and I haven't quite figured out all the technical stuff yet.  LOL

Sculptural Slab Vase - Student Art

This sweet little slab vase form was made during 1st semester by 2nd year clay student, senior Chareena Eleazar. Her assignment was to make a slab vase using only two sides rather then four. She was also supposed to alter the form so that it was asymmetrical. And then for surface design she was to incorporate both the new mishima and sgraffito techniques she had just learned from a previous assignment. I say a very sophisticated piece for one so young. :)