Mayco was kind enough to sponsor materials for making a collaborative tile piece for Ronald McDonald house in Dallas with their kids. Anyone got tips on “production” management for a thing like this?
The plan is to underglaze the tiles while they’re green and then I can dip them in clear later.
(And if you want to help let me know. They’re cute kids)
Wouln t it be better to bisque them then underglaze them?
I think that is what Dallas Creative Arts does with their ‘blue
plate dinner’ Folks use underglaze on the bisqued ware
I did one last year, and it seems that it was bisque
If you are looking for mosaic exports try Sonia King http://mosaicworks.com/ She is an amazing talent.
I have had better luck painting underglaze on bisque and then adding the clear overglaze. I haven’t had any problems with smearing when I use Trinity underglazes and let the underglaze dry really thoroughly.
Edited to add that my underglaze faded when I painted it on greenware. It still worked but was not nearly as nice as painting bisque.
Also @dryad2b might have some tips, I’m a n00b.
Ah, but I’m a n00b at underglaze stuff too. And – the fade-out may be because we’re firing to Cone 6 for the glaze fire. I can’t remember how many times our pieces went to the kiln when I was a kid, and we were doing the slip-cast, low-fire stuff. I remember that we had to clean off the mold marks, but I don’t remember if we went straight to painting on the underglaze or not. We may have, because there was a separate firing for the clear glaze.
6 of one, half a dozen of the other…
The underglaze has looked great so far if it only goes through the glaze firing but if I paint it on greenware it fades out during the bisque firing. I am using the Trinity underglaze though which is the only one I found that had cone 6 on the label.
I’m going to use low fire stuff. I figure that way we can keep the colors but not have to do two sessions with the kids
I would make and bisque the tiles and then use the Mayco lowfire glaze instead of underglaze.
If the children will be painting the tiles, you will want something sturdy; it would be pretty awful if their work on greenware broke before it was fired.
The low fire glazes fire true to color, and can be mixed if needed. There is no need for a clear coat if applied with the traditional three coats. For the kids artwork, a clear coat would probably be a good idea. As long as the first coat of clear is put on gently, I tend to dab it on instead of brush, there shouldn’t be a problem with smearing.
They already sent the underglazes and the clear. I’d have to beg Trinity to trade them out if we were going to do it that way [quote=“Nathan_Jones, post:8, topic:20031”]
you will want something sturdy; it would be pretty awful if their work on greenware broke before it was fired.
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Agreed. I’m probably going to build some kinda jerry rigged plywood trays to slide in/out of the bed on the truck. Since they’ll be transported wet/leather I’m hoping it’ll prevent issues. No choice but to transport them to DMS or work for firing.
Physical abilities of the kids at the space and experience with ceramic is a spin of fate’s wheel in this particular setting. I thought underglazes might be good since there isn’t a way to guarantee three coats in that setting. Live and learn. This will either be great or never happen again. I’ve done community projects like this but honestly it’s never been with this random of a sampling and little/no foundation knowledge being put in place ahead of time.
Underglaze on greenware is usually “muddy” and lower resolution.It is the nature of the material.
One random thought. Spray some sealant on the greenware and glaze over that. I can see the water resistance causing issues though.
True. I may just bisque the whole thing instead of messing with fabrication. Still need to get with the rep for an extended ironing details session…work is in the last big push