Thursday 4 September 2014

Colouring Porcelain

Those of you who read my blog already know how much I love the old Japanese technique neriage (or nerikomi or agateware). Last time I visited my ceramic supplier, I bought some pretty colorants to stain my porcelain. Here are a few steps at colouring porcelain.

I soaked the mixture of dried porcelain and green colorant. I used a hand blender to mix them thoroughly. Once the slip is smooth enough, I spread it on a plaster bat to stiffen up.

As soon as the coloured slip reaches the right consistency, I can wedge it and wrap it with plastic to prevent porcelain from drying out. Properly packed porcelain remains moist for a long time. I will use a part of this green coloured porcelain to throw some small neriage cups on the wheel and the rest will probably end up as some pretty porcelain jewellery.