Step 3 - Texturing the Cup Blank

Here, I am decorating the cup blanks with a variety of texture tools. The first image shows a nice brass roller from a bookbinding shop applying a row of dots. I make many of my texture tools from thrown rollers or leather hard blocks of clay.
I generally apply horizontal bands of decoration, but there are probably a zillion other possibilities that I will never think of... you can also leave your cup unadorned, or incise or carve imagery at a later stage of dryness.

Each time texture is applied to the blank, clay is moved. If you apply horizontal bands of pattern, the clay will stretch in the direction that your roller is pushing it. Generally the clay blank will be stretched at least an inch during texturing, and will need to be recut before it is made into a cylinder. It's good to practice on scrap clay with your texture tools so you create the right pressure when you do decorate your blank. Pressing too hard may cause the clay to weaken, or to be distorted when it is formed.

Here are the two cup blanks ready to be formed into cups. Usually I will texture about 8 cup blanks at a time, so the first will be stiffening up while the last are being textured. I like the clay to be firm, but still flexible and able to stick to itself when it is scratched up with a serrated rib. A pulled handle will be added, usually the following day, so the mug must be kept moist enough for the handle to attach easily.

Step 2 - Pressing the Edges of the Cup Blank

Now, use a small brayer to gently press the right and top edges of your 5" x 10" clay cup blanks. Now, carefully turn your blanks over and press the reverse sides of the top and right edges. This will give the top of your mug a refined look - and a rim as nice as that of a thrown cup. If you press too hard, you will create a sharp or unattractive edge. Practice with the brayer on bits of scrap until you achieve a nice, rounded look. Many handbuilt cups have a crude or ragged rim that detracts from the visual appeal of the cup.

This tool is not actually a proper brayer for printmaking use, but is a wall-paper seam sealer from the hardware store. They cost about $3, and are available made from wood or plastic - each works equally well.

Step 1 - Measuring the Cup Blanks

Here's a slab that is about 12 x 12 inches. It's dry to the touch, but still flexible. Shown is a quilter's ruler that is really useful for doing handbuilding. With it, I will cut two rectangles that are 10" by 5". Each of these rectangles will make a generous coffee mug.

Textural Mats

Here is a carved clay slab, and the textural mat that was made from it.

I roll out 1/2" thick slabs from LF06 clay, a nice low fire talc body that is smooth and grog free. When the slabs are quite stiff, I pattern them with a carving tool, and then bisque fire them.

An image may be taken directly from the bisqued slab by rolling conditioned clay - not sticky to the touch, but still flexible - onto the slab with even pressure from a rolling pin. This yields an impression that is just like the slab mat, and is very nice for the salt process.

It is actually much more convenient to put the slab mat through the slab roller, on top of the clay. The textured clay can be wrapped in plastic and used for drape molding or handbuilding when you are ready.

I make the mats from a 2-part latex material, Polygel 40, which I purchase at Stephenson Supply in Portland, Oregon. If people are interested, I will post instructions for working with the Polygel material.

Textural Tools

Here are some of the stamps and rollers that I use to decorate my handbuilt pieces. Some of the longer rollers were extruded, and then carved. Most were cut from thick cylinders thown on the wheel. If you allow the cylinders to stiffen for a couple of hours, you can easily cut nice even sections with your off-the-hump cutting thread.

Any clay will do - these are mostly my cone 10 salt clay, but others are lowfire clay. Stamps can be carved from prepared blocks of clay that are are just still dry enough to carve - don't try to make them with softer clay or your impressions will not be crisp. I bisque fire them when dry, and roll them by hand to make impressions. I've thought about making wood handles for them but is easy to use them by hand.

Making the Handbuilt Cup

I'm planning to post all the information for the handbuilt teapot, but first I'd like to go over the instructions for the handbuilt cup that we made first.

I usually begin to prepare the clay for handbuilding the day before I make the cups. I like to cut a 25-lb bag of clay into three thick slabs, and dry those slabs in the open air until they are quite stiff but still just flexible. Then, I wrap the partially dried slabs tightly in plastic and set them aside until I need them.

Clay for cups should be about 3/16 inch thick. Set your slab roller to than thickness, or roll the slab as evening as possibly to that thickness if you do not have a slab roller available. The stiff slab that was prepared with soften up when rolled out, and should be just right to take impressions from texture tools. Ideally, it should be moist enough to readily join to itself, but dry enough to stand up into a cylindrical shape after cutting to measure.

Here are two slab teapots constructed at my recent workshop at Lower Columbia College.

I'll be posting the thicknesses and measurements of slabs to use, as well as the measurements for individual components. There will be step-by-step photos of each stage of the construction so that you can incorporate these techniques into your own way of working with clay.

These teapots were textured with latex mats that I created myself from hand-textured bisque slabs. This process really lets you make the finished piece your own in a manner that using purchased texture mats simply cannot.