Textured Ceramic Mugs

Its that time of year again when we make mugs to learn how to work with clay.  The most important thing students learn is "Scoring and Slipping".  I also presented this at the art teacher conference in Knobnoster, Missouri with MAEA (Missouri Art Education Association)

Here are the directions I give out for working with clay, and making a mug:

Slab-Rolling a Mug

Mintert- Knobnoster 2018  mintertf@carthagetigers.org

http://mrmintart.blogspot.com/2017/10/mug-making.html

1.      Roll a Slab- Use fabric, thickness gauges and roller to create a large slab.

2.     Check the Thickness- Get low, gently roll the roller over the slab to find any high spots.  Where the roller comes off the thickness gauges you have thick spots that need to be rolled again.

3.     Apply texture- if you want texture, it needs to be done now.  Get a texture plate, and leaving the thickness gauges in place, apply a texture by rolling over the texture plate in the clay.

4.     Cut the wall- Using the template (4x11 or 5x11 in) mark the dimensions of the wall.  Remove the template and cut free from the slab.

5.     Build the wall- stand the wall on end and form into a cylinder.  On the ends, use SCORING AND SLIPPING, (AND SQUISHING AND SMOOTHING) TO JOIN THE ENDS.

6.     Roll the base-  Take the scraps and re-roll to a slab that would be large enough to accommodate the cylinder.

7.     Measure and connect- Place the cylinder on the slab, mark the location, and flip over the cylinder onto the fabric, to expose the bottom.  SCORE AND SLIP the slab and base of cylinder.  Flip the cylinder over again and firmly press onto the slipped base.

8.     Cut and remove- Once you are sure it is connected well, use clay tool to cut it free from the excess slab material and flip it over onto the fabric.

9.     Squish and Smooth- while the mug is upside down, double check the bond, and smooth down any marks.  Using a needle tool, ADD YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME, CLASS HOUR, AND YEAR to the bottom.

10.  Smooth Inside- Flip the mug over and use the brush and water to double check the seam on the inside and remove any extra scoring marks.

11.  Attach the handle- Use the extruder to pull a handle shape.  Attach using scoring and slipping over the joint in the mug wall.

12.  Dry and Fire- Allow the mug to dry for several days before firing to proper cone in the kiln.

13.  Glazing-Glaze the mug. ( directions on another instruction sheet)

This year many students used a specialty "Crystaltex" glaze that had crystals that burst making a speckled pattern.  they turned out really nice!

Textured mugs

I love textured mugs. They have so much more character than a regular, store bought mug.  I fashioned a die for our extruder from scrap lumber,  so the handles are all more uniform. 

They use slab technique and scoring and slipping.  we have roll sets that include a roll, 2 pieces of fabric, and thickness gauges.  

Students roll out a slab, apply a texture using a texture rubbing sheet, and cut out an 11x4 slab.  

This is then picked up, turned into a cylinder and the ends are scored and slipped together.

The scrap clay from this initial rolling is recycled into a smaller slab that will be used to form the base.  This is attached using S&S, and then cut out and flipped.

At this stage, students make sure there are no sharp edges, no holes, and their name and year is on the base.

they are set to the side for the next day and handles.

The handles are extruded, and usually attached on the seam from yesterday, to facilitate a stronger bond.

Once dry, they are kiln fired to bisque ware.

Glazing is fairly simple, unless the students want to accentuate their textures.  In that case, we use a subtractive method as follows.

 1. They apply 1 layer of glaze they want in the depths of the texture.  Then they take a sponge and wipe flat across the tops of the texture, removing glaze there, but keeping it in the grooves.  The top areas are glazed with a second color, and then clear glaze over it all for a second coat.

Fired again and ready for drinking!

We use a low temp white earthenware.  Cone 04.  Done right, these are functional and beautiful!

Textured ceramic mugs

Textured ceramic mugs.   We do this project every  4 years.  one clay project per year.  

year 1.  textured ceramic mugs.

year 2. whistle animals.

year 3. ugly jug ceramic mugs.

year 4 whistle animals.

year 5 textured mugs.  I should think about switching up our projects.....  anyway, here is a link to the last time we made these. Directions there.  also, I made a youtube video here.

Ms. Bogle and Ms. Fields, my head and assistant principals came and tried it out with the students, and it inspired Ms. Bogle and I to offer a mug class for the staff.  

Whistle Animals

 Started on our clay whistles a while back, and now we are on glazing.  I will add photos of finished projects next week.  

Every year, the ceramics project is one of the more science driven projects.  We have evaporation, cooling, vitrification, heat, transformation, such an amazing array of components coming together to make beautiful art.